Oldham Road railway station (Ashton-under-Lyne)

This article is about the Oldham Road railway station in Ashton-under-Lyne. For other stations named Ashton, see Ashton railway station (disambiguation)

Not to be confused with Oldham Road railway station (Manchester).

Oldham Road
General information
Location	Ashton-under-Lyne, Tameside England
Coordinates	53°29′32″N2°05′57″W / 53.4922°N 2.0991°W / 53.4922; -2.0991
Grid reference	SJ 935 995
Platforms	2
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	Oldham, Ashton and Guide Bridge Junction Railway (OA&GB)
Pre-grouping	OA&GB
Post-grouping	OA&GB
Key dates
26 August 1861 (1861-08-26)	Opened for passengers
1 February 1863	Opened for freight
4 May 1959 (1959-05-04)	Closed to passengers
20 June 1966	Closed to freight

v t e Oldham, Ashton and Guide Bridge Junction Railway
Legend
L&YR to Rochdale LNWR to Greenfield Oldham Glodwick Road Oldham Mumps (LNWR) Oldham Mumps L&YR to Manchester Oldham Central Oldham Clegg St GCR Clegg St Goods LNWR Clegg St Goods GCR Scottfield Goods Viaduct Park Bridge Ashton Oldham Road L&YR to Droylsden Ashton Charlestown GCR curve from 1911 L&YR to Stalybridge Ashton Moss (1861-62) LNWR Oldham Road Goods LNWR link from 1876 LNWR to Droylsden Removed in 1938 GCR to Stalybridge GCR to Manchester Guide Bridge LNWR goods GCR to Hyde LNWR to Stockport
Legend Oldham, Ashton and Guide Bridge Junction Railway London and North Western Railway Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Great Central Railway End of electrified section from Guide Bridge

Oldham Road railway station was two stations, one passenger and one goods, located either side of the L&YR main line and either side of Oldham Road, that served the town of Ashton-under-Lyne.

Passenger station

The station opened on 26 August 1861 when the Oldham, Ashton-under-Lyne and Guide Bridge Junction Railway (OA&GB) opened its line from Guide Bridge to Oldham Clegg Street. ^{[lower-alpha 1] [2]}

Location and description

The station was located shortly after a branch to the north off the main Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) that the OA&GB had to cross. It was in a cutting on the east side of Oldham Road, which crossed the railway on an overbridge, there were two platforms connected by a footbridge, with single storey station buildings containing a booking office, ladies room, general waiting room, station master's office and a porters' room on the northern, up side, platform. ^[3] The station was accessed by a ramp down from the junction of Oldham Road and Boodle Street to the southern platform. Two sidings were located to the south of the running line in 1895. ^{[lower-alpha 2] [5]}

The footbridge was still extant in 1910 but was declared unsafe in 1914 and the access arrangements changed, the ramp down to the southern platform was lengthened and an additional set of steps was provided half way along the platform going to Boodle Street, a small booking office was located on the platform at this time. ^[6] A set of steps led down from Oldham Road onto the northern platform. The goods sidings had expanded considerably on both sides of the running lines and a signal box was sighted off the end of the southern platform. Station hand-books indicate that the passenger station only dealt with passengers and parcels, the sidings use is unknown. ^{[7] [8] [9] [10] [11]}

Services

In 1861 the station was served by eleven down trains and eight up on weekdays, with five services each way on Sundays. ^[12] By 1895 the station had twenty three OA&GB services each way with an extra one on Saturdays. there were eleven services each way on Sundays. ^[13] In addition there were eight or nine LNWR services to and from Stockport, most of these going to or from Rochdale, one of the services having a through carriages to London Euston. ^[14]

Closure

The passenger station closed on 4 May 1959 following the withdrawal of passenger services on the line. ^{[2] [15]}

Goods station

Whilst the passenger station belonged to the OA&GB its associated goods yard, belonged to the LNWR, one of the two railways operating the OA&GB via a leasing arrangement. It was located west of Oldham Road and to the south of L&YR main line with its own connection to the main OA&GB line. The OA&GB opened to freight traffic on 1 February 1863. ^{[7] [16]}

The goods yard was able to accommodate most types of goods including live stock, it had a brick built two-storey warehouse, with two tracks running through it, that opened in 1878. ^[17] The yard was equipped with a ten-ton crane. ^[9]

