Woodvale railway station

Woodvale railway station was a railway station located in Woodvale, Merseyside, England.

Woodvale
General information
Location	Woodvale, Sefton England
Coordinates	53.5882°N 3.0409°W / 53.5882; -3.0409
Grid reference	SD311107
Platforms	2
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	Southport & Cheshire Lines Extension Railway
Pre-grouping	Cheshire Lines Committee
Post-grouping	Cheshire Lines Committee
Key dates
1 September 1884	Station opened as "Woodville & Ainsdale"
1 May 1898	Station renamed "Woodvale"
1 January 1917	Station closed
1 April 1919	Station reopened
7 January 1952	Station closed completely

Cheshire Lines Committee
Merseyside Lines
Southport Lord Street Birkdale Palace to Southport Ainsdale Ainsdale Beach Northern line Woodvale Freshfield to Liverpool Central Liverpool, Southport and Preston Junction Railway Barton Mossbridge Hillhouse Junction Altcar and Hillhouse Lydiate Sefton and Maghull to Ormskirk Old Roan Aintree Junction Southport Junction Aintree Central Aintree Northern line Warbreck Orrell Park Walton to Kirkby Rice Lane to Liverpool Central Fazakerley Junctions Walton on the Hill Huskisson Clubmoor West Derby Knotty Ash & Stanley Broad Green City Line Childwall Gateacre Northern line Liverpool Central Liverpool Central High Level St James Brunswick (original) Egerton Street Junction Brunswick St Michaels Otterspool Aigburth Cressington to Lime Street Garston Liverpool South Parkway Hunts Cross West Junction Hunts Cross to Manchester Central

History

The Southport & Cheshire Lines Extension Railway (SCLER) opened the station on 1 September 1884 as Woodville & Ainsdale, though one source refers to it as "Woodvale and Ainsdale". It was renamed Woodvale on 1 May 1898. The station was built on an embankment crossing Liverpool Road and was well known for its floral displays on both platforms.

Run down and closure

The station first closed in 1917, along with all other stations on the extension line, as a World War I economy measure.

The station was reopened on 1 April 1919, and continued in use until 7 January 1952, when the SCLER was closed to passengers from Aintree Central to Southport Lord Street. The line remained open for public goods traffic until 7 July 1952 at Southport Lord St., Birkdale Palace and Altcar & Hillhouse Stations. Public goods services were ended at Woodvale, Lydiate and Sefton & Maghull stations—there were never any goods facilities at the Ainsdale Beach station—on Saturday, 5 January 1952, which was the same date as passenger services were ended. The official railway closing date is always given as the Monday following the date of the last trains' run, meaning that the official closing date is 7 January 1952. However, train services almost always end on a Saturday. The final ticket stubs show the date as being 5 January 1952. A private siding remained open at Altcar & Hillhouse after 7 July 1952, finally closing in May 1960. The last passenger train to run on the SCLER was a railway enthusiasts' special between the Aintree and Altcar & Hillhouse railways stations on 6 June 1959.

Present

The track bed was later utilised to support what is now the Coastal Road, which runs from Woodvale to Southport.

Preceding station		Disused railways		Following station
Mossbridge Line and station closed		Cheshire Lines Committee SCLER		Ainsdale Beach Line and station closed

References

Sources

• Bolger, Paul (1984). An Illustrated History of the Cheshire Lines Committee. Merseyside: Heyday Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-947562-00-7.
• Butt, R. V. J. (October 1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199. OL 11956311M.
• Dow, George (1962). Great Central, Volume Two Dominion of Watkin 1864-1899. Shepperton: Ian Allan. ISBN 978-0-7110-1469-5. OCLC 655324061.
• Foster, Harry (2000). New Ainsdale The struggle of a seaside suburb 1850-2000. Birkdale: Birkdale and Ainsdale Historical Research Society. ISBN 978-0-9510905-5-8.
• Griffiths, R Prys (1947). The Cheshire Lines Railway. Lingfield: The Oakwood Press. OCLC 752555378. OL5.
• Jowett, Alan (March 1989). Jowett's Railway Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland: From Pre-Grouping to the Present Day (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-086-0. OCLC 22311137.
• Travers, Ian (June 2013). Blakemore, Michael (ed.). "The Southport Extension of the Cheshire Lines Committee 1884-1952". Back Track. 27 (6). Easingwold: Pendragon Publishing.

External links

• The station via Disused Stations UK
• The station on an 1888-1913 Overlay OS Map via National Library of Scotland
• The station on a 1948 O.S. map via npe Maps
• Station and line HTS via railwaycodes
• Railtours via sixbellsjunction