2 December 1957 (Excursions until 2 November 1964)

Notes: Padiham station served the town of the same name. It was located on the North Lancashire Loop line, which ran between Rose Grove (near Burnley) and Blackburn. There were two platforms: the down platform served trains from Blackburn and Preston travelling East, the up platform served trains from Burnley, Colne, and West Yorkshire travelling West. The station was 1.5 miles from Rose Grove, and was the largest station on the line.

The station buildings were stone-built with slate roofs and built on two levels. The lower level building had the station entrance, booking office, a waiting room, parcels office, an ashes store and WC. The first floor of this building was the station master's house, with three bedrooms, a parlour, kitchen, a pantry, scullery, a toilet, and a landing to the front door. A stairway leading from the street and a walkway just behind the down platform allowed access to the house. This building was on the Rose Grove (eastern) side of the station, and 30 or 40 yards from the platforms on the Blackburn (western) side.

Access to the down (eastbound) platform was via a glass-covered, steep ramp leading up to it from the entrance. Access to the up platform was via a subway under the line, and again up another steep, glass-covered ramp. No details are given of how high up the platforms were from ground level, but photos suggest around 15 to possibly 20 feet.

The down platform building had the station master's office, first and second class waiting rooms for both ladies and gentlemen, a general waiting room, lamp room, porters’ room and toilets. The down building was 83 feet in length and had a full length awning, but at some point this was cut back at the Blackburn end. The station master's office facing the platform had a bay window which housed a clock showing passengers on the platform the time.

The up platform building had ladies’ and gentlemen's waiting rooms and a general waiting room. 

The awning edges of both buildings were painted with alternating colours, the same as the other stations on the North Lancashire Loop. The platforms were 581 feet long, only flagged for the length of both up and down buildings, and the platforms were built mostly on a curve starting at the Rose Grove end. When the station first opened to the public, although complete, it still wasn't painted. Both platform buildings had a sign “PASSENGERS MUST NOT CROSS the line EXCEPT BY SUBWAY”.

The goods yard behind the up platform had a capacity for 200 wagons. In addition, the up refuge siding could cater for 43 wagons, another siding ran through the goods shed, there were three coal sidings, two pairs of general sidings, and a short siding serving a loading mound. The yard also had a Goliath crane which could span the four general goods sidings and move along them. The crane had a 10-ton lifting capacity. The outermost coal siding served the nearby gas works. Entrance to the goods yard was at the junction of Green Lane and Station Road; just inside the gates stood the weigh house.

By 1931, the gas works had a narrow gauge track leading to the outermost coal siding in the yard, allowing direct delivery of coal to the works. By 1956 this external track was cut back to the gas works only. Also by this date, the Goliath crane had been removed due to its condition and age.

The goods shed was built of wood, had two road loading bays, an internal platform (also made of wood), two cranes and an external office at the Rose Grove side.

Padiham station originally had two signal boxes, either side of the down platform, called East and West. They were replaced with one single box in 1913, which was situated on the down platform at the Rose Grove end and was built of wood with a slate roof. As of March 1961, it had 23 working leavers and one spare.

The station had been supplied with the new BR totem station name signs in 1957 but they were never installed, one was found at the station after closure. The station's name signs were the LMS Hawkseye ones right up to the end.

After regular passenger services along the North Lancashire Loop were withdrawn in 1957, the station opened every year for the town's summer holidays, and day excursions, typically to the seaside during summer.

Stuart Taylor notes in one of his books that during an excursion trip along the line in 1962, most of the two platforms were covered in grass and weeds and the station looked in a shabby condition, with the paint fading.

The goods yard here became a coal only depot Monday 7th October 1963.

The last passenger excursion trains to call at Padiham were during a two week period commencing
Saturday the 6th of July 1964 for the town holidays of nearby Nelson and Colne.

The closure meeting concerning Great Harwood and Simonstone goods yards does not reveal the figures regarding the amount of coal delivered to Padiham, but the station still had a station master and checker in 1964. The station master here by this date was supervising Simonstone station which was now unstaffed.

It is known that in May 1965, the goods shed was still in use for bagging up coal. The two internal cranes by this date were still in situ but by now unusable.

It is not known when the demolition of the station buildings started exactly, but it was completed on 19 August 1967, and the goods yard closed 17 June 1968. The coal for the yard was transferred to Burnley.

It is unclear when the goods shed was demolished. The bridge over Station Road serving the yard was cut up just a few days before the goods yard closed.

Padiham signal box at the former railway station site closed 30 June 1969, after the line was singled over the two weekends before. The remaining single line was the former up line.

The mystery is why did Padiham station survive nearly two years longer than the other two stations along the line? During the closure meeting held by BR management and staff in 1964, the management stated that Padiham could be opened again to excursion traffic if it was required, but there are no records of this, and it’s highly unlikely it ever happened.

The line through the former station area continued to see coal and occasional oil trains until July 1993 serving Padiham CEGB power station. The stockpile of coal was then taken away by train in July prior to the closure of the power station in September of that year. After the power station's closure the line became unused.

The goods yard is now a housing estate, and the former line now forms part of the Padiham Greenway walk and cycleway, which runs down the bank to Padiham and over the former down line platform area, and is surrounded with grass and trees.

Route map by Alan Young, Ticlets from Michael Stewart.

Click here for a brief history of the North Lancs Loop Line

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