Park Lane Halt railway station

Park Lane Halt
Location
Place	Bickershaw
Area	Wigan
Coordinates	53°30′08″N 2°34′24″W / 53.5023°N 2.5732°WCoordinates: 53°30′08″N 2°34′24″W / 53.5023°N 2.5732°W
Grid reference	SD620007
Operations
Original company	Wigan Junction Railways
Pre-grouping	Great Central Railway
Post-grouping	LNER
Platforms	2 (probable)
History
by July 1923	Station opened
by July 1941	Station closed[1][2]
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
UK Railways portal

GCR Lines to St Helens and Wigan
Legend
Wigan Central Wigan Darlington Street Springs Branch Ince Lower Ince Hindley Southport to M'cr Pemberton, avoiding Wigan Springs Branch Jct "The Whelley Loop" (Lancashire Union Rly) Strangeways West Jct Hindley South Strangeways East Jct Platt Bridge Manchester & Wigan Rly Bickershaw and Abram Park Lane Halt West Leigh and Bedford St Helens Central (GCR) St Helens Central Liverpool to Wigan Line Haydock Haydock Colliery Tunnel Ashton-in-Makerfield Haydock Park Golborne South WCML Golborne North LSH&SLR WJR Lowton St Mary's Jct Lowton St Mary's Kenyon Junction Chat Moss Line Culcheth Newchurch Halt Glazebrook Liverpool-M'cr CLC

Map showing the area in the early 1900s

Park Lane Halt railway station was an unadvertised halt which served the communities of Bickershaw and Abram southeast of Wigan, England.

Location and nearby stations

The station was on the Wigan Junction Railways line, known locally as the "Wigan Central line", which ran from Wigan Central to Glazebrook.^[3] It was situated immediately south of the level crossing by which Park Lane crossed the tracks. The word "Halt" in a station name usually implied that it was unstaffed.

Services

The service patterns remain the subject of research. Authoritative printed and on line works on the route make no direct mention of the halt, though one does include an extract of a 1926 OS map on which the halt appears.^[4] It is possible that some service trains made unadvertised calls, but more likely that all 3rd Class unadvertised workmen's trains called. No published extracts from Bradshaw, nor the 1922 version makes any mention of the halt.

An image of a printed Great Central Railway ticket issued to a "Workman" from Park Lane Halt to Wigan Central has been published.^[5] This implies the halt was opened before 1 January 1923 when the Great Central ceased to exist as a separate entity.

The halt is named on OS maps between 1926 and 1952, not before and not after. This latest mention date does not confirm the halt was still open then.

Opening, naming and closure

The line opened in 1884 and closed to passengers on November 2nd 1964, closing completely in 1968. The track through the site of the halt was subsequently lifted.

Afterlife

In 2015 the trackbed could be identified and Park Lane itself remained as an unmade private road and bridleway. No trace of the halt survived.

Preceding station	Disused railways			Following station
Bickershaw and Abram Line and station closed		Great Central Railway Wigan Junction Railways		West Leigh and Bedford Line and station closed

References

1. Butt 1995, p. xxx.
2. Croughton, Kidner & Young 1982, p. 111.
3. The line and mileages via railwaycodes
4. Sweeney 2013, p. 57.
5. Croughton, Kidner & Young 1982, p. 35.

Sources

• Butt, R. V. J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-8526-0508-1. OCLC 60251199.
• Croughton, Godfrey; Kidner, Roger W.; Young, Alan (1982). Private and Untimetabled Railway Stations, Halts and Stopping Places X 43. Headington, Oxford: The Oakwood Press. ISBN 0 85361 281 1.
• Sweeney, Dennis (2013). The Wigan Junction Railways. Leigh: Triangle Publishing. ISBN 978-09550030-5-9.

Further reading

• Bradshaw (1986), Bradshaw's July 1922 Railway Guide (reprint), Guild Publishing London
• Dow, George (1962). Great Central, Volume Two: Dominion of Watkin, 1864-1899. Shepperton: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-1469-8.

External links

• The halt not shown in Disused Stations UK
• The halt not shown on timetables via Disused Stations UK
• The station on a 1948 OS Map via npe maps
• The halt not on a 1913 OS map via National Library of Scotland
• The halt on a 1926 OS map via National Library of Scotland
• The halt on a 1938 OS map via National Library of Scotland
• The halt on a 1948 OS map via National Library of Scotland
• The halt not on a 1953 OS map via National Library of Scotland
• The line and mileages via railwaycodes