Two views of 6201 "Princess Elizabeth" on the "York Yuletide Express" from Liverpool on Sunday 13th December 2009, hauling 11 coaches and tailed by 47826. Seen here passing Moston, outbound at about 12.05 and returning at 20.10.
Tags: 6201 46201 Princess Elizabeth York Yuletide Express 2009 Moston 47826
When I came to compile these clips, I discovered that I had no vintage clips of Milnrow: rather a surprise, as I used this station quite a lot in the 1980s, evidently so often that I took it for granted! Milnrow opened in 1863 with the others on this stretch and once had a goods yard on the up side, where the large blue industrial premises now stand. Like nearby New Hey, it suffered the loss of its stone buildings and footbridge, and was downgraded to single-line status, the down platform ...
New Hey once boasted goods yards on both sides of the line, coal being handled on the up side, cotton and other goods on the down. Both closed in the mid-1960s. The LYR cotton warehouse still stands, proudly displaying its origins in the tiled brickwork, despite various attempts over the years to paint it out! An original station on the 1863 line, New Hey like the others saw its station buildings demolished in the early 1970s. After 1978 the footbridge was removed and the down platform track ...
Shaw and Crompton, to give the station its full and correct title, was opened on 2 Nov 1863 along with most of the other stations on the Oldham Mumps to Rochdale line. Also like most of the stations, it had a sizeable goods yard on the down side, where a housing estate now stands. It was, of course, notable for possessing the only level crossing on the line, across Beal Lane, thus retaining its signal box right to the end. The station was not a passenger terminus until the BR reorganisation ...
The extension from Oldham to Rochdale opened on 12 Aug 1863 for goods and 2 Nov for passenger. A mile-long branch to Royton was added on 21 Mar 1864, with a 4-platform station at the junction following on 1 July. When the branch closed in 1966, the main line platforms at Royton Junction were retained (just "Royton" from 1972) but finally closed in 1978. British Rail agreed to keep the platforms intact, in case intended housing development in the sidings area created a resurgence of traffic ...
The extension line from Werneth was opened on 1 November 1847 through two tunnels, Werneth (471 yards long) and Central (449 yards), with Central station lying between the eastern end of the latter and Clegg Street overbridge, where the entrance was (actually the platforms were staggered, with the down side extending under the bridge). The new terminus at Mumps was only 1/4 mile further on. Various goods yards and industrial sidings sprang up between and around the two, making the whole area ...
The very first Oldham station, opened on 31 March 1842, Werneth was reached by a branch from the Manchester & Leeds main line at Oldham Junction and the fierce 1 in 27 incline. It was initially worked by a gravity counterbalance system, one line being used for trains (in either direction) and the other for ballast wagons attached to a rope and pulley. The rope haulage system, though safe and simple in operation, was abandoned in 1854 after locos of sufficient power were able to make the ...
The intention of building the Hollinwood branch was both to serve the growing industries of the area and to provide a slightly more easily-graded route to Oldham than that by Middleton Junction and the 1 in 27 Werneth incline. Opened on 17 May 1880, Hollinwood had an extensive goods yard, with cotton warehouse, cattle dock and coal sidings on the up side, and private sidings, with headshunt, serving Ferranti's electrical engineering works on the down side. These were controlled from a ground ...
Tags: oldham loop hollinwood railway station
Failsworth was added to the Hollinwood branch in April 1881, almost a year after the line opened, and was the only station on the line to Rochdale via Oldham not to have had a goods yard, apart from Derker, built much later. It also shared with Derker the distinction of having wooden platforms, though a generous brick-built booking hall and waiting rooms were provided. The station was de-staffed in 1970 and reconstructed in 1972 to have ramps (part-way up) to both platforms; previously the ...
Tags: oldham loop failsworth railway station
Some clips of Oldham line stations, comparing views of about 20 years ago with latter-day views, before closure on 3 Oct 2009. Miles Platting station was opened on 1 Jan 1844, when the 1 in 49/66 branch down to the new Victoria station was opened by the Manchester & Leeds Railway, replacing the original 1839 terminus at Oldham Road (converted to goods use).Rope-worked at first, the incline was soon found to be within the range of loco power alone and the rope system was abandoned in 1846 ...
