Disused Stations: Plodder Lane Locomotive Shed

[Source: Roger Griffiths & Paul Wright]

Plodder Lane Locomotive Shed was opened by the London & North Western Railway (LNWR) on 1 April 1875. It was located on the western side of the LNWR Roe Green Junction - Fletcher Street Junction line which had opened for goods services on 16 November 1874. The line created a direct route between Bolton and Manchester for the LNWR.

The shed opened when passenger services were introduced. It was a four road shed and cost the LNWR £9,000 to build.

In 1891 the LNWR built a six road shed on the western side of the four road building.

On 1 January 1923 Plodder Lane became a shed of the London Midland & Scottish Railway.

Maps from 1935 show that the roof had been removed from the 1875 four road shed and it was closed in 1944 (but the lines continued to be used for stabling locomotives).

Plodder Lane shed was closed by British Railways (London Midland Region) on 10 October 1954. It was the first shed in the Manchester area that British Railways closed.

The shed site was later developed as a housing estate.

Plodder Lane Shed looking south on 10 October 1950. The view shows the 1891 six road shed. The 1875 four road shed had been to the left. Its end wall can be seen in the distance.
Photo by Brian Hilton from the Roger Griffiths collection

Plodder Lane Locomotive Shed shown on a 25-inch scale map from 1891. The four road shed dating from 1875 is the building to the right. The six road shed (to the left) must have been under construction when the map was drawn as its six roads had not been laid.

When this 25-inch scale map of Plodder Lane Locomotive Shed was drawn in 1935 the four road shed had lost its roof.

Looking south-west at Plodder Lane shed in the early 1950s.
Photo from the Roger Griffiths collection

Looking south at the approximate site of Plodder Lane Locomotive Shed on 9 February 2017. the shed site had become a housing estate.
Photo by Dominic Jackson

[Source: Paul Wright]

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PLODDER LANE LOCOMOTIVE SHED