Fallowfield railway station

Fallowfield railway station is a disused station that was on Wilmslow Road in Fallowfield, a southern suburb of Manchester, England. It was on the Fallowfield Loop railway line, a suburban railway which looped around the south of the city and terminated at the former Manchester Central railway station.[1]

For other uses, see Fallowfield station.

Fallowfield
Fallowfield Station as seen in 1910
LocationFallowfield, Manchester
England
Coordinates53.44111°N 2.21861°W / 53.44111; -2.21861
Grid referenceSJ856938
Platforms2
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original companyManchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway
Pre-groupingGreat Central Railway
Post-groupingLondon and North Eastern Railway
Key dates
1 October 1891 (1891-10-01)Station opened
7 July 1958 (1958-07-07)Station closed

The station closed to passengers in 1958, but its building, on the corner of Wilmslow Road and Ladybarn Road, still stands.

History
Map of the Fallowfield Loop Line

The initial section of the Fallowfield Loop line was opened by the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (Cheshire Lines Committee) between Chorlton-cum-Hardy and Fallowfield on 1 October 1891. The following year, the remaining section between Fallowfield and Fairfield opened on 2 May 1892.[2][3] The line provided a new route for the MS&LR to run trains from Sheffield into Manchester, and local stopping services ran between Manchester Central and Guide Bridge through Fallowfield.[1] The line stretched from the Hope Valley line at Fairfield and Gorton railway stations through Levenshulme South and Fallowfield onto Wilbraham Road and Chorlton-cum-Hardy before joining a section of line from Old Trafford to Manchester Central.[4][5]

The Fallowfield station building was constructed in a red brick mock Tudor style on a road overbridge straddling the loop line. There were two platforms which were accessed from the street-level booking office by canopied walkways down to track level, a signalbox in the middle of the westbound platform and a nearby goods yard equipped with a 5-ton crane to the south.

In 1897 the MSLR became the Great Central Railway, then in 1923 the line was absorbed into the LNER. Over this period the Fallowfield Loop line suffered from competition from alternative rail services into Manchester provided by the LNER from Levenshulme and later from the electric trams. By the 1930s the LNER had greatly reduced the stopping services and mostly used the line for express trains. After 1948, the line was under the ownership of the nationalised British Railways. Briefly, consideration was given to electrification of the line, but instead the local stopping services were withdrawn and Fallowfield station closed to passenger services on 7 July 1958. Express services out of Manchester Central continued to use the line until that terminus was closed in 1969 following the Beeching cuts. For another two decades the line was used by freight trains until the line closed completely in 1988, with the station's sidings being used by the London Brick Company.[6]

The station today
The station building is today part of a Sainsbury's supermarket, in use as a café

The site (including the former goods yard) has, after a number of years as a bar, been redeveloped as is now occupied by an apartment block and a Sainsbury's supermarket. The former station building still stands, and is occupied by Sainsbury's cafe.

The route of the trackbed has been repurposed as a cycle path between Gorton and Chorlton called the Fallowfield Loop. The section of line from Old Trafford to Manchester Central has been recently re-opened as part of the Manchester Metrolink tram system.[7]

References
  1. "Fallowfield". Disused Stations. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  2. Holt, G O (1978). A regional history of the railways of Great Britain : vol 10 The North West. [S.l.]: David & Charles. p. 133. ISBN 978-0-7153-7521-1.
  3. Dow, George (1962). Great Central, Volume Two: Dominion of Watkin, 1864–1899. Shepperton: Ian Allan. p. 229. ISBN 0-7110-1469-8.
  4. "Railway Memories - Levenshulme South Station (Fallowfield Loop Line)". Archived from the original on 9 October 2007. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  5. "The Fallowfield Loop". Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  6. "Eyewitness in Manchester - South Manchester Loop Line Walk". Archived from the original on 19 July 2008. Retrieved 14 March 2013.
  7. Scott, Emma (2 March 2006). "Turn Metrolink into a cycle path". South Manchester Reporter. Archived from the original on 5 April 2006. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
Wilbraham Road   LNER
Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway
Fallowfield Loop		   Levenshulme South
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