Station Name: WHITWORTH[Source:
Alan Young]
Gallery 4: Whitworth Station and environs  The signal box at Tonge End crossing was built in 1899 at the only manned level crossing on the Rochdale-Bacup line. It was a size 2 LYR wooden box fitted out with a second-hand Saxby & Farmer frame of 12 levers. Prior to the construction of the box the crossing was probably attended by a crossing-keeper; the gable end of his cottage is on the extreme left, and it outlasted the box by some years. There was also an unmanned crossing at Thrum Hall, between Wardleworth and Shawclough. Both the box and the crossing gates at Tonge End look the worse for wear, and the box closed in November 1956, the year of this photograph. After the box closed the crossing gates were operated by hand and were normally padlocked across the line, the key being kept at Wardleworth box. This view is looking west from Tong Lane.
Photo by Tom Wray  Looking north at Tonge End crossing probably in the mid 1950s. The signal box (left) closed in 1956 and crossing keeper’s cottage (right) survived until the 1960s. The locomotive is a Fowler 4F 0-6-0, and the position of the driver suggests that the locomotive is approaching the camera.
Photo from Whitworth Historical Society 
Tonge End (Tong Lane) crossing was midway between Whitworth and Facit stations on the Rochdale-Bacup line. The attractive two-storey stone building with its overhanging roof and arched openings is the crossing keeper’s house (now demolished). The crossing was originally worked from the keeper's house on the east side of the line, but a substantial wooden LYR signal box was provided in 1899, on the west side. The crossing keeper's house remained after the box had been demolished. In this south-eastward view on 21 July 1962 No.43903 is travelling towards Facit from Whitworth. The loco is a Fowler-designed 4F 0-6-0, built by the Midland Railway in April 1920 at Derby works. Numbered 3903 in LMS ownership the ‘4’ prefix was added by British Railways. No.43903 was withdrawn from 16C, Kirkby-in-Ashfield shed, on 9 May 1964 and cut up by Slag Reduction Co Ltd, Ickles, Rotherham
in December 1964. Photo
by Richard S. Greenwood
On 28 July 1962 the Roch Valley Railway Society’s ‘Salford Hundred Railtour’ visited Facit, hauled there by No.52523 and returning to Rochdale behind No.40063. The loco seen here is an Aspinall-designed 0-6-0 LYR Class 27, built at the company’s Horwich works in July 1909. Allocated number 636 by the LYR, she was re-numbered 12523 by the LMS and finally 52523 by British Railways. She was withdrawn on 30 September 1962 from 26C, Bolton shed, and disposed of by Campbells, Shieldhall in May 1963.
 On 30 April 1963 a northbound weedkilling train is approaching Whitworth. Hauling the train is No. 42750, a Hughes-designed ‘Crab’ 2-6-0 built in June 1927 at the LMS Crewe works. In August 1963 she was withdrawn from 39A, Gorton shed, to be cut up at Wards, Broughton Lane, Sheffield, in May 1964. The reporting number (6Z07) indicates that it is a class 6, which would be a partially-fitted freight.
Photo by Richard S Greenwood  On 30 April 1963 a northbound weedkilling train pauses as the gates at Tonge End crossing are opened manually; this primitive procedure is necessary since the signal box at this point closed in 1956. Hauling the train is No. 42750, a Hughes-designed ‘Crab’ 2-6-0 built in June 1927 at the LMS Crewe works. In August 1963 she was withdrawn from 39A, Gorton shed, to be cut up at Wards, Broughton Lane, Sheffield, in May 1964. The reporting number (6Z07) indicates that it is a class 6, which would be a partially-fitted freight.
Photo by Richard S Greenwood rom Whitworth Historical Society  Looking south-east towards the platform and building of Whitworth station in 1966. By this time the station had been closed to passengers for almost 20 years, but the freight traffic was still handled. The platform is overgrown and the building is derelict. The station was to close entirely in August 1967, the rails being removed within a few months.
 Cycle Route 92 follows sections of the Rochdale-Bacup railway trackbed, including the Healey Dell Nature Trail (through Broadley station). This sign, a short distance south of Whitworth station and photographed in June 2015, recalls names of former stations accessible via the cycle route.
Photo by Alan Young 
Until 1963 the Rochdale-Bacup branch remained open for goods as far north as Facit, but in this year it was cut back to Whitworth. By 1970 the trackbed between these two points had been used for a new road known as Cowm Park Way. This view of June 2015 is looking north along Cowm Park Way, about 200yd north of the site of Whitworth station.
Photo by Alan Young
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