HOME

Home Page

LINES

The line to Lancaster, Carlisle and Glasgow
The East Lancs Line to Blacburn and Burnley
The Fylde Line to Blackpool
The former Bolton & Preston Railway
The Deepdale and Longridge line
The West lancs Railway to Southport plus the Ormskirk line
The LNWR line to Wigan, Crewe and London
The Preston Dock Branch

INFORMATION

Information about railtours and unusual / interesting workings

A detailed look at the signalling around Preston station past and present

Maps and schematics of the station and surrounding area.

Links to related / interesting sites.

Links to related / interesting sites.

Chris's page - photos and video clips

Railway modelling.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

Reproduction of any material from this website (text or photographic) is strictly forbidden without the prior permission of the copyright owner.

If you would like to use any of the material on this website, please contact me via the Feedback page, and I will put you in contact with the appropriate copyright owner.

Every effort is made to ensure that photographs on this website are produced with the consent of the copyright owner. If you believe any image on this website to be in breach of copyright, please contact me immediately so that it can be removed.

WAITING ROOM

PHOTO 
of the day / week / month

[Previous photos]

Goodbye to old friends
60163 Tornado stands on Platform 6, ready to take the Royal Train to Manchester Victoria, to collect TRH The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall following their visit to the City. Tornado and the Royal Train had earlier taken the couple from Preston to the Museum of Science and Industry.

Photo : Rob Maynard 03/2/2010

 Our other websites :

 

NOTICES

New Section -  Visitors Extra  - New Section
a selection of photos from around the region, kicking off with a cracking selection of photos from the Lancaster area.

Who's Who - Part two

Do you recognise any of these faces? (click them to enlarge)
This photo was taken by on 24th July 1968, by Tony Gillett. An especially clean 45305 was on display at Preston station, where the public were invited to climb up onto the footplate. Perhaps you were there... 

DVD Listing Page

I have put together a listing of Preston-related DVDs, which I hope will grow into a comprehensive guide to relevant video material which covers Preston and the surrounding area. The list is divided into two sections, with the first listing Preston-specific titles and the second covering those which have a wider focus, but may include a small amount of Preston footage.

The new pages are HERE.


Black 5 no. 45025 stands with the Belfast boat train in the summer of 1968 
Bill Watson

Stanier class 5 4-6-0 no 44800 cement train Preston 22-9-67.

  web counters
web counters

NEWS

Tue 9th February 2010
Michael Lancaster
Michael - I got your name and part of an address from the feedback page, but no message or email address to reply to... 
Please give it another go, or use the email link at the bottom of the feedback page.
Fri 5th February 2010
RSR Winter Steam Gala
Don't forget... the Ribble Steam Railwat Winter Steam Gala is this weekend....
Fri 5th February 2010
Cotton Mill Changes
The re-arranged Cotton Mill Express will now take a different route to the one booked for the aborted attempt on 30th January.

The new itinerary sees the tour taking two circuits from Manchester to Huddersfield and back, the first returning via Copy Pit and Blackpool, the second via Rochdale.

The train will also terminate at Preston - hopefully at the end of the tour this time!
Details are on the Gen / Timetable page.

Wed 3rd February 2010
Cotton Mill Re-Run
The aborted Cotton Mill Express from Sat 30th January will now be re-run on Sat 13th February. The same route and times apply.
Details are on the Gen / Timetable page.
Mon 1st February 2010
Tornado from Preston on Thurs 4th
UK Steam.info is reporting that 60163 Tornado will head up an excursion from Preston to Manchester (Museum of Science and Industry) this coming Thursday. Due to the nature of this train, details are likely to be sketchy and it might not be possible to provide accurate times...
Sat 30th January 2010
Cotton Mill Express - update
More information :
Firstly, it seems that 46115 appeared to be in good health between Lancaster and Preston, with the delay being due to problems with the stock necessitating a hasty re-marshalling of the rake.
Also of interest is the fact that Dan Cruickshank was to be seen at Preston this morning. He was supposed to be involved in filming for the National Geographic TV channel, with the loco kitted out for filming. 
Sat 30th January 2010
Caped Guardsman
The Cotton Mill Express appears to be cancelled. It limped into Preston already an hour down and has gone no further. Roports on-board the tour suggest a fault with the brakes on 46115 Scots Guardsman which fitters have been unable to rectify.
Fri 29th January 2010
Steam Changes
Please note that Saturday's Cotton Mill Express tour has been amended, resulting in slightly different times at Preston.

