Golborne North railway station explained

Golborne North
Status:Disused
Borough:Golborne, Metropolitan Borough of Wigan
Country:England
Coordinates:53.4856°N -2.593°W
Grid Name:Grid reference
Platforms:2
Original:Liverpool, St Helens and South Lancashire Railway
Pregroup:Great Central Railway
Postgroup:London and North Eastern Railway
Years:1 July 1895
Events:Station opened for goods
Years1:3 January 1900
Events1:Station opened for passengers as "Golborne"
Years2:1 February 1949
Events2:Renamed "Golborne North"
Years3:3 March 1952
Events3:Station closed completely[1]

Golborne North railway station served the town of Golborne, in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England.[2]

The station was on the Liverpool, St Helens and South Lancashire Railway line from Lowton St Mary's to the original St Helens Central railway station. It was located just east of where it crossed both the WCML and what is now the A573, at the northern edge of the town.[3]

The station was built of wood and had very sparse facilities.[1]

History

Opened by the Liverpool, St Helens and South Lancashire Railway, as part of the Great Central Railway, it became part of the London and North Eastern Railway during the Grouping of 1923. The station then passed on to the London Midland Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948. The station was referred to locally as "Golborne GC" to distinguish it from the ex-LNWR Golborne station on the West Coast Main Line in the centre of the town. In 1949, the ex-LNWR station was renamed Golborne South and the ex-GCR station was renamed Golborne North.

Services

In 1922, five "down" (towards St Helens) trains called at the station on Mondays to Saturdays. They called at all stations from Manchester Central to St Helens via Glazebrook and Culcheth.

By 1948, four trains plied between St Helens Central and Manchester Central, calling at all stations, Monday to Friday, reduced to three on Saturdays.[4]

A fuller selection of public and working timetables has now been published. Among other things, this suggests that Sunday services ran until 1914 but had ceased by 1922, never to return.

Closure

The station was closed to all traffic by the British Railways Board in 1952, though goods traffic through the site to St Helens lingered on until 1965, and to a scrapyard in Haydock. In 1968, a new connection ("spur") was built connecting a Shell oil terminal in Haydock, and scrapyard, to the West Coast Main Line. This enabled the line through Golborne North to be closed and lifted.

The site today

By 2005, even seasoned researchers could not tell a railway had ever existed at the station site.[1]

References

Sources

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/g/golborne_north/ The station via Disused Stations UK
  2. http://www.npemap.org.uk/tiles/map.html#360,398,1 The station on a 1948 OS Map via npe Maps
  3. http://www.railwaycodes.org.uk/elrs/_mileages/h/hob1.shtm Station and line HOB1 via railwaycodes
  4. http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/s/st.helens_central/index.shtml 1949 services via Disused Stations UK