LNWR DITTON JCN - WIDNES - ST HELENS. Lost Railways
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- čas přidán 13. 04. 2021
- A trip following the, Ditton Dodger, a nickname used for the service between Ditton Junction and St Helens. visiting stations at Widnes South, Ann Street, Appleton, Farnworth & Bold, Clock Face, Union Bank Farm, Sutton Oak, Peasley Cross and St Helens Shaw Street stations. Originally built by the St Helens and Runcorn Gap Railway company, this line became a main artery for coal traffic, with layouts remodeled by the LNWR to reach a larger audience. The passenger traffic lasted until 1951, but the freight lasted thru to the late 80s.
A brief history
St Helens and Runcorn Gap Railway, later known as St Helens Railway, was an early railway company in Lancashire, England, which opened in 1833. It ran originally from the town of St Helens to the area which would later develop into the town of Widnes.
Work on the line proceeded slowly and its costs overran the estimate. It did not open until 1833 but in November 1832 a train with coal wagons ran over the track because of a wager between one of the owners and the engineer that a train would pass over it by December 1832. The line opened officially on 21 February 1833 but the dock was not completed until August 1833. The Liverpool and Manchester line was crossed by an iron bridge south of St Helens. The line was originally intended for freight but public demand led to passenger coaches being added to the rear of the trains, this service starting in September 1833. There was intense competition between the railway and the canal leading to financial difficulties for both companies, the companies agreed to a merger, with the railway company buying out the canal company to form the St Helens Canal and Railway Company (SHCR). The company set about to improve the situation, doubling the track and easing the gradients so that the whole line could be operated by steam locomotives.
The new company then set about planning branch lines and connections. There had been a plan to build northwards from St Helens towards Southport, however this line was built only as far as Rainford. On 21 May 1851 a sharp curve connection had been made on this line from the main line at what was to become known as Widnes Dock Junction. The following year a new Runcorn Gap station was opened nearer to the rapidly growing town of Widnes. In the 1860s people could travel eastwards from Runcorn Gap to Warrington and, from there, to Manchester, London and many other places. They could also travel west to Liverpool by taking a ship at Garston.
By 1860 there was considerable competition between the railway companies. The London and North Western Railway (LNWR) wanted to build a line between Edge Hill and Garston. On 29 July 1864, an act was passed which allowed SHCR to be absorbed by LNWR, and the transfer took place on 31 July 1864. Runcorn Gap station was renamed Widnes station on 1 September 1864.
Widnes Dock Junction and the flat crossing were causing problems of congestion and the LNWR dealt with this by building a deviation line of just under 1.5 miles (2 km) to the north of the original west-east line, crossing the line leading north to St Helens by a bridge. The line was connected to the St Helens line and it included a new station for passengers. With the opening of the line from Weaver Junction across the Mersey on Runcorn Railway Bridge to Ditton Junction, west of Widnes, the Garston extension became part of the Liverpool-London main line. Following the merger of most of Britain's railways into four private companies in 1923, the line from St Helens to Widnes became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS). Large quantities of freight were carried on the line and the passenger train from St Helen's to Ditton Junction station was nicknamed the Ditton Dodger.
Following the end of the Second World War passenger traffic declined and the service provided by the Ditton Dodger ended on 16 June 1951. Freight traffic initially continued to be heavy but it declined during the 1960s. In 1969 the line north from Farnworth and Bold station was singled and in 1975 the line south of the station was also singled. The line closed to through traffic on 1 November 1981.
I travelled over this line from north to south on a rail tour. The train was very long, and it was amusing to see the look of astonishment on people's faces as it went past them. I remember it very clearly, and I still have the paper itinerary and map from that day.
I enjoyed this visit and reconstruction of an important part of St Helens & Widnes History, especially so close to a 200 Year Birthday to celebrate in 2033. One small additional note , if I may. I travelled from Widnes to Lime Street station in Liverpool on a train with stops at Ditton Junction, Halebank, Allerton etc on the way. I did this almost every School day between 1951 to 1958. The railway station next to the Old Widnes Public Baths was named >. The change of name to include SOUTH came later. Again, many thanks for your Video..Frank Laughton April 20th 2021
Was it not called Widnes LMS before it was re-named Widnes South Frank? Farnworth was re-named Widnes North at the same time was it not?
