Middleton Junction railway station

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Middleton Junction
Middleton Junction railway station (site), Greater Manchester (geograph 6085950).jpg
The site of the station looking north west from Grimshaw Lane. The southern end of the former platforms were just to the right of the bridge.
General information
Location Oldham
England
Coordinates 53°32′27″N2°10′13″W / 53.5408°N 2.1704°W / 53.5408; -2.1704
Grid reference SD887048
Platforms4
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original company Manchester and Leeds Railway
Pre-grouping Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
Post-grouping London, Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
31 March 1842 (1842-03-31)Opened as Oldham Junction
11 August 1842Renamed as Middleton
1852Renamed as Middleton Junction
3 January 1966Closed to passengers
7 November 1966Closed for freight

Middleton Junction railway station was an early junction station on the Manchester and Leeds Railway (M&LR) , it opened when the branch to Oldham opened in 1842.

Contents

The line through station site opened on 4 July 1839 when the Manchester and Leeds Railway opened a railway between Manchester Oldham Road and Littleborough, the first stage of its main line from Manchester to Leeds. [1]

Middleton Junction railway station opened as Oldham Junction on the 31 March 1842 when the M&LR opened the Middleton Junction and Oldham Branch between this new station on the main line and Oldham Werneth. [2] [3] On 11 August 1842 the station was renamed Middleton and in 1852 it started to appear in timetables as Middleton Junction. [4]

The station was located at Lane End in Chadderton, a former hamlet which later adopted the place-name Middleton Junction after the area expanded after the opening of the railway. The station site was immediately north of where Grimshaw Lane (now the B6189) crossed the railway [5]

The station appears to have opened with three platforms, two either side of the mainline and one on the mainline side of the track of the sharply curved branch. [6] The 1848 map shows a building and a few sidings located in the 'v' of the junction. [5]

The station was rebuilt in 1882 and by 1893 there were buildings on all what was now four platforms, two sidings in the 'v' of the junction and a goods yard with a shed to the south west of the mainline. [7] The yard was able to handle livestock and was equipped with a two-ton crane. [8] Further to the south and located on both sides of the main line was Middleton Junction Sidings. [1] [9]

On 5 January 1857 the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) opened another branch, the Middleton Branch, heading westward immediately to the north of the mainline platforms. The branch had only one station its terminus at Middleton. [a] [11]

On 12 August 1914 a goods and coal depot was opened at Chadderton. This was at the end of a 1,097-yard (1,003 m) long line which branched off the Oldham line approximately 400 yards (370 m) from Middleton Junction at Chadderton Junction. [12]

The line from Chadderton Junction to Oldham was closed to regular passengers in 1958 although some diverted services used it in 1960 and completely on 7 January 1963. [1] [13]

The branch line to Middleton closed to passengers on 7 September 1964 and completely on 11 October 1965. [1] [14]

The line through the site is still open but the station closed to passengers on 3 January 1966. [4]

The Chadderton goods and coal depot remained open and in use until 1988 (the track was eventually lifted in September 1991). [15]

Notes

  1. The Manchester and Leeds Railway had become the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway on 9 July 1847. [10]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Brown 2021, p. 90.
  2. Hooper 1991.
  3. Marshall 1970, p. 268.
  4. 1 2 Quick 2022, p. 314.
  5. 1 2 Lancashire Sheet XCVI (Map). Six-inch. Ordnance Survey. 1848.
  6. Bairstow 2001, p. 68.
  7. Marshall 1970, p. 16.
  8. The Railway Clearing House 1970, p. 371.
  9. Lancashire XCVI.8 (Map). 25 inch to the mile. Ordnance Survey. 1893.
  10. Grant 2017, p. 301.
  11. Marshall 1970, p. 271.
  12. Marshall 1970, pp. 38 & 278.
  13. Marshall 1981, p. 145.
  14. Jones, Chris (11 April 2013). "Rail doctor's medicine proved fatal for Middleton station". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  15. "The history of Chadderton Goods and the trains that worked there". Chadderton Goods Branch. Retrieved 29 March 2016.

