An Illustrated History of Old Sutton in St Helens, Lancashire

Part 26 (of 95 parts) - Sutton Transport Timeline (St. Helens, Lancs)

Researched & Written by Stephen Wainwright ©MMXX Contact Me  |  Transport in Sutton
An Illustrated History of Old Sutton in St Helens
Part 26 (of 95 parts) - Sutton Transport Timeline
Also see: Transport in Sutton  |  Industry in Sutton
Researched & Written by Stephen Wainwright ©MMXX
An Illustrated History of
Old Sutton in St Helens
Transport Timeline
Also see: Transport in Sutton
Researched and Written by Stephen Wainwright ©MMXX
The above used postcard is dated 1911 and was used by visitors to St.Helens to mail to their family and friends back home. This timeline examines developments in the transport infrastructure - including trains, trams, trolley buses and motor buses - that allowed people and goods to get in and out of Sutton and be transported within the town of St.Helens. It also features the price of progress with details of many accidents that occurred.

Sutton Transport Timeline

Go Direct To: 1850 – 1899    |    1900 – 1949    |    1950 +
20th March 1755 - Sankey Brook Navigation Bill receives Royal Assent
1757 - The first stretch of the Sankey Brook Navigation opened.
1770s - Sankey Brook Navigation reaches north Sutton.
1st January 1811 - The Liverpool to Manchester stage coach with 5 passengers inside and several on top crashed at Bold Heath after its axle broke. The driver was thrown some distance, fracturing his arm and an outside passenger was injured.
5th May 1826 - The Liverpool to Manchester Railway Bill receives Royal Assent.
1828 - Ellen Hughes agreed to sell land at Lea Green so the planned Liverpool to Manchester railway could cross her Sherdley estate.
6th October 1829 - First day of the Rainhill Trials held on a two mile stretch of level line between Lea Green and Rainhill.
20th October 1829 - A report by civil engineer James Walker into the comparative merits of locomotive and fixed engines on the proposed Liverpool to Manchester railway (and described in the Manchester Mercury) stated that the incline at Sutton was 1½ miles long and rose 1 foot in 96.
29th May 1830 - The Bill authorising the construction of the St Helens and Runcorn Railway to transport coal from St.Helens to Spike Island, Widnes, received its Royal Assent.
15th September 1830 - The Liverpool and Manchester line opened at a cost of £739,165. Lea Green station also opened.
21st September 1830 - The Manchester Mercury reprinted a Liverpool Albion article on the return leg of the inaugural Liverpool – Manchester service: “On arriving at the Sutton inclined plane, the engines lost all power, and the train fell back through its own gravity. An order was then issued, that as many of the passengers as could walk should alight from the carriages, in order to diminish the weight. Nearly all the gentlemen accordingly alighted, and walked, in darkness and amidst rubbish, a distance of between one and two miles, until, the top of the plane being reached, we once more took our seats.”
2nd January 1832 - The line from St.Helens Station to the Liverpool and Manchester Railway at St.Helens Junction was opened for freight traffic.
24th September 1832 - An experimental steam carriage passed through Bold Heath on the last part of its journey from Birmingham to Liverpool. Made by Ogle and Summers, it attracted great attention on its journey, which with stops for repairs, took 3 - 4 days at speeds of around 10 to 15mph.
November 1832 - St.Helens and Runcorn Gap Railway first used. At Sutton men and horses assisted in hauling coal trains up an incline until a stationary engine was built. The line crossed the L&M line via an intersection bridge, the first place in the world where a railway crossed a railway.
21st February 1833 - St.Helens and Runcorn Gap Railway officially opened.
1833 - St.Helens Junction station opened.
6th August 1834 - At 10 o'clock a 7-year-old girl walking on Sutton incline became confused by two trains that were travelling up and down the incline at the same time. She crossed the rails several times and was knocked down by an engine and died on the spot when its waggon wheels passed over her breast.
