DEMOLITION:

During September / October around 120 wagons, probably condemned ones were taken away from Great Harwood's carriage shed sidings prior to the station's demolition. It seems despite BR's hesitation to store stock here they eventually did, it wasn't unknown for closed lines and stations to be used for storage off the “live” network at the time.

Early one morning in September 1967, the demolition train pushed by a Stanier 8f 2-8-0 numbered 48218 passes Deveron mill (on the left) on its way to Tottleworth just outside Great Harwood. The train went down to where a gang of men were cutting up the remaining up line to collect various things. The down line was removed two years earlier. 8218 was made by the North British Locomotive Co 5 September 1942 for the LMS. She was renumbered 48218 the week ending 21 August 1948. The engine spent most of her life based at Nottingham's engine shed but by June 1965 found herself at near by Rose Grove shed where see saw out hers days. The tender in this photo is an unusual one and not the engines original, this tender numbered 4615 held 3,500 gallons of water not the usual 4,000 type. The horizontal cylinder object in front of the cab was the engine's ATC (Automatic Train Control) which was fitted September 1961. Later that morning the train came back up past this point, something as a little boy I saw, the train disappeared under Unity bridge to my right (east) side and was never seen again. 48218 was almost certainly the very last engine to run down to Great Harwood. A week or two later the tracks were gone! This was one of her last tasks for BR, she was withdrawn from service at the end of September 1967 and was cut up around March 1968 by Cashmore's in Walsal. The original B/W photo was taken by Geoffrey Robinson and colourised by John his son. You can clearly see just how neglected 48218 appears by this date, at the end of her service she had run some 550,000 miles. Original B/W photo by Geoffrey Robinson from John Robinson's Steaming North Last days of the North East Lancs Loop Line collection

Four miles of the Down line were removed October to December 1965, Great Harwood & Simonstone stations and buildings were being demolished at the same time. The Up line, also as planned, was removed August – September 1967, leaving only the original double track between Rose Grove and Padiham in the east.

Padiham station was demolished 19th of August 1967, but the goods yard there remained open until 17th June 1968 when the coal traffic was transferred to Burnley.  The bridge over Simonstone Lane at Simonstone, next to the station there, was removed on 30th May 1968 and one bridge serving the goods yard at Padiham over Station Road was being removed by 5th June 1968.

Padiham to Rose Grove was singled over two weekends (22-23 and 28-29th June 1969) leaving now just the original Up line of 1 mile 76 chains. Padiham signal box, the last survivor, closed the next day (30 June 1969).  From then onwards, the remaining traffic on the branch was supervised by Rose Grove West signal box, until 8th October 1973.  At this time Preston P.S.B. took over control of the East Lancs. area and the Padiham branch was worked from Preston under BR One Train Working Regulations.

Martholme viaduct became a Grade II listed building 9th March 1984.

Padiham power station seen in April 1984 during the miners strike. Note the large stockpile of coal on the left. A CEGB (Central Electricity Generating Board) spokesman stated at the time that even if the power station did not receive any more coal it could continue for six months.
Copyright photo from the Burnley Civic Trust Heritage Image Collection

FINAL CLOSURE:

This short, now single line was renamed as Padiham C.E.G.B. Sidings.

Deliveries to the power station continued until the early 80's. BR then wanted to increase the cost of deliveries, the CEGB (Central Electricity Generating Board) thought otherwise and coal deliveries were transferred to road. At this stage, and with just a few irregular oil trains the line was in real danger of closing. In 1990 the CEGB was privatised and National Power took over the power station, with the change of ownership coal traffic resumed November 1991. The coal at this time came from the Maryport (Cumbria) area.it.

60045 with wagons being loaded 5-7-1993 for Rugeley (7P59). Following the announcement of the closing of the power station later that year (Sept 1993), the stockpile of coal is being removed. The coal from Padiham is being taken away to Rugeley power station in Staffordshire.
Photo by Mick Page from his Flickr photostream

60060 leaving Padiham power station - 22-7-1993 (7P59). The coal train leaves the power station pushing through the weeds that now surround the track on its way to to Rose Grove and then to Rugeley.
Photo by Mick Page from his Flickr photostream

60047 (1st portion) coming up the line from Padiham on 23 July 1993 (7P59). The train leaves with some of the loaded wagons. Because of the 1 in 40 gradient, the wagons had to be split into two portions. The first set of wagons were deposited at Rose Grove and the engine went down again for the rest of them. Once back at Rose Grove the wagons were put together again for the journey to Rugeley. A large pipe and a stone bridge cross over the line to the rear of the train, on the bridge, two onlookers watch the train go past. Mick Page who took these photos tells me he has no more photos dated later than 23 July 1993 running to or from Padiham. With the stockpile of coal at the power station seemingly gone by now, you do have to wonder was 60047 the last ever to run on what was the North Lancashire loop line.
Photo by Mick Page from his Flickr photostream

The line continued to serve the power station at Padiham with coal and oil trains until 1993, when in March of that year it was announced that the power station was to close. By July 1993, trains were taking away the stockpile of coal to Rugeley power station (Staffordshire) and after this was completed the line became unused.

