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Middleton Junction railway station was an early junction station on the Manchester and Leeds Railway, it opened when the branch to Oldham opened in 1842.
Middleton Junction | |
|---|---|
,_Greater_Manchester_(geograph_6085950).jpg) The site of the station looking north west from Grimshaw Lane. The southern end of the former platforms were just to the right of the bridge. | |
| General information | |
| Location | Oldham England |
| Coordinates | 53.5408°N 2.1704°W |
| Grid reference | SD887048 |
| Platforms | 4 |
| Other information | |
| Status | Disused |
| History | |
| Original company | Manchester and Leeds Railway |
| Pre-grouping | Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway |
| Post-grouping | London, Midland and Scottish Railway |
| Key dates | |
| 31 March 1842 | Opened as Oldham Junction |
| 11 August 1842 | Renamed as Middleton |
| 1852 | Renamed as Middleton Junction |
| 3 January 1966 | Closed to passengers |
| 7 November 1966 | Closed for freight |
The line through station site opened on 4 July 1839 when the Manchester and Leeds Railway (M&LR) opened a railway between Manchester Oldham Road and Littleborough, the first stage of its main line from Manchester to Leeds.[1]
Middleton Junction railway station opened as Oldham Junction on the 31 March 1842 when the M&LR opened the Middleton Junction and Oldham Branch between this new station on the main line and Oldham Werneth.[2][3] On 11 August 1842 the station was renamed Middleton and in 1852 it started to appear in timetables as Middleton Junction.[4]
The station was located at Lane End in Chadderton, a former hamlet which later adopted the place-name Middleton Junction after the area expanded after the opening of the railway. The station site was immediately north of where Grimshaw Lane (now the B6189) crossed the railway[5]
The station appears to have opened with three platforms, two either side of the mainline and one on the mainline side of the track of the sharply curved branch.[6] The 1848 map shows a building and a few sidings located in the 'v' of the junction.[5]
The station was rebuilt in 1882 and by 1893 there were buildings on all what was now four platforms, two sidings in the 'v' of the junction and a goods yard with a shed to the south west of the mainline.[7] The yard was able to handle livestock and was equipped with a two-ton crane.[8] Further to the south and located on both sides of the main line was Middleton Junction Sidings.[1][9]
On 5 January 1857 the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) opened another branch, the Middleton Branch, heading westward immediately to the north of the mainline platforms. The branch had only one station its terminus at Middleton.[a][11]
On 12 August 1914 a goods and coal depot was opened at Chadderton. This was at the end of a 1,097-yard (1,003 m) long line which branched off the Oldham line approximately 400 yards (370 m) from Middleton Junction at Chadderton Junction.[12]
The line from Chadderton Junction to Oldham was closed to regular passengers in 1958 although some diverted services used it in 1960 and completely on 7 January 1963.[1][13]
The branch line to Middleton closed to passengers on 7 September 1964 and completely on 11 October 1965.[1][14]
The line through the site is still open but the station closed to passengers on 3 January 1966.[4]
The Chadderton goods and coal depot remained open and in use until 1988 (the track was eventually lifted in September 1991).[15]
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- The Manchester and Leeds Railway had become the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway on 9 July 1847.[10]
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