Sutton Oak railway station

Sutton Oak
Location
Place	The Sutton area of St Helens
Area	St Helens
Coordinates	53°26′23″N 2°42′33″W / 53.439589°N 2.709201°WCoordinates: 53°26′23″N 2°42′33″W / 53.439589°N 2.709201°W
Grid reference	SJ529938
Operations
Original company	St Helens and Runcorn Gap Railway
Pre-grouping	London and North Western Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway
Platforms	2[1]
History
1852	Station opened as "Sutton"
1 November 1864	Renamed "Sutton Oak"
18 June 1951	Station closed
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St Helens & Runcorn Gap Railway
Legend
Liverpool and Bury Railway Rainford Junction Skelmersdale Branch Liverpool and Bury Railway Rainford Village Rookery Old Mill Lane Crank Halt Moss Bank Pilkington Glass Gerards Bridge Liverpool to Wigan Line to Wigan North Western St Helens Central (original GCR station) St Helens Central Liverpool, St Helens and South Lancashire Railway Liverpool to Wigan Line to Liverpool Lime Street Peasley Cross Hays Chemicals Sutton Oak Robins Lane Halt Liverpool and Manchester Railway to Manchester Victoria St Helens Junction Liverpool and Manchester Railway to Liverpool Lime Street Clock Face Union Bank Farm Halt Farnworth & Bold Appleton Ann Street Halt Warrington and Stockport Railway Vladivar Vodka distillery Warrington Arpley Birkenhead Railway Warrington Bank Quay High Level • Low Level Chester to Manchester Line Whitecross Sankey Bridges Fidlers Ferry & Penketh Fiddlers Ferry power station Cuerdley Widnes Loop to Sankey Tanhouse Lane Widnes Central Cheshire Lines Committee (Liverpool to Manchester) Hough Green Widnes South Runcorn Gap(2nd) Runcorn Gap(1st) swing bridge Widnes Dock Ditton Mill London and North Western Railway to Weaver Junction & Euston Runcorn Bridge Ditton Junction Halebank Speke 1864 extension to Liverpool Church Road Garston Garston Container terminal Garston Dock Garston and Liverpool Railway to Hunts Cross Hunts Cross chord Liverpool South Parkway to Liverpool Central Allerton West Allerton Mossley Hill Sefton Park Wavertree Liverpool and Manchester Railway Edge Hill Liverpool Lime Street

Sutton Oak railway station served the southern area of St Helens, England. The station was on the central section^[2][3] of the St Helens and Runcorn Gap Railway which was later absorbed by the London and North Western Railway.^[4]

History

The station first appeared on public timetables in 1852^[5] and closed completely on 18 June 1951, when passenger trains were withdrawn between Widnes and St Helens.^[6][7]

Services

Two services called at Sutton Oak:

St Helens Central to Ditton Junction via Widnes South - The Ditton Dodger

and

St Helens to St Helens Junction, often continuing to Warrington Bank Quay

In 1922 nine "Down" (northbound) Ditton Junction trains a day called at Sutton Oak, 'One class only' (i.e. 3rd Class) and 'Week Days Only' (i.e. not Sundays). The "Up" service was similar. Some of these travelled beyond Ditton Junction to Runcorn or Liverpool Lime Street.^[8]

In 1951 the Ditton Junction service was sparser but more complex. Six trains called in each direction, Monday to Friday, the early morning ones providing both 1st and 3rd Class accommodation. On Saturdays four trains called in each direction, 3rd Class only. No trains called on Sundays.^[9]

In 1922 no fewer than twentyone St Helens Junction trains called in each direction, Monday to Saturday, with three on Sundays.^[10]

This level of service was maintained or even increased into the 1930s, but was cut back during WW2. After the war the St Helens Junction services were restored to earlier levels. For example, in the early 1960s there were thirty-three trains in each direction. From 1951, however, these trains passed the closed Sutton Oak.

Intensive though this service was, it was listed in The Beeching Report for withdrawal and it ended on 14 June 1965.^[11]

Preceding station	Disused railways			Following station
Peasley Cross Line and station closed		London and North Western Railway St Helens and Runcorn Gap Railway		Clock Face Line and station closed
		London and North Western Railway		Robins Lane Halt Line and station closed

References

Notes

1. Pixton 1996, p. 68
2. Engineers' Line Reference SHS1 via railwaycodes
3. Smith & Turner 2012, Map 45
4. Paul Wright (20 April 2010). "Station Name: SUTTON OAK". Disused Stations. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
5. A detailed history via Disused Stations UK
6. A detailed history via Disused Stations UK
7. Pixton 1996, p. 68
8. Bradshaw 1922, p. 495
9. Pixton 1996, p. 86
10. Bradshaw 1922, p. 502
11. A detailed history via Disused Stations UK

Sources

• Bradshaw (1986), Bradshaw's July 1922 Railway Guide (reprint), Guild Publishing London
• Pixton, Bob (1996), The Archive Photographs Series Widnes and St Helens Railways, The Chalford Publishing Company, ISBN 0 7524 0751 1
• Smith, Paul; Turner, Keith (2012), Railway Atlas Then and Now, Ian Allan Publishing, ISBN 978 0 7110 3695 6

External links

• "Disused Stations". Subterranea Britannica.
• The station on a 1888-1913 Overlay OS Map via National Library of Scotland
• The History of Transport in Sutton via suttonbeauty
• the station on a 1948 OS Map via npe maps
• an illustrated history of the line via 8D Association