Lines - The Hilton House Branch
The short link between Blackrod and Crow Nest Junction at Hindley was opened in 1868 as part of a scheme which also involved the White Bear to Boars Head line to the North east (see Intro). It closed again in September 1968, having lasted almost exactly a century. The short stretch of line had two small stations/halts, which came under the jurisdiction of the Station Master at Blackrod.
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Pictured around 1974, this photo is taken looking northwards towards the station. The Hilton House branch lines (left) have been lifted, but the trackbed and bridge are still in place. The original stone bridge was extended with a steel span over the later branch lines. The branch lines ran parallel with with the main line for a short stretch under this bridge before joining at Horwich Fork Junction, immediately before the south-facing connection off the Horwich Branch. This bridge remained in-situ until the late 1990s, but all trace has now gone. |
The Hilton House Branch, left the Bolton - Preston line just south of Blackrod station at Horwich Fork Junction (which also includes the junction of south-fork of the Horwich Branch onto the main line). From there, it curved away westwards across the fields and crossed the A6 at Hilton House itself. Hilton House stands on the east side of the A6 and now forms part of the modern hotel complex which was built around the Georgean House Hotel.
Signalman Chris Baines recalls; "With regard to the closure of the line to Dobbs Brow in September 1968 I was the Signalman on Duty at Horwich Fork Junction that night,and the last train was the Saturday night Manchester to Aberdeen postal hauled by a class 47 loco."
"During the last few years, the only regular passenger train which was booked over the branch was the 1715 Manchester Victoria to Blackpool North plus the Manchester to Glasgow and Aberdeen Postal's on Satuday nights..A few freight trains came that way. The Bamfurlong to Howich freight and the Mersey rail coaches for maintenance at Horwich works,also the Chorley Lino train to Wigan until the facility closed at Chorley."
Thanks to Chris Baines for this persnal account
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This photograph was taken a short time after the line was dismantled - presumably in the early 70s. Taken from the other side of the A6 to the picture above, the building to the left of the track-bed is Hilton House itself, and the station would have been out of sight behind the embankment which has already replaced the bridge under the A6. In the 1963 shot above, there is a post visible just under the bridge -could that be the signal shown in this picture? The track-bed seems very straight on this side of the road compared with the curve shown above.
Photo by Jon Fitness |
Hilton House - Blackrod's other station!
The first of the two stations on this short line, could be considered as Blackrod's second station, since it lay right on the boundary between Blackrod and Westhoughton.
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This photo is of Hilton House station and signalbox as they looked in 1963. This site is almost unrecognisable now. Not only have all the railway buildings gone, but the area close to the road has been filled to the extent that there is no need for a bridge. Only the building clearly visible across the A6 on the right of the picture is still there. This was once a Public House called the MM Club. The area to the left of that, including the track-bed, is now occupied by the heavily developed Georgian House hotel. Interestingly, Hilton House / The Georgean House is the second building to bear that name, when in the 1840s, the original Hilton House became Hilton Farm. |
Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway drawings dating from the time of the line's construction show a large number of mineral tracks covering the area around Hilton House. The original connection to the main line for these was a few 100 yards south of the later junction, which was built by the L&YR. This older line had a very tight curve which brought the line to the same crossing point on the A6 which was used by the Hindley line thereafter. The 1890 OS maps of the area show most of these lines still in-place, co-existing with the Hilton House line. By the time of the second edition of OS 25in maps around 1900, the mineral lines seem to have been removed, but even today, some of the trackbeds are discernable on aerial photographs such as those on Google Maps.
These mineral lines were associated with the many small coal pits in the area, and were not the only ones within the confines of Blackrod. Theses lines are covered in more detail on the Mineral Lines page.
Some photos of Hilton House on other websites :
http://www.wiganworld.co.uk/album/photo.php?opt=5&id=8050&gallery=Aspull&offset=0
http://www.wiganworld.co.uk/album/photo.php?opt=3&id=15453&gallery=Railways&offset=460
http://www.wiganworld.co.uk/album/photo.php?opt=3&id=15719&gallery=Railways&offset=500
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D380 working 8 18am Blackpool Nth - Man Vic, at Hilton House. Photo : Peter Fitton - 25-Apr-62 |
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42796 southbound LE at Hilton House. Photo : Peter Fitton - 25-Apr-62 |
Dicconson Lane (originally Dicconson Lane & Aspull) Station
Dicconson Lane Station was on the outskirts of Aspull, the town it was primarily intended to serve, and like Hilton House, was a simple halt which had a relatively short life.
 Taken from the Bolton Environmental Services publication "Bolton's Disused Railways", which is available in some of Bolton's libraries. Reproduced by kind permission. |
Information about Dicconson Lane station is hard to find and it doesn't appear on all the maps which show Hilton House, despite the two having closed together in 1954. If the stations had been built at the same time, it would seem reasonable to expect their buildings to be the same. Although they are broadly similar, there are enough differences to conclude that this might not have been the case. |
Some photos of Dicconson Lane on other websites :
http://www.wiganworld.co.uk/album/photo.php?opt=5&id=8048&gallery=Aspull&offset=0
http://www.wiganworld.co.uk/album/photo.php?opt=5&id=8049&gallery=Aspull&offset=0