The sad end of Great Harwood Station, rare photos.

The East Lancashire Loop line, Pic Disused Stations

The Great Harwood loop line was a late addition to the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway’s network. It opened in 1877 and closed to passengers in 1957, goods services continued until 1964. Interestingly, the upline remained in place until early 1967 and was used as a diversion if there were problems in Accrington. Moreover, a stub of the line remained to supply coal to Padiham power station. The power station closed in 1993.

Photos of the line are rare and offer a fascinating insight into a less-known part of the network

Jubilee class 45684 ‘Jutland’ passing under the road bridge at Norden on its way to the seaside resort of Morecambe on 28 July 1964. Pic by Geoffrey Robinson

A difficult build, the Great Harwood loop line

Martholme viaduct in 2018, Pic the author

The line proved difficult to build with all the cuttings at one end and all the Embankments at the other. Additionally, the viaduct at Martholme collapsed into an old coal mine during construction. Ironically this structure is now listed and is one of the few surviving bridges on the line.

The line opens

The first part of the East Lancashire loop line opened in 1875. The new line led from a junction at Rose Grove to Padiham. The route from Padiham to Blackburn opened in 1877. The delay being due to the aforementioned viaduct problems.

Martholme Colliery

An interesting use for the line was moving coal from Martholme Colliery. A paper by the Northern Mining Research Society looks at the pit in detail. A siding existed to the pit head and the embankment can still be seen and walked. The mine was worked intermittently from the 1860s until 1930.

Great Harwood station

Great Harwood Station around 1910, pic Disused Stations.

1910 was peak rail in the UK with the most miles of track in operation. Most towns had a station and road competition was minimal. In the image above note the posters for the Isle of Man and the gas mantle lamps. One of the many overbridges can be seen in the distance. The line was in a cutting, overlooked by Railway View on the right behind the signal box. this row still exists. However, the wall that separated the street from railway territory is long gone.

The Disused Stations website is a useful resource and covers Great Harwood station.

End of the line, the footbridge is cut up in December 1965, pic Disused stations

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