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Deepdale Railway Station

Joined
Feb 13, 2013
Messages
104
I'm planning my first trip of the season for the Derby game in September.

Going by car on such a long journey has started to catch up on me so I’ve more lately switched to going by train. As the ground is quite a distance from the station and is awkward by bus it got me thinking how nice it would be if the line extended to the Deepdale area. A friend then told me that there was once such a line which according to Wikipedia opened in 1856, closed to regular passenger traffic in 1930 but was still used for transporting fans to the ground until the 1970’s.

When I first visited in about 1975 I don’t recall seeing / hearing anything about this so am intrigued to learn more.

Does anyone have any recollections about the line; whether you know people who may have used it, the route the line followed and where exactly the station at Deepdale was based.

Any info would be much appreciated.
 
Deepdale Railway Station

I read a book about the old railway lines around Preston last year and this line featured heavily in it - the Longridge line. As far as I recall, the station closed in 1930 as you say but only ever opened for football specials in the 1970s, presumably to keep the idiots apart who were intent on ruining Saturday afternoons for everyone!

I've just googled for the book and it was called The Railways of Preston and there's another called All Stations to Longridge. There's also a couple of links you might be interested in:

https://www.railscot.co.uk/locationnew.php?loc=Preston and Longridge Railway

http://www.prestonstation.org.uk/#
 
I never knew about this. Interesting.

Edit. though now I think about it, I cross the level crossing on Skeffington Road when I park, so it makes sense.
 
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The line is still there, a tram company was trying to get permission to run trams along it.

http://www.prestontrampower.co.uk/

slider1.jpg
 
The particular railway line which is being discussed here, did indeed run from the Longridge area under the bridge at Cromwell Road ( where I used to live) to the Fyffes banana company, where the Deepdale shopping centre is now, and along past Skeffington Road to the "miley" tunnel, St. Paul's Road, the station I believe would have been at "Skevvy" biggest mistake ever made not to have a tram system, all the infrastructure was already there, too near sighted. Just imagine away supporters using that to PNE for home games, save massive policing costs and worries.
There was also a line which went on to the docks ( bananas etc )
 
The particular railway line which is being discussed here, did indeed run from the Longridge area under the bridge at Cromwell Road ( where I used to live) to the Fyffes banana company, where the Deepdale shopping centre is now, and along past Skeffington Road to the "miley" tunnel, St. Paul's Road, the station I believe would have been at "Skevvy" biggest mistake ever made not to have a tram system, all the infrastructure was already there, too near sighted. Just imagine away supporters using that to PNE for home games, save massive policing costs and worries.
There was also a line which went on to the docks ( bananas etc )
There was also the old tramway that went from Avenham park disecting Bamber Bridge and ending at the Leeds Liverpool canal at what is now Clayton Brook. You can still walk along it to Bamber Bridge from Avenham.

http://www.lctrust.co.uk/pages/posts/preston--walton-summit21.php?WindowWidth=1366
 
There was also the old tramway that went from Avenham park disecting Bamber Bridge and ending at the Leeds Liverpool canal at what is now Clayton Brook. You can still walk along it to Bamber Bridge from Avenham.

http://www.lctrust.co.uk/pages/posts/preston--walton-summit21.php?WindowWidth=1366

It's still a lovely walk, nice and gentle but still very interesting. There's also a very interesting section in David Hunt's 'History of Walton Le Dale and Bamber Bridge' about the old tramway.
 
Many thanks to all who have taken the time to comment. Some interesting history there.

It's a pity the proposed tram line looks to be dead in the water - I think most cities who have introduced them have found them to be benefical, well used and generally well received.

Ah well, I suppose I'll just have to leg it to the ground for the foreseeable future.
 
The particular railway line which is being discussed here, did indeed run from the Longridge area under the bridge at Cromwell Road ( where I used to live) to the Fyffes banana company, where the Deepdale shopping centre is now, and along past Skeffington Road to the "miley" tunnel, St. Paul's Road, the station I believe would have been at "Skevvy" biggest mistake ever made not to have a tram system, all the infrastructure was already there, too near sighted. Just imagine away supporters using that to PNE for home games, save massive policing costs and worries.
There was also a line which went on to the docks ( bananas etc )

Last trains ran beyond deepdale up to courtaulds in the seventies at red scar , after that the line stayed open for house coal to deepdale coal depot near the prison , the tram company will use part of the line and it's for clearance so looks like it's gonna happen . The docks line handles bitumen from immingham and uses some of the last British built diesels , the yank locos class 66s weren't strong enough to get up back onto the main line
 
Last trains ran beyond deepdale up to courtaulds in the seventies at red scar , after that the line stayed open for house coal to deepdale coal depot near the prison , the tram company will use part of the line and it's for clearance so looks like it's gonna happen . The docks line handles bitumen from immingham and uses some of the last British built diesels , the yank locos class 66s weren't strong enough to get up back onto the main line

Never bothered one of these....

CH02283.jpg
 
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