Hindley South railway station

Hindley South
Location
Place	Hindley
Area	Wigan
Coordinates	53°31′36″N 2°35′10″W / 53.5266°N 2.5860°W / 53.5266; -2.5860Coordinates: 53°31′36″N 2°35′10″W / 53.5266°N 2.5860°W / 53.5266; -2.5860
Grid reference	SD613036
Operations
Original company	Wigan Junction Railways
Pre-grouping	Great Central Railway
Post-grouping	LNER
Platforms	2[1]
History
1 April 1884	Opened as "Strangeways and Hindley"[2]
1 January 1892	Renamed "Hindley and Platt Bridge"[2]
1 July 1950	Renamed "Hindley South"
2 November 1964	Closed
Disused railway stations in the United Kingdom
Closed railway stations in Britain A B C D–F G H–J K–L M–O P–R S T–V W–Z
UK Railways portal

GCR lines to St Helens and Wigan
Wigan Central Wigan Darlington Street Springs Branch Ince Lower Ince Hindley Southport to M'cr Pemberton, avoiding Wigan Springs Branch Jct "The Whelley Loop" (Lancashire Union Rly) Strangeways West Jct Hindley South Strangeways East Jct Platt Bridge Manchester & Wigan Rly Bickershaw and Abram Park Lane Halt West Leigh and Bedford St Helens Central (GCR) St Helens Central Liverpool–Wigan line Haydock Haydock Colliery Tunnel Ashton-in-Makerfield Haydock Park Golborne South WCML Golborne North LSH&SLR WJR Lowton St Mary's Jct Lowton St Mary's Kenyon Junction Chat Moss line Culcheth Newchurch Halt Glazebrook Liverpool-M'cr CLC

Map showing the location of Hindley and Platt Bridge passenger and good stations in the early 1900s

Hindley South railway station served the communities of Hindley and Platt Bridge on the southeastern fringe of Wigan, England.^[3]

Location and nearby stations

The station was on the Wigan Junction Railways line, known locally as the "Wigan Central line", which ran from Wigan Central to Glazebrook.^[4][5] It was situated immediately southeast of the A58 bridge over the tracks.^[6]

Until the 1960s Wigan had an unusually large number of intersecting railway lines, nowhere more so than in the south east of the town. Hindley South had a three-way junction immediately to the north, with arms west and north in both directions onto and from the "Whelley Loop" and northwest to Lower Ince and Wigan Central.^[7] It also had a two-way junction immediately to the south, which enabled trains to continue southeast along the Central line to Bickershaw and Abram and Manchester Central or to veer east onto the Manchester and Wigan Railway (MWR) line to Tyldesley and Manchester Exchange.^[8] By 2015 all these lines had long been lifted and in places obliterated.

There were other stations serving Hindley at Platt Bridge and Hindley Green on the MWR line.

Hindley station (formerly Hindley North) on the line from Wigan Wallgate to Manchester remained open in 2015.

To add to the mix, Hindley and Platt Bridge goods station was situated immediately north of the passenger station, being located on a short branch line. A goods station named "Hindley and Amberswood" also served Hindley on the Whelley Loop.

Services

The service patterns in 1895, 1947 and 1962 are fully documented in the authoritative Disused Stations website.^[9]

In April 1884 the service pattern was straightforward. Six "Down" (towards Wigan) trains called from Manchester Central. In addition, one "express" called at Glazebrook only and passed Lower Ince without stopping. Of the six, three called at all stations, the remaining three missed some stations between Manchester and Glazebrook. With the exception of the "express" all trains called at all stations between Glazebrook and Wigan. The "Up" service was similar.^[10]

In 1922 six "Down" trains called, All Stations from Manchester Central on "Weekdays" (Mondays to Saturdays), with a further evening train from Lowton St Mary's only. Three other trains called, apparently All Stations from Culcheth, but it is possible they originated from Liverpool Central or Warrington Central and turned west to north at Glazebrook West Junction. One of these trains ran on Fridays and Saturdays Only and the other two ran on Saturdays Only. The "Up" service was broadly similar, but the mix of Saturday Only trains was even more complicated. There was no Sunday service.^[11]

The line through Hindley South was also a diversionary route and a route by which traffic such as Summer Saturday holiday specials could bipass busy spots, such as Wigan. Pixton, for example, has a fine 1961 shot of a Summer Saturday Sheffield to Blackpool train at Lowton St Mary's which will bear right immediately north of Hindley South onto the Whelley Loop and then join the WCML at Standish, bipassing Wigan altogether.^[12]

Opening, naming and closure

The station opened as "Strangeways and Hindley" in 1884. It was renamed "Hindley and Platt Bridge" in 1892, only to be renamed for the final time as "Hindley South" in 1950. The station was closed on 2 November 1964, when the line closed to passengers.^[13] The line closed to goods in 1965.

The station in 2015

By 2015 the site had been razed, though the A58 bridge still rose to cross the erstwhile tracks.

References

Sources

• Bradshaw, George (1985) [July 1922]. July 1922 Railway Guide. Newton Abbot: David and Charles. ISBN 978-0-7153-8708-5. OCLC 12500436. 
• Butt, R. V. J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199. 
• Dow, George (1962). Great Central, Volume Two Dominion of Watkin 1864-1899. Shepperton: Ian Allan. ISBN 978-0-7110-1469-5. OCLC 655324061. 
• Pixton, Bob (1996), The Archive Photographs Series Widnes and St Helens Railways, The Chalford Publishing Company, ISBN 978-0-7524-0751-7 
• Smith, Paul; Turner, Keith (2012). Railway Atlas Then and Now. Shepperton: Ian Allan. ISBN 978-0-7110-3695-6. 
• Sweeney, Dennis (2013). The Wigan Junction Railways. Leigh: Triangle Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9550030-5-9. 

External links

• "Hindley South". Disused Stations UK. 
• "Services". Disused Stations UK. 
• "The station on a 1948 OS Map". npe maps. 
• "Hindley and Platt Bridge on a 1909 OS map". National Library of Scotland. 
• "Station and line overlain on many maps". Rail Map Online. 
• "The line and mileages". Railway Codes.