Also, the Help for Heroes tour in March has been re-routed.

Details are on the Gen / Timetable page.

Wed 27th January 2010
Goodbye old friends
They had become part of the fixtures and fittings at Preston, but after many, many years, the two Mk2s and BG van were finally removed last night. 

The original plan seems to have been to take them down to the docks for dismantling by the RSR, but for reasons unknown, that never took place. Between 21.00 and midnight, a fork-lift was use to deposit the three vehicles onto low-loaders. They appear to have been moved to storage at Crewe.

Thanks to Mike Norris for the photos

Fri 23rd January 2010
Preston Coaches - Latest
The latest information on the three long-term Preston residents (see 3rd Jan), is that they are to be removed to Crewe by road, for further storage. A loco will be sent on Wednesday 27th to assist with moving and loading.

The vehicles can't be moved by rail due to general poor state of repair, added to which, only the BG has working brakes.

Fri 15th January 2010
Tornado from Preston
HF Railtours have announced a tour for April, featuring new-build A1 Tornado, taking a circular tour round the Cumbrian Coast and Settle - Carlisle line. The tour begins at Crewe and picks-up at Preston.

See NOTICES (left) for details

Web-cam problems
Unfortunately, our Euxton web-cam doesn't seem to have survived the cold-snap. We are working to get it fixed, but a battle with the manufacturer might take some time.
Sun 10th January 2010
Big Changes Planned for Preston
Following an editorial questioning Preston's status as "6th Worst Station", The Railway Magazine has published a letter from Professor Sir Peter Hall, co-author of the report. In it, he points out that the "worst stations" label was not used in the report, with the stations listed being those most in need of investment. More importantly, the letter includes some detail on what is planned for Preston.

The full letter is  available HERE, but these are the main points:

  • Preston's "fine listed structures" to be respected.
  • New footbridge to span entire station from the car park.
  • Buses along former rail routes to M6?
  • Widening of the platform 5/6 island by losing platform 7 (!)
  • Later re-building of west-side to widen platform 1/2 and bring the REs platform back into use.
  • Bay to provide "tram train" service to Blackpool South.

Clearly some of these are longer-term aspirations, but the plan is to turn Preston into a "model Sub-Regional Super-Hub station".

Further details and comments on the proposals are HERE. Please let me know if you have any thoughts on this.

TV Alert - Preston Station on TV
Monday on BBC1 at 6.30 :
Great British Railway Journeys
6/20. Preston to Morecambe: Travel documentary. Michael Portillo explores the temperance movement's origins in Preston, visits Blackpool and meets Morecambe's Keeper of the Sands
Wed 6th January 2010
Model Railway Exhibition CANCELLED
The annual model railway exhibition, organised by the Preston MRC, has been cancelled this year due to adverse weather conditions. The exhibition was to have been held at Preston College this coming weekend. There's no news yet on whether an alternative date is being sought.
Tue 5th January 2010
New Freight Timetable
Now on-line and available via the "Timetable" page, or directly here.
Thanks to Mick S for the updated info. 
Sun 3rd January 2010
59 down the docks?
The three coaches that were shunted to the south bay of the PCD a couple of weeks back, were meant to be taken down the Dock Branch by the class 67, but for some reason, that didn't happen. It has been suggested that a class 59 is to be sent to Preston to take the coaches to the Ribble Steam Railway for scrapping. With 59204 at Arpley, that perhaps isn't as unlikely as it might sound. 
 

 

For older news items, 
visit the News Archive page.

Please send news, comments or suggestions via the Feedback page.

 

Update History

13/08/2007
Added photo-of-the-day (week? month?).
Added Model page.
08/08/2007
Revamp to the menus so all buttons now work on all pages - I had got a little behind with linking all the pages in.
The Signalling page which has been written (thanks to David Ingham) for some weeks is now available.
07/08/2007
Added hit counter so I can see whether I'm wasting my time with this!

 

 

STATION

The North End of the station
The old platform 1 & 2 (now closed to passengers)
The current platform 1 & 2
Platform 3
Platform 4A (and 3A) - south-facing bays
Platforms 4 and 5
Platfotrms 6 and 7
Old Platform 10 to 13

Th south end of the station

MODERN PHOTOS

What you can expect to see at Preston Station on an average day.
Photos of recent interesting / unusual visitors to the station.

Contemporary photos taken at Preston

MISC PHOTOS

LIVE IMAGES