The Garstang and Knott End Railway

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The Garstang and Knott End Railway

Principal stations

	Knott End-on-Sea
	Preesall
	Carr Lane
	Pilling
	Cockerham
	Nateby
	Garstang Town
	Garstang and Catterall

The Garstang and Knott End Railway was devised to provide an outlet for farmers around the area of Knott End to transport their produce up and down the country.

In 1863, a prospectus was produced naming six directors of the Garstang and Knot-end Railway. These were: John Russell, Julian Augustus Tarner, Henry Gardner, Colonel James Bourne, Richard Bennett and James Overend. They were given a capital of £60,000 to build an 11.5 mile long railway from a junction with the LNWR to Knott End, passing through and having stations or halts at Garstang Town, Nateby, Cockerham Crossing, Pilling, Carr Lane, Preesall and of course, Knott End.

One of the engines that used the line, the Farmers' Friend, became known locally as the Pilling Pig on account of the squeal made by its whistle. Subsequently this name was given to all engines and today it is often used to refer to the railway itself.

The Pilling to Knott End stretch was closed in 1950; then, in 1963, the remainder of the line closed as a result of the Beeching Axe.

[edit] Locomotives

Black, Hawthorn 0-4-2ST Hebe
Manning Wardle 0-4-0ST Union
Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0ST Farmer's Friend (alias "Pilling Pig")
Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0ST Hope
Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0ST Jubilee Queen
Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0ST New Century
Manning Wardle 0-6-0T Knott End
Manning Wardle 2-6-0T Blackpool

[edit] References

Bairstow, M., (2001), Railways of Blackpool and the Fylde, p. 40-44, Martin Bairstow Publ., ISBN 1-871944-23-6
Conolly, W.P., (1957), Pre-Grouping Atlas and Gazeteer, p. 24, Fifth Ed. Repr. 1997, Ian Allen, ISBN 0-7110-0320-3
Kirkman, R and van Zeller, P., (1991), Rails to the Lancashire Coast, p. 50-52, Dalesman Books, ISBN 1-85568-027-0