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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 LNWR line to Wigan, Crewe and London

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

Home Page

PHOTO 
of the day / week / month

[Previous photos]


D1015 Western Champion makes a spirited start away from Preston, bang-on-time, with the Western Chieftain tour. 

Photo : ASB 21/06/2009

NOTICES

NEW - 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.

DVD Offer!
Gary Lewis writes with details of his expanded selection of DVDs. They are of excellent quality and available at a very reasonable price. Titles are:

Carnforth 1994 - 2000
Carnforth 1998 - 2008
West Highland Railway
Railways Around Lancaster

* A special discount is available for readers of this website! *

Full details are available 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

Sat 27th June 2009
Things to do...
Well, there's not much happening on the rail-tour front in Preston for the next couple of weekends. Steem-fans might consider a trip over to Hellifield fior the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway today and tomorrow.

If classic diesel traction is your thing, check out the Preston-related DVD titles on our DVD Listing Page, which includes a selection of Cab Rides through Preston.

Thu 18th June 2009
Western Change
Further to the note below, times for the Western tour have been revised. The changes don't affect the time at Preston on Friday, but the lay-over on Sunday is now down to 35mins rather than the 54 minutes previously reported, arriving later, but still departing as previously planned. (details)
Weekend Tours
There is a bumper selection of tours coming up this weekend, with not one, but two class 37-hauled Compass tours on Saturday and Sunday, The Castle over Shap providing something unusual for the steam fans and D1015 Western Champion making extended stops at Preston on Friday and Sunday.

Confirmed times are now available for all of these, in the usual place.

Wed 10th June 2009
Castle and Western Times
Times for the Castle Over Shap and Western Chieftain tours are now on the Gen / Timetable page.

Thanks as always to Darren and the PrestonRailGen group

Fri 5th June 2009
Past Time Rail in liquidation
It is being reported on several forums, that Past Time Rail has ceased trading.

This will be a blow to the rail-tour market, in general and particularly in the steam sector. PTR is responsible for the popular and (apparently) successful monthly Cotton Mill Express trains, as well as many other steam tours over several years. With the Kingfisher also having run into difficulties in the last few months, it seems that the rail-tour market is finding that times are tough. If an established operator like Past Time Rail can struggle, it seems likely that other companies, particularly smaller and less well-established ones, may follow.

Thurs 28th May 2009
Times for Saturday + more
Times for the two tours through Preston on Saturday are now on the Gen / Timetable page. These involve 86359 Les Ross and 6233 Duchess of Sutherland.

There are also a couple of stock moves through Preston today. These are following last weekend's event at Eastleigh.

PRESTON PASS 16:21
and
PRESTON PASS 16:13

Thanks to Darren and the PrestonRailGen group for the info.

Ayr Brush Postponed
Northern Charters have posted a message on their website to the effect that the Ayr Brush will no longer be running on 6th July, due to poor passenger loading figures. An alternative date in July or August is planned, giving time to gain extra bookings and make the tour viable.

www.northerncharters.org.uk

Fri 15th May 2009
"Ayr Brush" times & availability
06 / 06 / 2009 - Now 86101 and 87002 top & tail. 

Seats still available in Standard Class. Walk-up fares and part fares will be available on the day, subject to availability.

www.northerncharters.co.uk

Crewe 7.32 (86101 leading)
Warrington BQ     8.00 
Wigan NW          8.17
Preston           8.58 
Carlisle         10.10 
Glasgow Central a11.32
                d11.54 (87002 leading)
Ayr             a12.41
                d14.58 (86101 leading)
Glasgow Central  16.26
Carlisle         18.18 (87002 leading)
Preston          19.37 
Wigan NW         19.53 
Warrington BQ    20.06 
Crewe            20.26 
Fri 1st May 2009
The 80s are back... and they're DREADFUL!
Anbrico / Felixjaz have just released their new DVD "This is Preston".
The new DVD is an absolute must for anyone who has spent time at Preston over the last twenty-odd years. We start with footage dating from 1987, with first generation DMUs and class 47s galore. 87s, 86s and 85s are seen along with a pair of 25s on a liner. Moving on into the 90s, Regional Railways 31s are added to the mix along with the odd HST. Bringing us up to date is a short section of footage shot between 2004 and 2009.

The DVD can be bought directly from the Anbrico website or via Ebay. The DVD is also included on our new DVD listing pages.

SPECIAL OFFER :
All cheque orders placed via the Anbrico website will qualify for a 10% discount. This applies to their North West Class 101-116 DMU title as well as This is Preston.
Please quote the following code when ordering : PREWEB

SPECIAL OFFER :
All cheque orders placed via the Anbrico website will qualify for a 10% discount. 
This applies to their North West Class 101-116 DMU title as well as This is Preston.
Please quote the following code when ordering : PREWEB

Budgie Transport
Here's one that seems to have been kept rather quiet...
Budgie Transport are a firm based in Lancaster, who currently have three railtours listed on their website. The first will be double-headed 67s to Dalwhinnie, Avimore and Inverness in June, followed by a pair of class 50s to Minehead in August and a steam tour in October.

Some details are on their website and all three tours are now listed on the Gen / Timetable page.

Thurs 30th April 2009
86260 and 86101 for Ayr Brush tour
Northern Charters' Ayr Brush  tour will be hauled by 86101, with the second locomotive being supplied by ETL, the spot-hire company who have recently announced that two class 86s will be available from June. It seems that the Ayr Brush will be the first outing for one of those locos, 86260, which will carry the new red & grey livery.

There are some places still available on the tour,  which picks-up at Preston, available via the Northern Charters website.

Fri 24th April 2009
40145 Saturday
Times for tomorrow's tour featuring 40145 are now on the CFPS website. Preston times are in the usual place.
Tue 14th April 2009
RSR - Photographic Charter
A special event is being organised at the Ribble Steam Railway aimed at providing photographers with an opportunity to photograph the locos and stock at the railway in a way which isn't normally possible.

The all-day event will take place on Thursday 6th August with ‘John Howe’ dirtied up for the occasion and the possibility of a period road vehicle or two on the swing bridge. 

The cost of £35 per person covers the opening of the railway specifically for the event, with RSR staff needed at the Control tower. Places are limited to 15 people.

Andy Fowler writes : "We are looking at 6 – 10 wagons possibly in 2 formations, including NCB-liveried hoppers. The idea is to recreate a traditional Docklands theme. There is also the possibility of a line-up of a couple of other locos, either in ‘light steam’ or a simulation thereof (rags in the smokebox!), including the L&Y ‘pug’; the latter has been discussed with the RSR and agreed in principle. I’m aiming for a lineup of ‘pugs’ under the steelwork in the evening." 

For more information, please use the Feedback page, and we will pass-on your messages

 

 

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
Platfotrms 6 and 7

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