2 February 1885 (1885-02-02) Station opened | Grid reference SD673061 Platforms in use 2 | |
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Similar Darcy Lever railway st, Greenmount railway station, Astley railway station | ||
Chequerbent railway station was in Westhoughton to the south-west of Bolton, Greater Manchester, on the line between Bolton Great Moor St and Kenyon Junction.
Contents
History
The Bolton and Leigh Railway (B&LR) opened for goods traffic in 1828, with passenger services following in 1831. The line included a number of steep inclines. Two of these were worked using ropes hauled by stationary engines, as opposed to locomotives used on the flatter sections. To avoid these inclines and allow steam locomotives to haul trains for the entire journey, the London and North Western Railway (LNWR), successor to the B&LR, built deviations over easier gradients. This required the resiting of Daubhill and Chequerbent stations.
The station opened in 1885, replacing an earlier station which had opened in 1831. The new station was sometimes known as Chequerbent for Hulton Park. The route of the new line passed under the A6, whereas the previous line had crossed at road level, so the new platforms were reached via two flights of steps.
The station closed to passengers in 1952, though local passenger trains continued to pass through for two more years and excursion traffic for four years after that. It finally closed completely in 1965.
Services
During the 1930s there were some 20 trains per day, but by the 1950s this had fallen to just six.
Freight traffic
The 1885 deviation eased the gradients somewhat, but the climb northwards from Atherton Bag Lane to Chequerbent remained arduous, with a nominal gradient of 1 in 30.5 for 1.6 miles - appreciably steeper than the Lickey Incline. This gradient was, however, purely nominal, as over the years colliery subsidence resulted in a continuous climb with an uneven gradient, including a stretch at 1 in 18. This imposed severe restrictions on loads, locomotives and men and resulted in this relative backwater becoming a Mecca for cameramen and film makers as dense loads such as sand were carried well into the 1960s.