Shirdley Hill railway station

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Shirdley Hill railway station (named Shirdley Hill and Scarisbrick on opening) at Shirdley Hill, Lancashire, England was opened to passengers by the Liverpool, Southport and Preston Junction Railway. on the 2 September 1887, on the Hillhouse Junction to Southport Central railway line. Fourteen years later it then came under the jurisdiction of the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway.

On the 1 May 1901 Shirdley Hill then had its northern terminus switched to Southport Chapel Street railway station, with the closing of Southport Central railway station (which became a goods depot until its demolition in the 1960s).

In 1907 the L&Y introduced a service called the Altcar Bob, which consisted of a single railcar, with the engine at one end. The term 'Bob' could have been named for a number of reasons. One of them being that this was local Lancashire slang for a shilling, or another reason is that it could have been named after the driver of the train.

The station closed to passengers on the 26 September 1938, due to early competition from road transport, but the lines remained in use for freight right up to the 21 January 1952. The tracks however, were still in place right up until 1964 for excursion coach storage in sidings adjoining the station.

Today, the site has disappeared under a road named Shaws Garth, situated just off Renacres Lane and a plaque has been erected to commemorate the station's existence.