Rose Grove Railway Station

 Rose Grove is a suburban railway station in the town of Burnley, Lancashire. Much reduced in size from it's heyday the station opened on the 18th September 1848, built to serve the Rose Grove suburb and the nearby town of Padiham. The station grew when the Great Harwood Loop (North Lancashire Loop)  opened between Rose Grove, Padiham and beyond in 1875 and remained an important stop until passenger numbers started to reduce between the wars, goods traffic reducing in the 1960's with coal and oil trains to the nearby power stations finally ending in the late 1980's - early 1990's

The loop was closed in 1964, Rose Grove goods yard a few years later, much of it now covered by the M65 motorway, the station buildings were removed and staff were taken away in the early 1980's, leaving a station much reduced in size.

The station is still a junction stop, the line splits to the east with the East Lancashire Railway continuing towards Colne, and the Caldervale line towards Hebden Bridge and Todmorden. The station only has basic facilities, including a small shelter, a few benches / seats, information boards, but has no toilet or refreshment facilities on site or nearby and no disabled access, the platform only reached by a metal staircase from the road bridge above.

The pictures were taken with a Nikon d3300 on the 19th August 2022.

The only access point to the station, as you can see not really suitable for the disabled or people who struggle to manage stairs. Their was 34 if I remember correctly. There used to be stone built building s down the centre of the platform, and I have been told an additional 2 bay platforms and at least 8 lines around the station. The goods yard was to the left of the picture and again I was told after I visited the bay platforms are still there, hidden by the tree's either side of the picture.

Platform 2 occupies this southern side of the bay platform, Trains towards Hapton, Accrington and Blackburn can be caught here. Again the station's only access, the stairs can be seen.

Platform 2.

Overgrown and abandoned trackbed viewed from Platform 1. I have been told that there was a bay platform where the trees are.

The island platform from the end of 1.

The opposite end of Platform 1, the sum total of the stations facilities on show, an info board, shelter and bench seats.

Clicking any image should open a link in another window to the higher resolution, un-watermarked version on Clickasnap.

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All the pictures remain the copyright of Colin Green.

Burnley Barracks Railway Station

 Burnley Barracks is a railway station on the East Lancashire Line. It is a request stop and offers a card only ticket machine and basic shelter as its only facilities. It has step free access but no car parking facilities other than on street parking. The station being only a request stop, 1 of 4 on the East Lancashire line is not a busy station although in the last full year of passenger figures 2020/21 attracted 9316, the previous 4 years averaging 21561 per annum, a drop in numbers of 12245.

The station became a request stop on the 14th May 2012, this means you have to inform the ticket inspector you would like to get off the train, or give a clear signal to the driver you would like to board. On the day I visited this was the busiest station of the 8 on the East Lancashire I visited with 3 passengers boarding and 2 alighting the train. The stations close location to both Rose Grove a few hundred metres east, and Burnley Central a few hundred metres west has Barracks earmarked for closure should the lines connection with Skipton and upgrade of the line come to fruition.

Colne bound training just leaving. It would 45 minutes before another train passed through the station.
There is 1 train in each direction approx. every hour.

Burnley Barracks opened on the 18th September 1848, it was the temporary terminus of the line yet to be completed to Colne and known as Burnley Westgate. In February 1849 the station was closed as the line was completed and there it's story was supposed to end, however development of the local area in to housing, industry and an army barracks led to Burnley Westgate reopening in September 1851, taking its name from the nearby cavalry barracks. The station opened as a 2 platform stop connected by a footbridge that dealt on the whole with just passengers, the nearby stations Rose Grove and Bank Top (Burnley Central) handling the goods traffic. The former eastbound platform remains although this is now largely overgrown and not visible, this was taken out of use when the line was singled beyond Rose Grove Station in 1986.

The army barracks closed in December 1898, and slum clearances of the local area in the 1960's and 70's led to declining passenger numbers, the construction of the nearby M65 motorway contributing to this too. The station has seen a steady rise of passenger use in recent years with new housing developments and peoples reluctance to use the car increasing.

There are a total of 5 pictures I took around the station, they can be seen here or on Clickasnap where they are full size, resolution and un-watermarked. Copies can be purchased there too if required.

The entrance sign to the station

The station looking west from the end of the platform. Despite Junction Street Bridge (Foreground)
and Padiham Road Bridge (Background) passing over the station, the 2 platforms were connected
by a wooden passenger bridge sighted between the 2. I assume this was removed when the line
was singled in the 1980's, but it may have been earlier as there is evidence on another site entrance
just off Junction Street Bridge.

The station looking eastward (towards Colne) from the end of the platform. The stations only
facilities are the shelter seen before the bridge and a ticket machine to my right
just out of shot.

Thanks for looking and please take a moment to share. All the pictures remain the copyright of Colin Green.