Astley railway station

Astley
Astley signalbox and level crossing
General information
LocationAstley, Wigan
England
Coordinates53°28′14″N 2°27′01″W / 53.4706°N 2.4502°W / 53.4706; -2.4502
Grid referenceSJ704973
Platforms2[1]
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original companyLiverpool and Manchester Railway
Pre-groupingLondon and North Western Railway
Post-groupingLondon, Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
about 1844Station opened
7 May 1956Station closed[2]

Astley was a railway station on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway on Chat Moss to the south of Astley village in what was then the county of Lancashire, England.[3]

History

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Opened in the 1840s by the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, the station became part of the Grand Junction Railway on 8 August 1845. The GJR merged to form the London and North Western Railway on 16 July 1846. The LNWR became part of the London Midland and Scottish Railway during the grouping of 1923. The station then passed to the London Midland Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948 and was closed by the British Railways Board on 7 May 1956. It was subsequently demolished.[4]

From 1914 to 1970 a triangular junction 32 chains (0.64 km) east of the station linked the mineral line from Astley Green Colliery north of the Bridgewater Canal to the main line.[5]

The site today

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Trains on the now electrified, more northerly of the two Liverpool to Manchester Lines still pass through the station site. The buildings have been demolished and a signal box built since the station's closure occupies part of the site. An electrical switching site is being constructed in the vicinity as part of the Manchester - Liverpool (via Earlestown) section of the NW electrification schemes. The level crossing is locked and unlocked by the signaller, but is operated manually by road users.


Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
Flow Moss   Liverpool and Manchester Railway   Lamb's Cottage

References

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Notes

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  1. ^ Fields, Gilbert & Knight 1980, Photo 56
  2. ^ Butt 1995, p. 20.
  3. ^ Smith & Turner 2012, Map 45
  4. ^ Astley, disused-stations.org.uk, retrieved 23 November 2015
  5. ^ Townley et al. 1995, pp. 326 & 387.

Bibliography

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Further reading

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  • Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN 978-0-906899-99-1. OCLC 228266687.
  • Jowett, Alan (March 1989). Jowett's Railway Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland: From Pre-Grouping to the Present Day (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-086-0. OCLC 22311137.
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