28th February 1835 - Engine driver Ralph Thompson was killed at the foot of Sutton incline through a points failure. Thompson was thrown off his engine and the wheels of his locomotive passed over him crushing him to death.
19th March 1835 - John Murphy, the 46-year-old gatesman at Sutton incline, was cleared of causing the manslaughter of Ralph Thompson through negligence.
23rd November 1838 - The St.Helens and Runcorn Gap Railway station house on the Sutton incline was burgled. The Manchester Courier reported that a "gang of thieves, who have recently committed considerable depredations in the hundred of West Derby, are suspected."
21st July 1845 - Royal assent given for the creation of the St.Helens Canal & Railway Co., created by the merger of the competing companies.
30th March 1847 - A loose rail caused an engine, tender and goods wagons to be thrown off the line at St.Helens Junction, near to a passenger train. Fortunately it was travelling at just 10 mph and no injuries were caused.
1st August 1848 - At the AGM of the St.Helens Canal & Railway Co. it was revealed that the large-scale "alteration of the Sutton inclined plane”, which was 1½ miles long, was nearing completion.
30th October 1848 - During the late morning George Green was struck by a buffer of an express train, while calling for another man to assist him. This was probably his neighbour and co-worker James Birchall. Green broke several ribs and he died at 4pm. The 54-year-old had been a porter / railway policeman on the Sutton incline for 9 years.
1st February 1849 - John Smith of Sutton took over the operation of St.Helens & Runcorn Gap Railway.
26th January 1850 - Samuel Harvey, railway clerk at Sutton sheds, was almost decapitated by the train that he'd cadged a lift with.
13th July 1850 - An article in the Manchester Courier complained of the state of the station at St.Helens junction which had no waiting room and was a "dangerous place of landing for passengers".
1st February 1851 - Platelayer William Ramsden was "frightfully mutilated" at the foot of Sutton incline while crossing the rails. He was struck by the engine and tender that hauled trains up the incline and "cut in pieces". Ramsden, a widower, was brother of the St.Helens Junction stationmaster and left 5 orphan children.
9th August 1851 - Six-year-old Stephen Highcock was decapitated by the 3 o'clock express whilst playing at St.Helens Junction station.
20th September 1851 - The Manchester Courier reported that "The St.Helens Railway Co. are about to erect a commodious new station at the junction with the main line at Sutton."
24th April 1852 - 33-year-old Sutton glassmaker William Bradshaw was killed by a train near the old station after sitting with his legs across a rail whilst drunk.
1st August 1852 - A train accident on Sutton incline led to serious injuries to a number of passengers. The accident was as a result of the engine taking the train's carriages up the incline in two shifts. On its way down after taking up the first batch, the engine got up too much speed and caught the remaining carriages.
1852 - Sutton (St.Helens) station at Sutton Oak first appeared in timetables.
c.1852 - Clock Face station opened (reduced to halt status from July 1926).
1853 - A station at Bold was opened but closed in 1858.
28th February 1854 - Eccleston farmer Joseph Yates received very serious injuries at St.Helens Junction station. He was drunk and instead of crossing the line to get to the Liverpool train, Yates jumped on the buffer of the last carriage of a Manchester train. It began to depart, Yates jumped off and was dashed to the ground.
2nd July 1854 - The 9am passenger train from Liverpool to St. Helens collided at Sutton with an engine that was returning to the engine shed from St.Helens. Fortunately there were no serious injuries.
19th September 1854 - Margaret Johnson received serious - probably fatal injuries - after being knocked down by a train of waggons after crossing the railway near the old Junction railway station.
9th December 1854 - Joseph Rigby, described as an "old man" was knocked down by an engine while crossing the railway lines at Ravenhead. A wheel passed over his neck "nearly severing his head from his body".
15th May 1855 - Charles Tomlinson, labourer at Ravenhead Copper Works, was killed on the railway at Sutton after being crushed between two waggons.
30th July 1856 - 18-months old Sarah Green was run over and killed in Sutton by a cart driven by Robert Grace.