Goods services were withdrawn on 20 June 1966. ^[18]

1912 map of railway lines in the area

Preceding station		Disused railways		Following station
Ashton Moss		Oldham, Ashton and Guide Bridge Railway Leased jointly by L&NW & GC		Park Bridge

References

Notes

1. The Oldham, Ashton-under-Lyne and Guide Bridge Junction Railway was the full name of the railway as defined in its enabling Act, it was often shortened by the omission of -under-Lyne and Junction. ^[1]
2. Down trains usually headed away from the major conurbation, usually London, some railway companies ran 'up' to their headquarters location, in this case 'up' trains were going to Oldham Clegg Street and 'down' trains to Manchester London Road. ^[4]

Citations

1. "Oldham, Ashton-under-Lyne and Guide Bridge Junction Railway: An Act for the Construction of Railways to supply direct Communication between Oldham, Ashton-under-Lyne, and Guide Bridge, and for the Accommodation of the Neighbourhood. Local Act, 20 & 21 Victoria I, c. cxxxvii". UK Parliamentary Archives. 1857. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
2. Quick 2022, p. 57.
3. Pixton 2021, p. 130.
4. Simmons 1997, p. 548.
5. "Ordnance Survey six-inch map Lancashire CV.NW". National Library of Scotland. 1895. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
6. Pixton 2021, p. 129.
7. "Ordnance Survey six-inch map Lancashire CV.NW". National Library of Scotland. 1910. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
8. "Ordnance Survey 25 inch map Lancashire CV.6". National Library of Scotland. 1922. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
9. Oliver & Airey 1894, p. 13.
10. The Railway Clearing House 1970, p. 28.
11. The Railway Clearing House 1938, p. 28.
12. Dow 1959, p. 286.
13. Bradshaw 2011, table 461.
14. Bradshaw 2011, table 333.
15. Hurst 1992, p. 14 (ref 0657).
16. Marshall 1981, p. 148.
17. Pixton 2021, p. 126.
18. Clinker 1978, p. 5.

Bibliography

• Bradshaw, George (2011) [December 1895]. Bradshaw's Rail Times for Great Britain and Ireland December 1895: A Reprint of the Classic Timetable Complete with Period Advertisements and Shipping Connections to All Parts. Midhurst: Middleton Press. ISBN   978-1-908174-11-6. OCLC   832579861.
• Clinker, C.R. (October 1978). Clinker's Register of Closed Passenger Stations and Goods Depots in England, Scotland and Wales 1830–1977. Bristol: Avon-Anglia Publications & Services. ISBN   0-905466-19-5. OCLC   5726624.
• Dow, George (1959). Great Central, Volume One: The Progenitors, 1813-1863. London: Locomotive Publishing Company. OCLC   60021205.
• Hurst, Geoffrey (1992). Register of Closed Railways: 1948-1991. Worksop, Nottinghamshire: Milepost Publications. ISBN   0-9477-9618-5.
• Marshall, John (1981). Forgotten Railways:North-West England. David & Charles. ISBN   0-7153-8003-6.
• Oliver, Henry; Airey, John (1894). Hand-book and Appendix of Stations, Junctions, Sidings, Collieries, &c., on the Railways in United Kingdom.
• Pixton, Bob (2021). Joint line operation around Manchester and in South Yorkshire. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Books Ltd. ISBN   978-1-5267-3595-9. OCLC   1253032935.
• Quick, Michael (2022) [2001]. Railway passenger stations in Great Britain: a chronology (PDF). version 5.04. Railway & Canal Historical Society. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 November 2022.
• Simmons, Jack (1997). "'up' and 'down'". In Simmons, Jack; Biddle, Gordon (eds.). The Oxford Companion to British Railway History From 1603 to the 1990s (1st ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 548. ISBN   0-19-211697-5.
• 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. ISBN   0-7153-5120-6.
• The Railway Clearing House (1938). Official Hand-book of Railway Stations 1938. London: The Railway Clearing House.

Further reading

• Hooper, John (2006). An Illustrated History of Oldham's Railways. Irwell Press. ISBN   9781871608199.
• Bairstow, Martin (1987). The Manchester and Leeds Railway:The Calder Valley Line. M. Bairstow. ISBN   9780951030264.