Blackrod Station - Past & Present

Situated between Chorley and Bolton on the line to Preston, Blackrod station has been stripped of the importance it once had as a junction station on the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway. Now, just a couple of platforms and "bus shelters", Blackrod Station was once much more.

Why Blackrod?

Blackrod is my home town. To its inhabitants, it's still known as "the village", but is probably too large to be accurately described as such. However, when the railway came, the station was named after Blackrod's larger neighbour, Horwich. The station went through a number of name changes, starting out as "Horwich Road" before being renamed "Horwich & Blackrod". In 1870, it became "Horwich Junction" to reflect the fact that the Horwich branch had opened, but just three years later, in February 1873, the station became "Horwich and Blackrod Junction". Finally, in April 1888, the station became simply "Blackrod"

News

Events

26th November 2008

Sat 29th November
Spitfire Railtours (2 x class 37 locomotives) Poole - Blackpool & Return	Pass : 16.35
Stock move (2 x class 47/57 locomotives) Carnforth - Man Vic	Pass : 17.30
Sunday 15th December
VSOE circular tour Man Vic - Sellafield - Man Vic	Out : 13.10 Rtn : 18.26

Another Blackrod Website...

Anyone who uses Blackrod regularly may be interested to hear that this isn't the only Website dedicated to our favourite Station:

Going Off the Rails - inane ramblings and occasional insight into Blackrod Station

The website is a "blog" by Philip Morgan, who chronicles the experiences and frustrations of being a Blackrod to Manchester commuter.

Blackrod Station Under Threat ?

Philip's blog (see above) highlights some worrying changes ahead for Blackrod Station at the change of timetable next month. You can read the full detail there, but the gist is as follows :

Services from Blackrod will no longer call at Oxford Road, Deansgate and Manchester Piccadilly, being routed instead into Manchester Victoria.

The implications are substantial. Whereas the current service provides three, convenient stops in the heart of the City, the new arrangement will provide just one, which is hardly central. Perhaps more worrying is that the options for onward travel are drastically cut, with most changes now requiring a trek across town to Piccadilly.

All this is sure to discourage use of Blackrod Station, particularly for shoppers and those who wish to travel to the airport or south on the West Coast Main Line. The poor commuter will probably have to grin and bear it since there are few, if any other options. - all this at a time when Manchester wants to introduce a congestion charge and *encourage* the use of public transport!

The switch to Manchester Victoria is a return to the bad old days before the construction of the Windsor Link which enabled Blackrod's service to be routed across town to Manchester Piccadilly. Prior to that, the number of services which called at Blackrod was barely half of what it is today.

If usage of the station drops, it might be the excuse that Northern and Network Rail need to close it in favour of Horwich Parkway - a non-starter for most Blackrod residents.

30th June 2008

Jim Markland

Jim Markland, railwayman and author, passed away on Friday. Jim was known to north west railway enthusiasts as the author of the highly entertaining "Bolton Engineman" trilogy of books, which chronicle his experiences on the footplate as a Fireman working out of Bolton Shed. The books included memories of working on the Horwich branch

Sadly, the reunion for Bolton Shed, which Jim was instrumental in arranging, will take place this evening at the Ribble Steam Railway without him.

Class 47 move

Green liveried class 47 D1912 (47812) was involved in a route-learning trip today. Photos and video are now on-line.

30th May 2008

Blackrod Loco Works (!)

Old news perhaps, but...

Horwich Works may now be a memory as far as loco building and maintenance is concerned, but Blackrod can claim to be keeping the tradition alive, albeit in a very small way.

Hidden within the borders of the town is a site occupied by Bryn Engineering who are based in Wigan and involved in the restoration of steam locomotives. Amongst their customers are a number of heritage lines such as the Swanage, ELR, Ribble Steam Railway and the Embsay & Bolton Abbey Railway. They have even manufactured components for main-line stalwart; 6201 Princess Elizabeth.

At the Blackrod site, there is a Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0 saddle tank and ex BR class 08 diesel shunter 08628. More information here.

27th May 2008

Steam through Blackrod in June?

"Black Five" no.45231 is due to move from the ELR at Bury to Carnforth as the first stage of a move to Fort William. It seems likely that the loco will pass through Blackrod en-route.

