Grimsargh railway station

Grimsargh
Late 1970s, looking south, towards Preston, over site of level crossing
Location
Place	Preston Road, Grimsargh
Area	Preston
Coordinates	53°48′15″N 2°37′52″W / 53.8043°N 2.6310°W / 53.8043; -2.6310Coordinates: 53°48′15″N 2°37′52″W / 53.8043°N 2.6310°W / 53.8043; -2.6310
Operations
Original company	Preston and Longridge Railway (main station) Lancashire County Council (hospital station)
Pre-grouping	Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway/London and North Western Railway (main station)
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway (main station)
Platforms	2 (1 per station)
History
1 May 1840	Main station opened
1870	Station building erected
1889	Hospital station opened
31 May 1930	Main station closed to passengers
29 June 1957	Hospital station closed
9 November 1967	Main station closed to goods
Disused railway stations in the United Kingdom
Closed railway stations in Britain A B C D–F G H–J K–L M–O P–R S T–V W–Z
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Site of the former station, in 2007. The footpath on the right follows the course of the dismantled line.

Grimsargh railway station was on the single track Preston and Longridge Railway. It served the village of Grimsargh in Lancashire, England.

When the line first opened in 1840, wagons carrying quarried stone ran downhill from Longridge to Preston and were hauled in the other direction by horses.^[1] There were rudimentary passenger facilities at Grimsargh — the nearby Plough Hotel was used as a booking office. It was not until 1870 that a proper station building was constructed, when the line was run jointly by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway and the London and North Western Railway.^[2]

In 1889, the privately run Whittingham Hospital Railway was opened to a second Grimsargh Station which was diagonally opposite the level crossing from the main station. This station had a run-around loop and a connection with the Longridge line facing in the direction of Longridge. Two sidings were also provided. On a single short platform, the station building comprised an open fronted shed of brick and wood with an overall roof and canopy. The building was some 40 ft (12 m) in length by 12 ft (3.6 m) wide with a 10 ft (3 m) waiting room at the Longridge end.^[3] Hospital trains were timed to connect with trains to and from Preston.^[4]

The Longridge-to-Preston line closed to passengers in 1930, but the hospital line continued to be used until 1957 when its single steam locomotive was condemned. The Longridge line's goods service was finally withdrawn in 1967.^[5] The station's buildings were demolished in the late 1970s and houses built on the site, the new houses following the alignment of the former station buildings.

Notes

1. ↑ Till, pp.88–89
2. ↑ Suggitt, p.51
3. ↑ Biddle, pl. 45 and map
4. ↑ Suggitt, p.56
5. ↑ Suggitt, pp.52, 53, & 57

References

• Aubertin, C. (2006) "Solving a Victorian Problem", Steam World, 232 (October), p. 26-31
• Biddle, Gordon (1989) The Railways Around Preston—A Historical Review, Scenes from the past, 6, Foxline Publishing, ISBN 1-870119-05-3
• Suggitt, G. (2003, revised 2004) Lost Railways of Lancashire, Countryside Books, Newbury, ISBN 1-85306-801-2
• Till, J.M. (1993) A History of Longridge and its People, Carnegie Publishing, Preston, ISBN 0-948789-92-1

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  Grimsargh Station remains, late 1970s, looking northeast towards Longridge. The site of the former Hospital station was across the road on the left.

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  The Plough, opposite the station site, which acted as ticket office before the station was built. The footpath to the left, between two fences, follows the course of the dismantled line.