Notes: Plodder Lane for Farnworth station was situated on the London & North Western Railway’s (LNWR) Roe Green Junction – Fletcher Street Junction line which opened for goods services on 16 November 1874. The line, which was authorised on 12 July 1869, created a shorter route for the LNWR between Bolton and Manchester and one that could compete more easily with the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway (LYR) who had a direct route between the two times dating back to 1839. The LNWR Bolton and Kenyon line provided a link between Bolton and Manchester but it was not direct and it was more than twice as long as the LYR route. From 1864 the situation was improved when the LNWR opened a line between Eccles and Wigan from which a connection to the Kenyon line was made at Howe Bridge, but again the route was still longer than the LYR line.
The first sod on the direct line was cut on 23 January 1871 but construction did not start until March 1871. The new line diverged from the Eccles and Wigan line at Roe Green and then ran for 4¾ miles to Fletcher Street in Bolton where it connected to the Kenyon line. Passenger services were introduced on 1 April 1875. Plodder Lane for Farnworth was opened as Plodder Lane along with two other stations (Little Hulton and Walkden).
The station was located to the west of Farnworth on the south side of its namesake. Plodder Lane passed over the line on a brick and iron span bridge. The line was in a cutting at this point and the booking office was at street level. It was housed in a single-storey timber building.
From the booking office a footbridge spanned the double-track line and steps connected to the platforms. Both platforms had waiting rooms housed within timber single-storey buildings.
The station was provided with goods facilities which were north of Plodder Lane, east side of the line. They consisted of sidings, a large goods shed and a 5-ton lifting crane.
At the south end of the goods yard adjacent to the Plodder Lane overbridge a signal box (Plodder Lane Number 1), which had opened on 6 April 1876, controlled the main line and access to the goods sidings at their southern end.
To the north of the goods facilities on the west side of the line was an engine shed which opened in 1875 (click here to read more).
At the time of opening Plodder Lane had seven up and ten down trains on Monday-to-Saturday. Trains ran between Bolton Great Moor Street and Manchester Victoria. The journey time to Manchester from Plodder Lane was 35 minutes. Bolton Great Moor Street was reached in five minutes.
On 30 June 1884 the Bolton service started to use the LNWR Manchester Exchange station which opened that day.
The December 1895 timetable showed 10 up and 12 down trains on Monday-to-Friday. On Saturday there were two extra up and one extra down services. There was no Sunday service.
The Railway Clearing House 1904 Handbook of Stations showed Plodder Lane as having a 5-ton lifting crane and being able to handle general goods, parcels and passengers. It also listed a number of private sidings.
In 1908 the LNWR renamed the station Plodder Lane for Farnworth.
On 1 January 1922 the LNWR absorbed the LYR. The July 1922 timetable showed 13 up and 15 down trains on Monday-to-Friday. On Saturday there were only 11 up services.
Plodder Lane for Farnworth became part of the London Midland & Scottish Railway (LMS) on 1 January 1923.
Being in control of both the former LNWR and LYR routes between Bolton and Manchester the LMS did not need to compete with itself and main line traffic was concentrated on the LYR route. However Plodder Lane for Farnworth still enjoyed a good level of service from local trains. By the summer of 1932 there were 15 up and 14 down services on Monday-to-Friday as shown in the table below. On Saturday there were 14 up trains and no services on Sunday.
Up Trains – Summer 1932 |
Destination |
Down trains – Summer 1932 |
Destination |
6.35am |
Manchester Exchange |
7.01am |
Bolton Great Moor Street |
7.30am |
Manchester Exchange |
8.09am |
Bolton Great Moor Street |
8.16am |
Manchester Exchange |
8.40am |
Bolton Great Moor Street |
8.30am |
Manchester Exchange |
9.53am |
Bolton Great Moor Street |
9.20am |
Manchester Exchange |
12.28pm (Saturdays Only) |
Bolton Great Moor Street |
12.20pm |
Monton Green |
12.44pm (Saturdays Excepted) |
Bolton Great Moor Street |
1.30pm (Saturdays Excepted) |
Manchester Exchange |
12.57pm (Saturdays Only) |
Bolton Great Moor Street |
1.45pm (Saturdays Only) |
Manchester Exchange |
1.38pm (Saturdays Excepted) |
Bolton Great Moor Street |
2.15 (Saturdays Excepted) |
Manchester Exchange |
2.08pm (Saturdays Only) |
Bolton Great Moor Street |
2.25pm (Saturdays Only) |
Manchester Exchange |
2.27pm (Saturdays Excepted) |
Bolton Great Moor Street |
3.37pm (Saturdays Excepted) |
Manchester Exchange |
3.55pm |
Bolton Great Moor Street |
4.21pm (Saturdays Only) |
Eccles |
4.55pm |
Bolton Great Moor Street |
4.35pm (Saturdays Excepted) |
Monton Green |
5.58pm |
Bolton Great Moor Street |
5.51pm |
Manchester Exchange |
6.48pm |
Bolton Great Moor Street |
6.45pm |
Manchester Exchange |
7.44pm |
Bolton Great Moor Street |
9.00pm |
Manchester Exchange |
9.24pm |
Bolton Great Moor Street |
10.05pm (Saturdays Only) |
Manchester Exchange |
10.30pm |
Bolton Great Moor Street |
10.20pm (Saturdays Excepted) |
Monton Green |
|
|
11.00pm |
Monton Green (Manchester Exchange on Saturdays) |
|
|
The service was reduced during the Second World War. Although services were increased after the war they did not match those provided in the 1930s. The LMS summer timetable showed eight trains in each direction on Monday-to-Friday. Three of the up trains ran only as far as Monton Green. On Saturday there were an extra up and two extra down services. No trains ran on Sunday.
On 1 January 1948 Plodder Lane for Farnworth became part of British Railways [London Midland Region] (BR[LMR]).
The summer timetable showed only four up and three down trains on Monday-to-Friday. On Saturday there were 6 up and 4 down trains.
BR[LMR] withdrew the passenger service between Bolton Great Moor Street and Manchester Exchange on 29 March 1954 and the passenger station at Plodder Lane closed. On 10 October 1954 Plodder Lane Locomotive Depot was closed. The station still handled goods and the 1956 Handbook of Stations showed the station as able to handle general goods only. It also listed private sidings for Bennis Combustion Ltd, the National Coal Board and Scowcroft & Company.
On 20 October 1960 just over 2 miles of the line were closed between Roe Green Junction and Little Hulton Junction with the result that goods services to and from Plodder Lane had to travel via Bolton Crook Street.
On 11 May 1964 the line between Plodder Lane and Little Hulton Junction was closed completely. Less than a year later on 30 January 1965 Plodder Lane closed to public goods. Private sidings traffic continued for a little while longer but had finished by 1966.
In the 1980s the cutting at Plodder Lane was infilled obliterating all trace of the station.
Tickets from Michael Stewart and route map by Alan Young
Sources:
- A Lancashire Triangle Part 2 - D J Sweeney, Triangle Publishing 1997.
- A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain - Volume 10 The North West - Geoffrey O Holt, David & Charles 1986.
- Forgotten Railways - North West England - John Marshall, David & Charles 1981.
- Railway Passenger Stations in Great Britain - A Chronology, by M Quick, RCHS 2009.
See also: Plodder Lane Locomotive Shed
To see other stations on the Bolton Great Moor Street - Eccles line click on the station name: Bolton Great Moor Street, Little Hulton, Walkden Low Level, Worsley and Monton Green |