Horwich Station

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Horwich Station

Horwich opened to passengers in 1869, some 27 years after Blackrod. The style and scale of the buildings are however, very similar. Like Blackrod, there was a goods shed & booking office, but only a single platform. At the time, no one was aware of the huge affect that the railway would have on the town in the not-too-distant future. However, like most towns, it grew steadily after the arrival of the railway. Just 16 years later, the decision was made to site the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway's Locomotive Works at Horwich. That decision transformed the town, providing ample employment and prosperity for a century to come.

The station at Horwich however, unlike other railway centres such as York, Crewe and Swindon, remained a modest affair until it was closed as part of the Beeching cuts in 1965. The station lasted just long enough to see in the diesel era, closing just 2 years before the end of steam on Britain's railways.

above This photograph, in BR days shows the station still substantially used. It is likely that the picture shows men from the Locomotive Works either arriving for work or leaving at the end of the day. At other times, the station was sparsely used and was an obvious target for Dr Beeching. The locomotive works would have been about a 5 minute walk from here, and it seems strange that a platform was never provided at the Works itself.

left looking towards the buffers, the shed is visible to the left and the line of rooftops is that of Lee Lane / Church Street. The station site is now a green area, "Station Park".

Both photographs from the

HMRS Brian Hilton Collection

left 42426 on the 16:54 sx service to Manchester Victoria. This would have take the Horwich Fork line, thereby avoiding Blackrod station. Horwich seems to have still been busy at this time, this being the first of two departures in the space of 5 minutes!

Photo by Stan Withers.

right 84019 in charge of the 16:57 push-pull to Chorley.

Photo by Stan Withers.

4F 44501 at Horwich on the South Lancs Railtour

21/9/63

Horwich Station is covered in depth on Ian Fitter’s excellent web-site :