Bibliography

Preceding station Historical railways Following station
Manchester Oldham Road
to 1844
Line and station closed
Miles Platting
1844–1853
Line open, station closed
Newton Heath
1853–1872
Line open, station closed
Moston
from 1872
Line and station open
  L&YR
Middleton branch
  Middleton
Line and station closed
  L&YR
Caldervale Line
  Mills Hill
Line and station open
  L&YR
Middleton Junction and Oldham Branch
  Oldham Werneth
Line and station closed
Oldham Lines
Past, Present and Future
BSicon CONTg.svg
Kirklees South Lines
to Huddersfield
Delph
BSicon exKHSTa.svg
BSicon eHST.svg
Diggle
Measurements
BSicon exHST.svg
BSicon eKRWgl.svg
BSicon exKRW+r.svg
Dobcross
BSicon exHST.svg
BSicon eHST.svg
BSicon exSTR.svg
Saddleworth
BSicon exKRWl.svg
BSicon eKRWg+r.svg
BSicon exHST.svg
Uppermill
Moorgate Halt
BSicon eHST.svg
BSicon exHST.svg
Friezland
BSicon STR.svg
BSicon exCONTf.svg
Tameside Lines
to Tameside
Rochdale Lines
to Rochdale
BSicon uCONTg.svg
BSicon HST.svg
Greenfield
Shaw and Crompton
BSicon uHST.svg
BSicon xABZgl.svg
BSicon CONTfq.svg
Tameside Lines
to Tameside
Royton
BSicon exKHSTaq.svg
BSicon uemABZg+r.svg
BSicon exHST.svg
Grasscroft
Royton Junction
BSicon uSTR.svg
BSicon exHST.svg
BSicon exHST.svg
Grotton and Springhead
Derker
BSicon uHST.svg
BSicon exHST.svg
Lees
BSicon uKRW+l.svg
BSicon exSHI1l.svg
BSicon uKRWr.svg
BSicon uemSPLa.svg
BSicon exHST.svg
Oldham Glodwick Road
Oldham Mumps (L&YR)
BSicon uSTR.svg
BSicon uexmvHST.svg
BSicon exHST.svg
Oldham Mumps (L&NWR)
Oldham Mumps
BSicon uHST.svg
BSicon uexmvSTR.svg
BSicon uvSTR-emABZgl.svg
BSicon exKRWg+r.svg
Oldham Central
BSicon uHST.svg
BSicon uexmvSTR-HST.svg
BSicon exSTR.svg
Oldham Central
Oldham King Street
BSicon uHST.svg
BSicon uexmvSTR.svg
BSicon exHST.svg
Oldham Clegg Street
Westwood
BSicon uHST.svg
BSicon uexmvSTR-HST.svg
BSicon exSTR.svg
Oldham Werneth
BSicon uSTR.svg
BSicon uexmvSTR.svg
BSicon exCONTf.svg
Tameside Lines
to Ashton
BSicon uKRWl.svg
BSicon exSHI1+l.svg
BSicon uKRW+r.svg
BSicon uexSPLe.svg
Chadderton
BSicon exKDSTaq.svg
BSicon uKRWl.svg
BSicon exKRWg+r.svg
BSicon uKRW+r.svg
Middleton Junction and
Oldham Branch Railway
BSicon POINTER2.svg
BSicon exSTR.svg
BSicon uHST.svg
Freehold
BSicon exSTR.svg
BSicon uHST.svg
South Chadderton
Rochdale Lines
to Middleton and Rochdale
BSicon CONTgq.svg
BSicon xABZg+r.svg
BSicon uHST.svg
Hollinwood
Middleton Junction
BSicon eHST.svg
BSicon uHST.svg
Failsworth
Manchester Lines North
to Manchester
BSicon CONTf.svg
BSicon uCONTf.svg
Manchester Lines North
to Manchester