When times become available, I'll post them here.

22nd Feb 2008

Deltic through Blackrod!

The sole main-line-registered class 55 "Deltic" passed through Blackrod this morning. The light-engine move was scheduled so the veteran loco could collect coaching stock from Carnforth, ahead of the Deltic Pioneer railtour which runs tomorrow from Liverpool.

A return light-engine move is planned for Sunday (24th Feb), which should see 55022 Royal Scots Grey heading south through Blackrod at about 18.50.

[Click images to enlarge]

Updates on the way...
I have neglected this site a little recently, concentrating on www.prestonstation.org.uk instead. I do however have some new material to add here, including some revelations about the area around the former Hilton House station. I also have some interesting photos taken in the final days of the Horwich Branch when it was still being used to serve the foundry after the loco works had closed.

There is also a new website on the way, produced by Ian Fitter, specifically about Horwich Station. At present, there is just a holding page, but Ian promises some interesting material, including memories of the last train to leave the station before closure in 1968.
www.horwichstation.org.uk

New-look "Whistler" visits Blackod...

Class 40 no. 40145 passed through Blackrod twice on Saturday 28th hauling the Fishwick Centenarian rail tour.

This was the first outing for the loco since being repainted and named East Lancashire Railway at the ELR just days before. The repaint has caused some controversy in preservation circles since no class 40 ever carried the "Large Logo" livery whilst in service. Class 37s, 47s and 50s were most associated with the variation of corporate blue which only came into use after the class 40s had been withdrawn.

In the 70s and 80s, class 40s, with their characteristic whistling turbochargers, were a common site and sound at Blackrod, hauling passenger and mail trains as well as freight trains in and out of Horwich Locomotive Works.

Again, thanks to my Dad for taking the photo. There are more photos of this train on my other website www.prestonstation.org.uk/visitors.html , taken 30 mins later at Preston.

MORE Steam in 2007

Less than two months after a visit by "The Duke" (see below), Saturday 30th June saw another steam locomotive pass through Blackrod. This time it was "Black 5" no. 45407 hauling the Cumbrian Mountain Express from Manchester Victoria to Carlisle - via the Settle & Carlisle line on the outward journey and over Shap on the return.

This photograph was taken by my father (thanks Dad!) on the morning Northbound run. The train also passed through on its way back to Manchester that evening.

[Click on the picture for a larger version ]

Blackrod Steam in 2007!

It's rare that Blackrod sees anything other than DMUs these days, but a steam loco is very rare indeed. Here is a short video of 71000 Duke of Gloucester passing through on its way back to the East Lancs Rly, having hauled the North Briton railtour from Bristol to Preston on the 8th April 2007.

Updates

29th May 2007
Photo added to the Hindley Line page - thanks to Jon Fitness for the photo.

Previous updates:
(26th May 2007)
A rare photo of the C&N works shunter "Douglas" (thanks to StanWithers) added to the Cook & Nuttals page.
(6th March 2007)
You wait ages for updates and two come along at once (well OK, over 2 months apart). This time, thanks go to Stan Withers for permission to use his photographs on the website. Stan has numerous photographs in his personal collection and has a selection on offer over at Ebay - Seller ID mcnamee39. The new photos can be found on the Horwich Branch and Horwich Station pages.(27/1/2007)
It's been far too long since I added to the site. I am very grateful to Ian Ingham and Haydn Tomlinson for their contributions which have resulted in major updates to the Signalbox page, including some excellent photographs of the box in the 80s and 90s. More of David's photos will be added soon...
(4/7/2006)
NEW Guestbook! and update to Cooke & Nuttalls page. The old one stopped working, so here's a new one!
(15/12/2005)
I have added a few more pictures and updated text on the Intro, Northbound, Maps and Hindley Line pages. AB

Thanks to all those who have contacted me after reading the mark-1 version of the site (a surprising number!) - particularly Lynne who put me in contact with her father George Harding who was Station Master at Blackrod during the 50s and early 60s. Also, belated thanks to Ian Threlfall for historical information including the station names detailed here.

If you have anything which might be useful on the site, please get in contact. I am particularly interested in photographs of the station in the 70s and early 80s, and in interior shots of the signal box.

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Last Updated December 2005 - New Introduction / photos.

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