Parkside railway station (Merseyside)

These early intermediate stations were often little more than halts, usually positioned where the railway was crossed by a road or turnpike.

[6] The memorial has subsequently been granted listed building status and remains at the site of the original station near Newton-le-Willows.

[a][8] Parkside was one of only two intermediate stops on the L&MR where locomotives could be fuelled and watered (the other was at Eccles), it was well placed to do so being about halfway along the line, 14 miles 58 chains (23.7 km) from Edge Hill[b] and 14 miles 29 chains (23.1 km) from Manchester Liverpool Road.

A west curve and a flat crossing of the L&MR had been planned, and authorised, but weren't built because of financial considerations.

This would have undoubtedly have caused operational problems and therefore Parkside became the terminus station for trains on the WBR.

[13] There is doubt about how any transfer of passengers took place between the lines, it is unlikely that WBR trains ran from their single-track railway into the station on the L&MR double track, they would have had to reverse to do so, the WBR train likely stopped before the junction and passengers simply walked to the L&MR station.

[17] On 31 October 1838, the station was relocated approximately 17 chains (340 m) east, to be at the junction of lines with the NUR which opened on the same day through to Preston.

The GJR apparently contributed to the cost of the new station as an alternative to having to build a direct connection between the Warrington and Wigan lines.

This new station did not solve all the traffic problems, trains from the Liverpool, or Warrington (the east curve at Newton Junction had opened on 4 July 1837) directions still had to reverse at Parkside in order to access the northbound NUR line and vice versa.

[24][25] The east facing curve and the main line between Newton-le-Willows and Castlefield Junction in Manchester was electrified on 9 December 2013.

[26] What follows describes the passenger services that ran through Parkside, there were also freight trains, both owned by the companies and private operators.

[e][31][32] Quick (2022) documents the lack of timetables at this time, it is known how many trains ran but not where and when they stopped on-route.

[35] The L&MR agreed to operate the WBR when it opened in September 1832, initially a passenger service was run utilising "an engine of the 'oldest' construction hauling four coaches", and the fares were fixed at 5s 0d and 3s 6d from Wigan to Liverpool or Manchester (or the reverse) for first and second class respectively.

[44] A west curve and Preston Junction station was opened by the L&NWR in 1847 which made north–south travel easier but reduced Parkside's importance as an interchange.

From around this time trains going north towards Wigan from Warrington or Liverpool didn't pass through Parkside.