Liverpool, St Helens and South Lancashire Railway

Liverpool, St Helens and South Lancashire Railway
Overview
Status	closed
Locale	North West England
Technical
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Route map 1900-1968 St Helens Central (GCR) Cowley Hill Works St Helens Central St Helens and Haydock Runcorn Gap Railway Haydock Colliery Tunnel Old Boston Colliery Ashton-in- Makerfield Haydock Park Garswood Hall Colliery Golborne Colliery Edge Green Colliery Golborne South West Coast Main Line Golborne North Wigan Junction Railways Lowton St Mary's Liverpool to Kenyon Junction Manchester Lines Culcheth Liverpool to Newchurch Halt Risley Factory Liverpool to Glazebrook Manchester Lines From 1968 Haydock Oil 1968-83 ex-Old Boston Colliery Lowton Metals 1963-87 Ashton-in- Race Traffic 1975 Makerfield ex-Haydock Park ex-Garswood Hall Colliery Golborne Colly 1880-1989 Kelbit 1987- Haydock Branch Curve Golborne South West Coast Main Line ex-Golborne North Wigan Junction Railways ex-Lowton St Mary's

The Liverpool, St Helens and South Lancashire Railway, was formed in 1889, but no services ran until 1895 and then only freight. Passenger services did not start until 1900. It incorporated the St Helens and Wigan Junction Railway.^[1] It was taken over by the Great Central Railway in 1906.^[2]

History

The original intention was to connect to the Cheshire Lines Committee North Liverpool Extension Line at Fazakerley junction, to form a route to Huskisson Dock and Southport, but nothing ever came of the scheme west of St Helens.

Route

The line ran from St Helens Central (GCR) railway station to Lowton St Mary's^[3] after which the route to Glazebrook was via the Wigan Junction Railways.

Closure

The line closed to passengers in 1952. It was reduced in stages as freight traffic ebbed and flowed. The key milestones were:

• 1965 line closed and lifted west of Lowton Metals, Ashton (inclusive).
• 1968 line reinstated west of Lowton Metals to serve a new oil depot at Haydock
• 1968 new "Haydock Branch Curve" built to connect the line to the WCML north of Golborne
• 1968 line east of the new connection closed and lifted (the bridge over the WCML was removed in 1971)
• 1975 passenger trains ran to five race meetings, using Ashton station, experiment not repeated
• 1983 Haydock oil depot traffic lost to road, line cut back to Lowton Metals, Ashton
• 1987 Lowton Metals ceased trading, line cut back to Golborne Colliery headshunt
• 1987 Kelbit opened rail-served business at Edge Green, using trackbed of Edge Green Colliery branch
• 1989 Golborne Colliery closed, line cut back to headshunt for the Kelbit traffic
• after 2000 the Kelbit site was taken over by Hanson as their "Ashton" plant

In 2015 very occasional trains still served the Hanson plant.

On 7 March 2015 an enthusiasts' excursion titled "Sabrina's Tea Train" traversed the line.^[4]

A quarter-mile headshunt which ends at bufferstops approx 50 yards east of Bridge 13 over Edge Green Lane is the sole remaining section of the original route in use.

References

1. ↑ "St. Helens Central Station". Disused Stations. Retrieved 2013-08-20. 
2. ↑ Sweeney 2014, pp. 5-18
3. ↑ "Lowton St. Mary's Station". Disused Stations. Retrieved 2013-08-20. 
4. ↑ The Railtour Files, via SixBellsJunction

Sources

• Sweeney, Dennis J (2014). The St. Helens and Wigan Junction Railway. Leigh: Triangle Publishing. ISBN 0-85361-292-7. 

External links

• Haydock Branch Jct and Kelbit via Wigan World