Clock Face railway station

Clock Face
General information
Location	Clock Face, St Helens England
Coordinates	53.4184°N 2.7124°W / 53.4184; -2.7124
Grid reference	SJ528915
Platforms	2
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	St Helens and Runcorn Gap Railway
Pre-grouping	London and North Western Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
1850s	Station opened
12 July 1926	Station became an unstaffed Halt[1]
18 June 1951 (1951-06-18)	Station closed

St Helens & Runcorn Gap Railway
Liverpool & Bury Railway Rainford Junction Skelmersdale branch Liverpool & Bury Railway Rainford Village Rookery Old Mill Lane Crank Halt Moss Bank Pilkington Gerards Bridge Liverpool–Wigan line to Wigan North Western St Helens Central (original GCR station) St Helens Central Liverpool, St Helens & South Lancashire Railway Liverpool–Wigan line to Liverpool Lime Street Peasley Cross Hays Chemicals Sutton Oak Liverpool & Manchester Railway to Manchester Victoria Robins Lane Halt St Helens Junction Liverpool & Manchester Railway to Liverpool Lime Street Clock Face Union Bank Farm Halt Farnworth & Bold Appleton Ann Street Halt Warrington and Stockport Railway Vladivar Vodka distillery Warrington Arpley Chester–Warrington line to Chester Warrington Bank Quay High Level│Low Level West Coast Main Line Whitecross Sankey Bridges Fidlers Ferry & Penketh Fiddlers Ferry power station Cuerdley Widnes loop to Sankey Tanhouse Lane Widnes Central Cheshire Lines Committee (Liverpool–Manchester) Hough Green Widnes South Runcorn Gap (second) Runcorn Gap (first) swing bridge Widnes Dock Ditton Mill Weaver Junction–Liverpool line to Weaver Junction & Euston Runcorn Bridge Ditton Junction Halebank Speke 1864 extension to Liverpool Church Road Garston Garston Container terminal Garston Dock Garston and Liverpool Railway to Hunts Cross Hunts Cross chord Liverpool South Parkway to Liverpool Central West Allerton Mossley Hill Sefton Park Wavertree Liverpool & Manchester Railway Edge Hill Liverpool Lime Street
This diagram: view talk edit

Clock Face railway station served the colliery village of Clock Face south of St Helens, England. The station was on the southern section^[2][3] of the St Helens and Runcorn Gap Railway which was later absorbed by the London and North Western Railway.^[4]

History

Sources differ on when the station first appeared on public timetables. The Disused Stations website gives 1856^[5] whereas Pixton gives 1854.^[6] The station was reduced to 'Halt' status in 1926^[6] and closed completely on 18 June 1951, when passenger trains were withdrawn between Widnes and St Helens.^[4]

Services

In 1922 nine "Down" (northbound) trains a day called at Clock Face, 'One class only' (i.e. 3rd Class) and 'Week Days Only' (i.e. not Sundays). The "Up" service was similar. The trains' destinations were St Helens to the north and Ditton Junction to the south, with some travelling beyond to Runcorn or Liverpool Lime Street.^[7]

In 1951 the service was sparser but more complex. Six trains called in each direction, Monday to Friday, the early morning ones providing both 1st and 3rd Class accommodation. On Saturdays four trains called in each direction, 3rd Class only. No trains called on Sundays.^[8]

Preceding station		Disused railways		Following station
Sutton Oak Line and station closed		London and North Western Railway St Helens and Runcorn Gap Railway		Union Bank Farm Halt Line and station closed

References

Notes

1. Tolson 1983, p. 94
2. Engineers' Line Reference SOM via railwaycodes
3. Smith & Turner 2012, Map 45
4. Paul Wright (20 April 2010). "Station Name: CLOCK FACE". Disused Stations. Retrieved 23 March 2011.
5. A more detailed history via Disused Stations UK
6. Pixton 1996, p. 64
7. Bradshaw 1985, p. 495
8. Pixton 1996, p. 86

Sources

• Bradshaw, George (1985) [July 1922]. Bradshaw's General Railway and Steam Navigation guide for Great Britain and Ireland: A reprint of the July 1922 issue. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 978-0-7153-8708-5. OCLC 12500436.
• Pixton, Bob (1996), The Archive Photographs Series Widnes and St Helens Railways, The Chalford Publishing Company, ISBN 0 7524 0751 1
• Smith, Paul; Turner, Keith (2012), Railway Atlas Then and Now, Ian Allan Publishing, ISBN 978 0 7110 3695 6
• Tolson, J M (1983), The St Helens Railway, Its Rivals and Successors OL 64, The Oakwood Press, ISBN 0 85361 292 7

External links

• "Disused Stations". Subterranea Britannica.
• The station on an 1888-1913 Overlay OS Map via National Library of Scotland
• The History of Transport in Sutton via suttonbeauty
• the station on a 1948 OS Map via npe maps
• an illustrated history of the line via 8D Association