The station was situated on the Garston and Warrington railway which was opened by the St Helens Canal & Railway Company (SHC&RC) in two stages, between Runcorn Gap and Garston on 1 July1852, and between Runcorn Gap and a temporary station at Warrington White Cross on 1 February 1853. This created a route from Garston to Warrington where, by 1854, an onward connection to the Warrington and Stockport Railway at Arpley allowed trains to travel all the way to Manchester; this created an alternative to the London & North Western Railway’s (LNWR) Liverpool to Manchester route (originally opened in 1830 by the Liverpool & Manchester Railway).

The Garston and Warrington line was half-a-mile south of Cuerdley (a small farming community) and paralleled the Sankey Canal, on its north side, for much of its route between Runcorn Gap and Warrington. The canal had been owned by the same company as the railway since 21 July 1845. From Cuerdley, Taylors Lane connected the hamlet to the River Mersey which lay just to the south of the canal. It crossed the railway by means of a level crossing, and the canal by a swing bridge.

The SHC&RC had no intention of providing a station for the inhabitants of Cuerdley as they did not think it would be remunerative. The nearest stations were two miles to the west at Runcorn Gap (From 1 September 1864 renamed Widnes) and one mile to the east at Fidlers Ferry & Penketh. The residents of Cuerdley lobbied the railway company for a railway station and eventually, in November 1855, one was provided.

No known maps survive that show the station, but the most likely location for it would have been the Taylors Lane crossing (called Taylors Crossing). It is likely that the station consisted of little more than two basic platforms and perhaps a small wooden booking office. It would have been served by local stopping trains.

As predicted by the railway company Cuerdley station proved to be unremunerative, as only a handful of passengers used it, and they closed it completely on 5 January 1858. The site reverted to being simply Taylors Crossing.

Little changed at Taylors Crossing for over a hundred years, the line passing from the SHC&RC to the London & North Western Railway on 1 September 1864, to the London Midland & Scottish Railway on 1 January 1923 and to British Railways on 1 January 1948. Regular passenger services continued to run along the line until 8 September 1962 after which it was used only for freight (except for the Liverpool to York Mail which continued to use the line until 17 July 1965). The Sankey Canal saw its last traffic in 1959 and officially closed in 1963.

In 196x work began on the construction of Fiddlers Ferry Power Station. The power station was located directly north of the line, and it obliterated Taylors Lane. One of the features of the power station was a merry-go-round loop line which allows trains to discharge consignments of coal to the power station without stopping. Access to the loop was via a junction that was installed xxxx chains to the east of the site of Cuerdley station. The junction, which is controlled by Fiddlers Ferry Power Station signal box, opened on 30 July 1967.

In 2013 freight services were still passing through the site of Cuerdley station, and Fiddlers Ferry Power station was being served by coal, lime and gypsum trains.

The 8D Association - Dedicated to promoting the history of South Lancashire and North Cheshire railways. Web Site

To see the other stations on Garston and Warrington line click on the station name: Garston Dock, Speke, Halebank, Ditton, Ditton Mill, Widnes (1st), Widnes South, Fidlers Ferry & Penketh, Sankey Bridges, Warrington Bank Quay Low Level, Warrington Arpley,

See also Warrington and Stockport line stations: Latchford, Thelwall, Lymm, Heatley & Warburton,
Dunham Massey & Broadheath.

See also: Fiddlers Ferry Power Station railway