Grimsargh railway station

Grimsargh
Late 1970s, looking south, towards Preston, over site of level crossing
General information
Location	Grimsargh, Preston England
Coordinates	53°48′15″N 2°37′52″W / 53.8043°N 2.6310°W / 53.8043; -2.6310
Grid reference	SD585344
Platforms	Main station: 1 Hospital station: 1
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	Main station: Preston and Longridge Railway Hospital station: Lancashire County Council
Pre-grouping	Main station: Fleetwood, Preston and West Riding Junction Railway
Post-grouping	Main station: London, Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
1 May 1840 (1840-05-01)	Main station opened
1889	Hospital station opened
2 June 1930	Main station closed to passengers
29 June 1957	Hospital station closed
Location Grimsargh Location in the present-day City of Preston district, Lancashire Show map of the City of Preston district Grimsargh Location in present-day Lancashire, England Show map of Lancashire

Grimsargh railway station was on the single track Preston and Longridge Railway. It served the village of Grimsargh in Lancashire, England.

When the line first opened in 1840, wagons carrying quarried stone ran downhill from Longridge to Preston and were hauled in the other direction by horses.^[1] There were rudimentary passenger facilities at Grimsargh — the nearby Plough Hotel was used as a booking office. It was not until 1870 that a proper station building was constructed, when the line was run jointly by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway and the London and North Western Railway.^[2]

In 1889, the privately run Whittingham Hospital Railway was opened to a second Grimsargh Station which was diagonally opposite the level crossing from the main station. This station had a run-around loop and a connection with the Longridge line facing in the direction of Longridge. Two sidings were also provided. On a single short platform, the station building comprised an open fronted shed of brick and wood with an overall roof and canopy. The building was some 40 ft (12 m) in length by 12 ft (3.6 m) wide with a 10 ft (3 m) waiting room at the Longridge end.^[3] Hospital trains were timed to connect with trains to and from Preston.^[4]

The Longridge-to-Preston line closed to passengers in 1930, but the hospital line continued to be used until 1957 when its single steam locomotive was condemned. The Longridge line's goods service was finally withdrawn in 1967.^[5] The station's buildings were demolished in the late 1970s and houses built on the site, the new houses following the alignment of the former station buildings.

• Aubertin, C. (2006) "Solving a Victorian Problem", Steam World, 232 (October), p. 26-31
• Biddle, Gordon (1989) The Railways Around Preston—A Historical Review, Scenes from the past, 6, Foxline Publishing, ISBN 1-870119-05-3
• Suggitt, G. (2003, revised 2004) Lost Railways of Lancashire, Countryside Books, Newbury, ISBN 1-85306-801-2
• Till, J.M. (1993) A History of Longridge and its People, Carnegie Publishing, Preston, ISBN 0-948789-92-1

• 
  Grimsargh Station remains, late 1970s, looking northeast towards Longridge. The site of the former Hospital station was across the road on the left.
• 
  The Plough, opposite the station site, which acted as ticket office before the station was built. The footpath to the left, between two fences, follows the course of the dismantled line.