Starting Point - Bamber Bridge Station. Finishing Point - Preston Station. Distance 6 Miles
South of Preston station was once quite a network of railway lines with four triangular junctions. Many of the routes that have been closed are now footpaths and cycle routes within Preston's Central Parks.
Open Street Map (starting at the bottom right corner of the map)
Bamber Bridge
I started at Bamber Bridge, having arrived there on my walk of Preston's Old Tram Road. The line through Bamber Bridge survives on the route from Preston to Blackburn, this line was part of the East Lancashire Railway which became part of the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway. The L&Y shared Preston station with the London & North Western Railway. Platforms 8 to 13 on the east side of Preston station (of which 8 and 9 survive and are now numbered 6 and 7) served the East Lancashire lines. These days trains through Bamber Bridge pass through Lostock Hall, cross over the former LNWR line and join it via the Farington Curve to reach Preston with many of the trains using platforms 1 and 2 on the west side of Preston as they turn off to head west to Blackpool just north of the station.
West of Bamber Bridge station disused sidings survive at the site of the junction. The trackbed of the abandoned route from Bamber Bridge to Preston can be accessed next to the roundabout connecting Brownedge Road to the A6. The connection between Brownedge Road on the east side of the roundabout is built on the course of the railway. Looking at the old maps this is close to the site of the bridge where the railway crossed Green Lane.
Below - The first triangular junction, this view is taken from what the old maps show as Junction Bridge looking back towards Bamber Bridge on the left. On the right is the site of the former Preston Junction Fork that had a west facing connection to the surviving line near Lostock Hall. This chord is also a footpath, emerging at the bridge where Brownedge Road crossed the railway. At the time of my visit the path seemed quite flooded.
The site of the bridge carrying Todd Lane over the railway has been filled in, the path climbs to road height.
Preston Junction / Todd Lane Junction
Where the path descends back to track level was the site of Preston Junction station. Renamed Todd Lane Junction in 1952, the station was closed to passengers in 1968 and the line closed completely in 1972. The station had an island platform accessed by steps from the bridge.
Below - The site of Preston Junction station. The building on the right looks like it was likely the station master's house.
Below - Information board at the site of the station.
Below - Leigh Brow bridge from road level. Note the concrete fence posts at track level on the left which were typical of industrial sites, this was the location of the rail connection in to Lostock Hall Gas Works.
Below - A concrete lamp post at the site of the interchange sidings for the gas works. The gas works doesn't appear until the 1946 map.
The path along the railway meets the path along the Old Tram Road which also continues into Preston. The two lines came close to each other but didn't connect, the tram road was a 4' 3'' plateway. At the junction I headed left to stick to the railway.
Open Street Map (starting at the bottom right corner of the map)
Coming to the next triangular junction, this was where the East Lancashire lines were connected to the West Lancashire lines via another triangular junction on the other side of the L&NWR line. The bridges on two sides of that triangle over a footpath have been demolished so the footpath descends the embankment to that footpath.
Below - Site of the bridge under the line in to Preston.
Below - Site of the bridge under the Whitehouse Junction line.
I headed west on the Whitehouse Junction line to see some of the West Lancashire lines connections in to Preston.
Below - At the site of Whitehouse West Junction the line passed under the L&NWR route, now the West Coast Main Line.
The bridge over Leyland Road and the embankment between there and Stricklands Lane have been removed and the site built on. The path descends to road level on Leyland Road, from there I walked to Stricklands Lane.
Below - Abutments of the bridges on the west side of Stricklands Lane. There would have been two bridge spans as this was the eastern point of another triangular junction. This triangle was known as Penwortham Junction. South of the former triangular junction the A59 uses the former railway trackbed through the south of Preston.
Within the former triangular junction is a caravan park accessed by a road at the site of the footpath shown on the old map, the bridge has been removed. The site of the west side of the triangle is shown as a footpath, though the path was closed with signs mentioning flood defence work dated several months previously.
Below - The bridge abutments for the bridge over Leyland Road north of the triangular junction survive.
Below - Remains of the West Lancashire Railway viaduct over the River Ribble. The bridge deck has been removed and the piers are now used to carry pipes over the river.
Preston (West Lancashire)
The West Lancashire Railway had its own station in Preston until it was taken over by the L&YR and services were diverted in to their East Lancashire lines platforms at Preston by 1902. From the viaduct over the river the line approached the station on embankment and viaducts at the height of the first floor windows on the surrounding houses. After closure the former station was used to stable coaching stock until closed completely in 1965. The station was demolished in the late '70s and the area levelled and redeveloped in the '80s. A park and footpath now occupies the site of the station approaches, though at ground level. More information about the station can be found on the Disused Stations article.
Below - Site of the approach to Preston (West Lancashire) station which stood where the houses are in the background at first floor height.
I Retraced my steps to Whitehouse West Junction to follow the former L&YR / East Lancashire Railway route in to Preston.
Below - The site of Whitehouse West Junction. On the right is the route from Bamber Bridge I followed earlier. On the left is the route towards Preston. On both routes the bridges survive carrying the former lines over a footpath.
The chord heading towards Preston was added when the L&YR took over the West Lancashire Railway to allow it to divert trains in to their platforms at Preston.
Between Whitehouse North Junction and Preston a couple of culverts over a meandering stream and a bridge allowing access between various sports fields either side of the railway survive. The most significant piece of engineering work is the bridge over the River Ribble. When the railway was still in use the bridge also carried a footpath on the eastern side. The bridge is still a public footpath, though pedestrians can now walk where the tracks once ran.
North of the river the railway was the divide between Miller Park and Avenham Park, it is now a useful path connecting both. The railway passed under a bridge on East Cliff to emerge in to Preston Station. There is still a bridge at this point though the original bridge that spanned the railway has recently been replaced. I found a new fence between the edge of the park and the station car park at Preston that now occupies the site of the East Lancashire Lines.
Below - The modern East Cliff bridge spanning the former railway lines on the old abutments.
Preston
At Preston station platforms 6 and 7 and the roof span over them are shorter than the other through platforms, this is because the East Lancashire lines curved east towards the line I've just walked. On the east side of the surviving part of the station there were a further couple of through platforms and a couple of south facing bays between them, these platforms curving towards the East Cliff bridge. The site of these platforms is now all station car parking. The L&YR had its own station entrance and buildings on Butler Street. The land previously occupied by the Butler Street goods yards is now occupied by the Fishergate shopping centre and its car park. More information about Preston station can be found on the Preston Station Past and Present website.
South of the station the Park Hotel had a long covered footbridge to the station. The hotel is no longer a hotel and the building has seen used as offices so the bridge has long since been removed.
Below - Abutment of the footbridge that connected the station to Park Hotel, the building of which can be seen in the background.
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