Glazebrook East Junction to Skelton Junction Line

Glazebrook East Junction–Skelton Junction line was a railway line from Glazebrook to Skelton Junction in Greater Manchester.

Glazebrook East Junction–Skelton Junction line was part of Cheshire Lines Committee (CLC) as a branch line of their main Liverpool–Manchester lines. The line carried on through Skelton Junction terminating at

It opened in 1873 serving the towns of Cadishead, Partington and West Timperley before joining the Manchester, South Junction and Altrincham Railway (MSJ&AR) at Skelton Junction which was also part of the CLC at this time.

In the 1890s the line was deviated due to the building of the Manchester Ship Canal. It was raised on an embankment around a mile in length from Glazebrook East Junction to be high enough to clear the Ship Canal and Cadishead Viaduct was built in 1892 to span the canal.

The line saw little change in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and it remained part of the CLC in the 1923 Grouping. On nationalistion it became part of the London Midland Region of British Railways in 1948 at the final demise of the CLC.

The line called at the following stations:

As part of the London Midland region of BR, It remained a busy line with trains from Liverpool Central and Warrington Central up until the mid-1960s. It was only on the withdrawal of these stopping passenger services in 1964 that all the stations closed along the line.

The line carried on as freight only until 1983 when Cadishead Viaduct was in need of serious and costly repair. British Rail decided rather than repairing the viaduct to close it and mothball the line. The tracks were lifted in the mid-1980s from Glazebrook to Partington.

...
Wikipedia