Whitecross railway station

53°23′12″N 2°36′39″W / 53.386728°N 2.610953°W / 53.386728; -2.610953Grid referenceSJ594880Platforms2 (Probably)Other informationStatusDisusedHistoryOriginal companySt Helens and Runcorn Gap RailwayKey dates1 February 1853Station opened as a temporary terminus1 May 1854Station closed when the through line was opened

St Helens & Runcorn Gap Railway
Legend
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 Allerton West Allerton Mossley Hill Sefton Park Wavertree Liverpool & Manchester Railway Edge Hill Liverpool Lime Street
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Whitecross railway station was in the Whitecross area of Warrington, England. It was built and operated by the St Helens and Runcorn Gap Railway as a temporary terminus on its line pushing east from Widnes to join with the Warrington & Stockport Railway pushing west from Altrincham. Its exact location is open to debate, as no trace remains. Tolson cites the line's inspector, Captain Wynne, as giving the Whitecross to Arpley extension as the very precise 45.75 chains (0.920 km), but as the location of the Arpley datum point is unclear then the location of Whitecross station is also precisely unclear. Tolson concludes that the station was probably 'just east of Litton Mill Crossing'.^[1][2] The map reference and co-ordinates used in the station data above are based on an interpretation of the map repeatedly used in the Disused Stations UK website, although that site does not include a prose section on Whitecross station.^[3] The admirably frank 8D Association site concludes "The site of this station has been completely lost with the building works that have occurred in the area we do not believe any pictures exist or that the site of the station can be located."^[4]

The line through the station site continued in passenger use until 10 September 1962 when the Liverpool Lime St to Warrington via Widnes South service was withdrawn, though a lone late night Liverpool to York Postal continued to use the route until 9 September 1963, when it was diverted via Earlestown to reduce operating costs.^[5] Warrington Bank Quay Low Level remained open until 14 June 1965^[6] but it is unclear what traffic this served along the route after the Postal was diverted.

In 2015 the tracks through the station site remained heavily used, primarily by trains to and from Fiddlers Ferry Power Station, though a few other booked freights and occasional diversions used the line through to Ditton Junction.

Preceding station		Disused railways		Following station
Terminus		St Helens and Runcorn Gap Railway		Sankey Bridges Line open, station closed

References

Sources

• Bridge, Mike, ed. (2013), Railway Track Diagrams Book 4 Midlands & North West, Trackmaps, Bradford on Avon, ISBN 978-0-9549866-7-4
• Tolson, J M (1983), The St Helens Railway, Its Rivals and Successors OL 64, The Oakwood Press, ISBN 0 85361 292 7

External links

• The station via 8D Association
• Map showing the station via Disused Stations UK