Around 1993, BR put Martholme viaduct up for sale for £1, together with a grant of £70,000 towards its upkeep.

A view from on top of Martholme viaduct taken July 2015. The photo was taken from the Great Harwood (west) end of the viaduct looking east towards the village of Read and Simonstone. Notice how the viaduct curves towards the right hand side. This viaduct has ten arches and was built of stone. It carried the loop line 65 feet above the river Calder, and had a 50 M.P.H. Speed limit across it (in 1960), although one driver was known to go full speed across it at 60. Behind us lies the climb up to Great Harwood, trains coming towards us (going west) had to slow down for the viaduct, something that wouldn't have been popular with the drivers due to the climb ahead. The clump of trees at the other end hides the eastern embankment which too curves around to the right. Here there is (or was) a 5 foot drop left by some removal of ballast during late 1967 / 1968. Before 1900, there were several plans to build a line from that embankment going North west (left) to meet up with the Blackburn - Hellifield line at Whalley but they never came to anything. Beyond the clump of trees and the embankment lies a caravan park. The viaduct itself is in very good condition.
Photo by Ian Taylor, reproduced from Geograph under creative commons licence

The track from Rose Grove to the power station after 1993 remained extant, it became covered with weeds, trees growing through the rusty rails and the line unfortunately became an unofficial dumping ground until 30th April & 20th May 2008 when it was removed over those two dates. It now forms the Padiham Greenway, a walking, cycling & bridle way.

Work begins on the Padiham Greenway footpath and cycleway along part of the former loop line at Padiham, November 2008. This view is looking east towards the town and Rose Grove. The row of terrace houses are on Russell Terrace (formerly Railway Terrace). Note the stone wall in front of them rising up which should give you an idea of the start of the 1 in 40 gradient up to Rose Grove. A train coming down (towards us) would at one point be at roof level, within seconds down to the upstairs windows, and quickly onto ground level. Just six months before this photo was taken the remaining single up line was finally removed. The last trains along here were in 1993.
Photo by Alexander Kapp, reproduced from Geograph under creative commons licence

NETWORK RAIL & CLOSURE DATE:

During 1993 the privatisation of British Rail began, Railtrack took over the running of Britain's track infrastructure but were not successful and Network Rail took over. During this period what was left of the loop line was simply left alone. I have found over the years a closed line could be removed quickly, sometimes over a couple of years, and in this case it was simply left in situ for a long time.

Around the town of Padiham the line had become an unofficial dumping ground and there were calls for something to be done about it. The local council in 2005 asked about the status of the line and I believe the reply was that it was still 'technically operational'.

The following information and images were kindly shared under the Freedom of Information Act from Network Rail under the Open Government License for public sector information, and the weekly operating notice (WON) is copyright of Network Rail. The following contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Click here to see the license

Network Rail have no official closure date for the line but kindly looked through their records and came across a weekly operating notice (WON) dated 28 May 2005, it was an amendment to their sectional appendix covering the operation of lines. This WON shows two amendments.

The first amendment is the line's status – it is now marked as “OUT OF USE”.
The second one shows the up line connection at Rose Grove to the loop line has now been removed leaving only the down goods line connection. Given there was no official closure date I think we should consider 28 May 2005 to be the date of final closure of the line.

The trackbed from Rose Grove to Padiham was finally sold to Sustrans Ltd on 18 March 2010.

I would like to thank Network Rail for their helpful assistance and for supplying the information and the weekly operating notice.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

You do have to wonder, what if? the locomotive works had been built at Great Harwood, the Mullard employees had been allowed to travel to Simonstone by train, and with the power station at Padiham, the whole line would probably have lasted much longer, sadly it wasn't to be.

During the demolition of Great Harwood station, the platform clock was found to have stopped at 9.20, a poignant symbol that time had sadly run out for this beautiful branch line and countless others all around the country... 

