Walsden Railway Station

Walsden Railway Station serves the village of Walsden, formerly part of Lancashire now firmly in West Yorkshire a couple of miles to the west of Todmorden. The first station here was opened in 1845 and remained in use until post war economy measures it closed in August 1961 along with many other stations and was demolished soon afterwards. All that remains of this station is the metal footbridge built in 1890 and now providing a connection between the platforms, the original station was also sighted to the west of the footbridge running to the entrance to Winterbutlee Tunnel.

The station used to have a level crossing which has been the scene of a few injuries and deaths, this was removed and the current station was built upon the site of the crossing. It is has a stream running underneath the station close to the iron bridge which regularly causes the station and line to be flooded during heavy rains. It was also the only place in the greater Todmorden area to be bombed during the 2nd World War.

The current station opened in September 1990 a few metres east of the original station site, and averages approx. 2100 passengers per week (2017-18 figures). There are limited facilities at the station with only small shelters to provide protection from the weather. There are electronic information boards and ticket machines, the station unstaffed.

 

To the west of the station stands the 279 metre Winterbutlee Tunnel, opened by the Manchester & Leeds railway Company in 1841 when the line between Todmorden and Littleborough was completed.

The pictures were taken on the 27th August 2017 with a Nikon d3300 camera, they can be seen below and on ClickAsnap un-watermarked.

Manchester direction, the bridge is all that remains of the original station, it was built in 1890. Winterbuttlee Tunnel can be seen beyond.

Winterbuttlee Tunnel from the 1890 Bridge. The original Walsden Station was sighted near the tunnels entrance.

The 1890 metal footbridge is all that remains of the original station at Walsden. There used to be a level crossing where the gate is.

British Rail Class 144 Pacer train at the Leeds bound platform 2.

The steps up and over the 1890 bridge.

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All the pictures remain the copyright of Colin Green.