Notes: Shaw & Crompton station was located on the 6 mile 54 chain Oldham Mumps to Rochdale line which was authorised in an Act of 1859 and built by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway (LYR). Oldham Mumps to Rochdale opened to goods traffic on the 12 August 1863 and to passengers on the 2nd November 1863.

Shaw station opened with the line on 2nd November 1863. The two-platform station was built by Patrick Farrell, who was awarded the contract on 3rd September 1862. A single-storey brick building, which contained the booking facilities, was located on the Rochdale-bound platform. A canopy provided passengers with protection from the weather. A

At the time of opening twenty four train served Shaw in each direction, running between Rochdale and either Manchester Victoria or, in some cases, Middleton where connections to Manchester Victoria could be made. 

The line from Middleton to Oldham Werneth had a very steep incline (the Werneth Incline) of 1 in 27. Until 1854 the incline had been cable-worked. Various proposals had been put forward to create a direct line from Werneth to Manchester that avoided the incline, but it was not until the LYR obtained an Act in 1873 that anything was done. The 1873 Act authorised the LYR to build a line from Thorpes Bridge Junction - which was on the Manchester to Leeds line, but closer to Manchester - to Oldham Werneth. A contract was let on 30th June 1875, and on 17th May 1880 the new line opened.

With the opening of the new line a route had been created from Thorpes Bridge to Rochdale, via Werneth, that eventually became known as the ‘Oldham Loop Line’. Trains serving Mumps continued to run between Manchester Victoria and Rochdale, but most of them now travelled via the newly-opened line. There were fifteen in each direction. A few services .

The station was renamed Shaw & Crompton on 1st December 1897. On 1st January 1922 it became part of the London & North Western Railway (LNWR) when that company took over the LYR. However on 1st January 1923 the LNWR was in turn absorbed into the London Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS). By 1938 Shaw & Crompton station was being served by fifteen local trains in each direction.

On 1st January 1948 Shaw & Crompton became part of the nationalised British Railways (London Midland Region). During the last year of fully steam operated services in 1958 there were eighteen trains in each direction running between Manchester and Rochdale using the Thorpes Bridge route and three Saturdays excepted trains called that had originated from Middleton Junction and travelled onward to Rochdale.

In June 1958 British Railways introduced Diesel Multiple Units (DMUs) onto the Oldham Loop. A Cravens-built type of DMU (later known as class 104) which had twin power cars was used on the line as they were easily able to cope with the steep gradients. The service pattern at Shaw & Crompton was a train every 40 minutes in each direction.

The Reshaping of British Railways (Beeching Report) of March 1963 recommended the closure of the Royton branch to passengers but made no reference to the Oldham Loop or any of its stations. Nevertheless, September 1964 saw a decline in services calling at Shaw & Crompton. The trains between Manchester and Rochdale became irregular, calling at Shaw & Crompton about every 45 minutes in each direction. The goods service had been withdrawn on 13th July 1964

From April 1966 further changes took place. The service pattern was altered so that most trains ran between Manchester Victoria and Oldham Mumps with only a few continuing onward to Rochdale. By 1968 Shaw & Crompton had only an hourly service in each direction. The goods shed was demolished in the 1960s, and the station buildings survived until the early 1970s when they were demolished and replaced with basic shelters.

It escaped the attention of the Beeching Report, however the British Railways Network for Development map of March 1967, published when Stanley Raymond was Chairman of the British Railways Board and Barbara Castle the Secretary of State for Transport, showed that Oldham Mumps to Rochdale would not form part of the ‘basic railway network’. Subsequently a footnote in the May 1972 passenger timetable advised that the Secretary of State had given consent to the withdrawal of passenger services between Oldham Mumps and Rochdale. However, by this date, the South East Lancashire North East Cheshire (SELNEC) Passenger Transport Executive (Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive – GMPTE - from April 1974) had stepped in and agreed to fund the continuation of the service.

Shaw & Crompton became unstaffed on 8th September 1969 along with all other stations on the Oldham Loop with the exception of Oldham Mumps, however at an unknown later date a new booking office was opened in a portacabin on the up platform. As part of a region-wide purge of ‘duplex’ station names, on 6th May 1974 the LMR re-named the station ‘Shaw’, but the ‘Crompton’ suffix was reinstated on 15th May 1989.

From the introduction of the May 1979 timetable the trains that ran only as far as Oldham Mumps were extended to run further north to Shaw and Crompton and the service pattern became a train every thirty minutes in each direction. From the May 1989 timetable a half hourly service to Rochdale was introduced with extra services at peak hours running to

In May 1995 the last alteration was made to the train services at Shaw & Crompton. From this date the station was served by a half-hourly train in each direction that ran to Manchester Victoria, and by a half-hour frequency service between Manchester Victoria and Rochdale, but which ran as an express between Oldham Mumps and Victoria.

In the mid-1990s the GMPTE had been looking at extending its 1992-opened Metrolink tram system. One idea that had been considered as early as 1984 was to use the Oldham Loop as a means of extending tram services to Oldham and Rochdale. By the beginning of the 21st century plans had been drawn up, and a few years later funding was in place to carry out the

Other web sites: Lost lines, a selection of pictures of the Oldham Loop line taken on 30th September 2009, shortly before closure. Class 25s and Much More web site has a feature called Farewell to the Oldham Loop with 51 pictures taken in August 2009. Sam Dixon's UK National Rail, Heritage Rail & Former Rail web site with 124 pictures of the Oldham loop line take two days before closure. Tom Fenton's web site also has a feature Farewell to the Oldham Loop with 27 pictures taken in August 2009. Alan Perryman's Thistle 5 web site includes 93 pictures from the last day of the Oldham Loop.

Sources: The Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway – Volume 2 J. Marshall, David & Charles 1970. ISBN 0715349066.

To see other stations on the Oldham Loop Line click on the station name:
Dean Lane, Failsworth, Hollinwood, Oldham Werneth, Oldham Central, Oldham Mumps, Derker, Royton Junction, New Hey & Milnrow.
See also Royton