Bay Horse railway station

Bay Horse
Bay Horse railway station in 1962
General information
LocationBay Horse, City of Lancaster
England
Coordinates53°58′12″N 2°46′29″W / 53.9700°N 2.7748°W / 53.9700; -2.7748
Grid referenceSD492529
Platforms2
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original companyLancaster and Preston Junction Railway
Pre-groupingLondon and North Western Railway
Post-groupingLondon, Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
26 June 1840 (1840-06-26)Station opened
13 June 1960 (1960-06-13)Station closed
Location
Bay Horse is located in the City of Lancaster district
Bay Horse
Bay Horse
Location in the present-day City of Lancaster district
Bay Horse is located in Lancashire
Bay Horse
Bay Horse
Location in present-day Lancashire

Bay Horse railway station (also known as Bayhorse station) was a rural station in Lancashire, England. It was named after the nearby Bay Horse Inn, and later the small hamlet of Bay Horse developed around the station.

The station opened in 1840 on the Lancaster and Preston Junction Railway, by a level-crossing on Whams Lane. Many years later, the road was diverted 100 yards (100 m) north to pass under the railway by bridge.

In the 1840s, Jack Smith, an engine driver frustrated by having to wait every Sunday for the level crossing gate to be opened, carried out his threat to drive through the closed gate. The impact was sufficient to derail the small engine, although nobody was injured.[1]

A much more serious accident occurred on 21 August 1848, when a northbound Euston to Glasgow express ploughed into the back of a local train stopped at the station. A woman was killed and about twenty passengers were injured. The woman's 18-month-old child was thrown out of the carriage window but was barely injured.[2]

On 24 October 1861, a northbound mail train collided with a goods train at the station, but only a driver, fireman and one passenger were injured.[3]

The station closed to passengers on 13 June 1960, and to goods on 18 May 1964;[4] the last but one to close on the Preston to Lancaster section of the West Coast Main Line,[5] though the line itself continues.

  1. ^ Hewitson, A. (1900) Northward, extract Archived 22 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine accessed 22 December 2014
  2. ^ Greville, M.D.; Holt, G.O. (February 1960). "Railway Development in Preston—1" (PDF). Railway Magazine. Vol. 106, no. 706. p. 101. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 August 2017.
  3. ^ Hewitson, A. (1900) Northward, extract Archived 29 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine accessed online 24 August 2007
  4. ^ Hendry, R. Preston; Hendry, R. Powell (1986). An Historical Survey of Selected London, Midland and Scottish Railway Stations, vol. 2. Oxford Publishing. ISBN 0-86093-330-X. [page needed]
  5. ^ Welch, M.S. (2004) Lancashire Steam Finale, Runpast Publishing, Cheltenham, ISBN 1-870754-61-1, p.2