Rose Grove engine shed in 1933 during the LMS days. Whilst not on the loop line itself, it was situated just beyond the western end of Rose Grove station and very close the the eastern junction with the loop line. Engines from here regularly travelled along the loop line and would often travel down to Padiham station for banking duties, that is to help east bound trains up the 1 in 40 bank to Rose Grove itself. The shed was a relatively late newcomer, it opened in 1900. As well as the six lanes into the shed, there was a siding running along the North side of it. On the south side (station side) was a siding with a turntable, two sidings ran to and beyond the coaling tower (which was a tall structure and could be seen from all around), plus a couple of other sidings.
Photo from Roger Griffiths collection

1T65 pulled by Black 5 number 45205  is leaving Great Harwood station heading west towards the Lancashire coast on 21 July 1962. A boy sits on the stone railway wall wrapped in his coat watching as the train goes by in front of Railway View (now Hameldon View). Bernard Bond tells me that as a young lad he was forever getting into trouble, he lived close by and when he heard a train coming he would rush out of the house leaving the front door wide open!
Photo by Geoffrey Robinson from John Robinson's Steaming North Last days of the North East Lancs Loop Line collection

The 1T58 passes the double home signal heading west from Great Harwood station circa 1963 pulled by a black 5 engine, possibly 44728 on its way to the seaside. To the left of the carriages is West signal box. The track on the right leads to the carriage shed and its sidings. The shed itself has had its roof removed leaving only the side walls. Next to the carriages on the right is the lamp room building, behind it is the footbridge and station. The train is travelling on the up line past Railway View (now Hameldon View) and children sit on the stone wall watching it go by.
Photo by Geoffrey Robinson from John Robinson's Steaming North Last days of the North East Lancs Loop Line collection
A coal train heading for Padiham power station crashed 23 July 1971. The photo shown from west end of the remaining up line shows the engine and several wagons derailed, the coal from the wagons spilt onto the track side. It is not clear what caused the crash, it could have been a vacuum brake failure or as some suggest the engine's vacuum pipe to the first wagon was not attached properly. British Rail held an investigation but as far as I know the findings were never published. The driver and his mate jumped clear of the cab at the last minute, they suffered head and arm injuries and were taken to Burnley Victoria hospital. The guard at the back of the train also jumped clear but was uninjured. The engine was D7654 a VB(LQ) class engine built in Manchester 1956, and has to go for repairs.
Copyright photo from the Burnley Civic Trust Heritage Image Collection

Another view of the coal train crash at Padiham 23 July 1971. Here two of the wagons had ended up in an inverted ’V’ position. You can see the coal has spilt all over, and in the distance is Padiham power station's chimney. The train itself crashed through the buffers at the very end (west side of the line) near the A678. Seven wagons at the front of the train derailed each containing 20 tons of coal.
Copyright photo from the Burnley Civic Trust Heritage Image Collection

Coming up from Padiham with empties to Workington 18 July 1992 (6C05). Looking west the from Rose Grove end, the train with empty wagons climbs the 1 on 40 bank up to Rose Grove, the town of Padiham can be seen further down the hill in the distance. This photo gives you an idea of how steep the gradient was. The section from Rose Grove to Padiham was singled in 1969 and the track you can see is the remaining up line. Behind us out of sight, the M65 crosses over the line, part of which incidently covers the former Rose Grove MPD (engine shed) site.
Photo by Mick Page from his Flickr photostream

60069 unloading coal at power station on 30 October 1992. A view of the unloading of coal by mechanical means, note the stockpile of coal. It was standard practice that coal fired power stations kept at least 3 months supply on hand, ideally 6 months worth. The 300 foot cooling towers dominated the skyline.
Photo by Mick Page from his Flickr photostream

With the wagon portions now connected together, the train goes past Rose Grove station on its way down to Rugeley in Staffordshire. Possibly the last ever train. Squeezed between the motorway and the station on the left, a rusty track can be seen covered with grass. This track going past the station area is technically part of the Rose Grove down goods line but beyond the station (behind us going left / west) became part of the loop line itself. This rusty track was still there in 2021. The train we see used this line to come up into Rose Grove. Coal trains going down to Padiham power station would have come off the up goods line and onto the up main line (the one the train is on), then off again to our left crossing the down main line and onto the loop. To the right of the train you can see where the up goods line was, which by this date has already been removed partly due to the fact the power station is closing and it no longer requires coal deliveries.
Photo by Mick Page from his Flickr photostream

Martholme viaduct in 2006, this photo was taken from the Great Harwood (west) side of the viaduct. It is approximately 65 feet high and has ten arches and carried the loop line over the river Calder. You can clearly see how the viaduct curved around to the right to meet the embankment near the village of Read in the east. The road that runs under the viaduct is Martholme Lane, it was around this site that the L&Y had to buy the rights to the coal that lay in the ground to ensure the coal stayed there and thus avoiding the risk of it being mined and the viaduct collapsing. The viaduct itself is said to be in remarkably good condition. They knew how to build in those days.
Photo by Alexandr Kapp, reproduced from Geograph under creative commons licence

Click here to see an unexcpected survivor

Main sources of information:

WEBSITES
Six Bells Junction Railtour Files
A walk along the North Lancs Loop - YouTube film
Steaming North - The last days of the North Lans Loop Line

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
John Robinson - For letting us use his photos and those of his late father Geoffrey
Darren Kitson for various suggestions.

To see the stations on the North Lancs Loop click on the station name: Great Harwood, Simonstone & Padiham