Brilliant !! Well done !!!
Fantastic video! I really enjoyed this.
Thanks for a great show👍🏼
Ditton Station was finally closed in 1994 by rail track
Clicked on on this as soon as the notification appeared.. Widnes is my home town some 50 years ago, My dad was from St helens and used to drive locomotives down the coal mines at clock face pit, now been living in Machester for 50 years.. Watching it now as i post this via my phone.. Great video my friend, been subscribed for some time, look forward to more now that lock down is lifting..
The Line Was The Runcorn Gap And St Helens Railway opened in 1833 and closed in 1981 as a through route and lifted in 1982
the line should be reopened as railways are more enviromently friendly than roads and would relive congestion between widnes and st helens
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Brilliant as always .The cadishead viaduct was fantastic,theres bits there that you left out .Partington junction and the branch line that went into shell.Vegetation has been cleared near cadishead station few things going on at the moment there.Love the railway investigations fab work.
Well researched, I followed your journey on period NLoS maps. It was fascinating viewing the locations all the old 'big name' industries that have disappeared from the face of the earth.
the grass mound next to the road infront of the building called widnes waterfront is all that remains of Lugsdale Road Bridge which was demolished in 1994 for the widnes bypass, the mound can be seen at 2 mins and 58 secs
Great video
very good
Yes a very good run well put together, impressed.
Where the stadium is used to be the biggest bottled glass works in the world. It was never a copper works. The last train on the line to St Helens Junction ran in 1989. The line was being used as far as Baxters Lane Bridge as recent as 2004.
Remember walking the stretch from St helens Junction to Sutton Manor Colliery. The rails were still down and all bridges were still passable, you could still cross the old Luverpool to Manchester Line on an over bridge. How time returning it to nature or redevelopment.
also across from Appleton saw mill on the other side when the st helens and runcorn gap railway opened in 1833, was Thraiss Copper works and widnes oil and gress works both closed in 1930 to be replaced, by Manson's timber which lasted till 1946, when it became Southerns Timber, where my late worked from 1954, till it became Magnet Southerns in the 1970s my late worked on that site till 1986, when Magnet southerns moved to ditton road widnes, the site then became derlict till 1994 when it became P And O, which then closed in 2004 then it was delict till 2016, when the buildings where demolished and housing esate is on the site
Have you explored the original st. helens central route via haydock? And I notice that network rail are using the old style overhead line masts again, just like those used in the early 60's.
The council are currently fighting to get the line from st.helens central to st.hekens junction re opened with funding from Liverpool city region for regeneration of the town
The sooner the better. It's been an absolute waste just leaving it to rot. The reopening of the link would be a huge boost to the town.
Thought that station by halebank was fenced off how did you get on it
Where's that bridge at 28:18? I've searched for it on google maps but can't find it, or the road under it. Or is it so buried under trees that it's hidden? But which road is that under it?
Between the stadium and the railway look for yellow markings on the road with emergency vehicles only written in the middle…. That is the start of the road squeezed in between them, it reaches a dead end before the bypass… hope that helps
@@onemanc Do you mean peasley cross lane? Where the old road past the stadium has been made into a footpath. I've seen that one, it looks very different from the one in your video, it's obviously been replaced at some stage as no way is that the original bridge there. Google maps dates their image as october last year, 2020, when did you film the bridge as the one in your video looks much older, more like the original bridge.
@@majorpygge-phartt2643 it’s further down that footpath, the bridge on cross lane was the mainline, the old bridge was a spur on the left further down the footpath, zoom in on google earth and u can see the shadow in the trees, I filmed it may 2021.
@@onemanc Yes, I can see it now, that must've been a connection to the old glass works railway network. The site has been down sized now, with the new fire station and home bargains on the east side of the site. I once saw an old magazine article on the old glass works network. And there's a newer siding there now opposite b & q.
Wonder how long it'll take tem o build on it, theres lots of wildlie there now, let nature take its course Leave it as it is for our future,
last train that ran through peasley cross was in 2004
Alan love to do this walk with you if you live in sthelens give me shout enjoyed it
just move the bypass at widnes as the new houses the council built are all contaminated land the bypass could be put there
Great video