St Helens Central (GCR) railway station

1908 OS Map showing St. Helens Central (GCR) Station & Goods Yard

Former Engine Shed, now end part of factory building. Note smoke louvres

Remains of Standish Street bridge which carried the rail link from Lowton St. Mary's into the terminus at St. Helens

Liverpool - Wigan Merseyrail City Line (ex-LNWR) Northern Rail Sprinter DMU passes underneath pier remnants of St. Helens GCR viaduct at Pocket Nook just east of the station.

St Helens Central (GCR) railway station served the town of St Helens, England with passenger traffic between 1900 and 1952 (and goods traffic until 1965). It was the terminus of a branch line from Lowton St Mary's.

History

The Liverpool, St Helens and South Lancashire Railway, which ran from a junction with the Wigan Junction Railways (WJR) to the north of Lowton St Mary's,^[1] opened for goods and mineral traffic in 1895, but passenger services did not commence until January 1900.^[2] The formal opening was on 2 January with public services beginning the following day,^[3] being operated by the Great Central Railway,^[1] which was already operating the WJR.^[4] Most services ran through to Manchester Central.^[5] The station opened with the commencement of public passenger services on 3 January 1900 and was originally named St Helens.^[6]

The total area of the station and goods facilities covered eight acres (approximately three-and-a-quarter hectares), however the passenger section only consisted of one platform with a somewhat rudimentary wooden canopy shelter (compared to the brick-built booking office). This was in contrast to the comprehensive goods sidings, weighbridge, travelling crane and large goods shed. Access to the complex was from the north-eastern corner via a double track bridge over Standish Street. The line then divided into two, the northern branch proceeding into the Pilkington Cowley Hill works site being purely for goods traffic, the other line running to the east. This crossed the LNWR line at Pocket Nook on a single line viaduct. This was originally intended to be double track, but due to difficulties in obtaining sufficient land and clearances plus rising costs, the viaduct was eventually forced to be completed as a single line structure.

Similar financial considerations caused the line to terminate at St. Helens. The original plan was for the line to continue westwards towards Liverpool via proposed stations at Dentons Green, Knowsley and Croxteth Park to a junction with the CLC Lines at Fazakerley, from which point there would be easy access to both Southport and Liverpool.^[7]

The station was renamed St Helens Central on 1 March 1949 but closed three years later to passenger traffic on 3 March 1952.^[6] It continued to be used for goods until 4 January 1965, when it closed completely.^[8] The name was later given in 1987 to St Helens Shaw Street station on the Liverpool–Wigan line of the former London and North Western Railway.^[6]

Remaining structures

Not a great deal of evidence remains; a wall section of the bridge at Standish Street is still in existence as is the engine shed - however for many years this has been part of a factory building. Sections of heavily overgrown viaduct abutments and piers still remain but as for the station, goods yard, booking office, signal box, turntable and track, these are long since gone, having been replaced by a large car park, Police station, offices and court buildings.

Notes

References

• Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508. 
• Dow, George (1962). Great Central, Volume Two: Dominion of Watkin, 1864-1899. Shepperton: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-1469-8. 
• Dow, George (1965). Great Central, Volume Three: Fay Sets the Pace, 1900-1922. Shepperton: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0263-0. 
• Tolson, J.M. (1982). St. Helens railway : its rivals and successors. Usk: Oakwood Press. ISBN 0-85361-292-7. 
• Pixton, Bob (1996). Widnes and St. Helens Railways. Stroud: Chalford Publishing Co. ISBN 0-7524-0751-1. 
• Wright, Paul (20 April 2010). "Disused Stations: St. Helens Central Station". Retrieved 21 August 2013. 

External links

• St Helens Central Station on navigable 1948 O.S. map
• St. Helens Central at Disused Stations Site Record