Helsby and Alvanley railway station

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Helsby and Alvanley
General information
Location Helsby, Cheshire West and Chester
England
Coordinates 53°16′01″N2°46′18″W / 53.2669°N 2.7716°W / 53.2669; -2.7716 Coordinates: 53°16′01″N2°46′18″W / 53.2669°N 2.7716°W / 53.2669; -2.7716
Grid reference SJ485747
Platforms1
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original company West Cheshire Railway
Pre-grouping Cheshire Lines Committee
Post-grouping Cheshire Lines Committee
London Midland Region of British Railways
Key dates
1 September 1869Opened for goods
22 June 1870Opened for passengers
1 May 1875Closed to passengers
October 1936Reopened for passengers
22 May 1944Closed for passengers
9 September 1963Reopened for passengers
6 January 1964Closed for passengers
2 March 1964Closed for goods (except for a private siding)
14 September 1991Line closed

Helsby and Alvanley railway station was one of two railway stations serving the village of Helsby in Cheshire. The station was the terminus of the Helsby branch operated by the Cheshire Lines Committee and later British Railways. It has since been closed. The other station, Helsby railway station, remains open.

Contents

Location

The station was located on the eastern side of Chester Road (the A56), in Helsby, Cheshire, England. Alvanley was a village located to the south of Helsby and the station was situated on that side of the town, that, and the fact that the other station, belonging to the Birkenhead Railway (formerly the Birkenhead, Lancashire and Cheshire Junction Railway) had opened in 1852 and already taken the name Helsby, led to the station being called Helsby and Alvanley. [1]

History

The station was planned and authorised by Parliament in 1861 and 1862 as part of the West Cheshire Railway (WCR). Helsby was the terminal station although the prime reason for the lines construction was to provide a freight link to Birkenhead docks via the Birkenhead Railway. [2]

Frodsham & Helsby 1914 Frodsham & Helsby Dolgelley & Middle Wood RJD 106.jpg
Frodsham & Helsby 1914

In 1865, before the line opened in 1869, the WCR became part of the Cheshire Lines Committee (CLC) and it was not long afterwards, in 1875, that the CLC opened its extension to Chester which effectively turned the Helsby branch into a goods branch, this affected how the branch was operated, the station had a chequered, and confusing, history of openings: [1] [2] [3]

Construction of the link beyond the station to connect with the Birkenhead Railway at West Cheshire Junction was delayed and the junction [lower-alpha 1] did not open until 14 June 1871. [2]

Facilities

The passenger station had a single platform with a two-storey station building. [4] On the other side of Chester Road was a goods siding equipped with a 5-ton crane, there were sidings for the Runcorn and Helsby Stone Co. and BICC (in 1904 it was still the Telegraph Manufacturing Co.). [7] Locomotives had been stabled and turned here since the lines opening as there was a need to change engines to access the Birkenhead Railway as running powers over their railway had not been granted. A two-road engine shed was provided between 1893 and 1929. [8]

Preceding station Disused railways Following station
Ince and Elton
Line and station open		  Cheshire Lines Committee
West Cheshire Railway 		  Manley
Line and station closed

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References

Notes

  1. ↑ The junction was known as the West Cheshire Junction according to Dyckhoff (1999) [2] and as Helsby Junction in RCH maps [6]

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Butt, R. V. J. (October 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. p. 118. ISBN   978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC   60251199. OL   11956311M.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Dyckhoff, Nigel (1999). Portrait of the Cheshire Lines Committee. Shepperton: Ian Allan Publishing. pp. 74–75. ISBN   0711025215.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Bolger, Paul (1984). An illustrated history of the Cheshire lines committee. Heyday. pp. 24–25. ISBN   978-0-947562-00-7.
  4. 1 2 Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2013). Chester Northgate to Manchester. Middleton Press. fig. 13. ISBN   9781908174512. OCLC   892704846.
  5. ↑ Hurst, Geoffrey (1992). Register of Closed Railways 1948–1991. Milepost Publications. p.  79. ISBN   0-947796-18-5.
  6. ↑ The Railway Clearing House (1969) [1915]. The Railway Clearing House Official Railway Junction Diagrams 1915 (1969 D&C Reprint ed.). Newton Abbot: David & Charles Reprints. ISBN   0-7153-4347-5.
  7. ↑ The Railway Clearing House (1970) [1904]. The Railway Clearing House Handbook of Railway Stations 1904 (1970 D&C Reprint ed.). Newton Abbot: David & Charles Reprints. p. 261. ISBN   0-7153-5120-6.
  8. ↑ Bolger, Paul (1984). An illustrated history of the Cheshire lines committee. Heyday. p. 100. ISBN   978-0-947562-00-7.

"Helsby & Alvanley". Disused Stations. Retrieved 20 February 2017.

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