15th October 1856 - A carter working for timber merchant Richard Harrison was filling his cart with lime from a lime waggon of the Mineral Lime Depot near the old Junction station when the 12:10pm passenger train from St.Helens arrived. Its shrill whistle frightened the horse which ran into the path of the train and was killed. The cart was decimated and the shocked carter ran away and went missing.
3rd November 1856 - William Worsley was seriously injured after falling off Sutton engine shed while roofing it in dense fog.
1st May 1858 - Two-year-old Joseph Burrows was knocked down by an engine leaving Sutton Copper Works while crossing the line. It severed his right arm and leg and he quickly bled to death.
23rd June 1858 - Platelayer Richard Appleton fractured his skull when he fell backwards while getting on a waggon in Sutton, his head hitting the rails.
6th September 1858 - Two engines (named Hero & Goliath) collided on the Parr Colliery branch line which led to the Hero crashing into the stationmaster's house at St.Helens Junction while he was in bed, cutting it in two. The stationmaster's family were uninjured but a 14-year-old lad named Charles Whittaker, who was clinging to the engine, was 'frightfully mangled' and killed.
7th October 1858 - Fireman Joseph Grace was run over by waggons whilst unhooking them from an engine on the Sutton to Lea Green incline and died in Liverpool Infirmary.
24th June 1859 - An inquest on 25-year-old platelayer John Robinson was held at the Clock Face Inn. He was undertaking a repair on a shunting near the pub when he was run over by a luggage train, cutting off his right leg and smashing his left.
26th December 1859 - A woman was killed on the spot by a passing train after crossing the line at St.Helens Junction station while waiting the arrival of the 8pm train from Manchester.
5th January 1860 - A brakesman named Arthur Hilton was shunting some waggons into a siding at St.Helens Junction and got onto an engine to speak to an engine man. In getting off the engine, Hilton's foot slipped and he fell with his arm across the rail. The engine then completely severed it from his body.
7th January 1860 - Three trains collided on Sutton incline. In its report of the accident on the 9th, the Liverpool Daily Post wrote: 'It is a remarkable fact that though there are many more dangerous stations on the London and North-western Railway than St.Helen's Junction, yet it has always been noted for misfortune...Strange to say, it is the fourth accident which has occurred at this place in the short space of one month.'
18th January 1860 - The 5.15pm express train from Liverpool ran into a horse and cart on the level crossing at the bottom of Sutton incline killing the horse and smashing the cart to pieces. The Liverpool Daily Post wrote: 'It is only wonderful that the train was not thrown off the line, and the consequences more fearful'. The driver, who was employed by farmer Thomas Johnson of Bold, had his arm broken.
7th February 1860 - A collision occurred between two 'luggage trains' at St.Helens Junction, after one came down Sutton incline at great speed and struck the waggons that the second train was shunting.
17th March 1860 - Another accident took place on Sutton incline when a train ran into a departing goods train, breaking several waggons and tearing up the platform.
17th April 1860 - A large 'luggage train' with two engines was seen to be on fire as it was going down Sutton incline. The train was stopped at Sutton Moss and a burning waggon of cotton was unhooked and quickly removed to Warrington Junction where the large blaze was extinguished.
7th April 1861 - The census conducted on this date stated that the stationmaster at Sutton Oak Station was Thomas Thompson and the St.Helens Junction stationmaster was Parker Whitehead.
25th February 1863 - William Healer was knocked down by a passenger train at the Ravenhead crossing in Peasley Cross Lane while wheeling his barrow over the lines and "frightfully injured", dying two days later.
4th July 1863 - 22-year-old Thomas Ackers was killed on the railway while shunting waggons at St.Helens Junction. His inquest was held at the Golden Cross.
18th July 1864 - 46-year-old Mary Litherland was fatally injured and her 3-year-old child was seriously hurt after leaping from a train at St.Helens Junction station. The mother had incorrectly believed that they were on the wrong train and the pair slipped under its wheels.
1st August 1864 - The St.Helens Canal and Railway Co. was absorbed into the London & North-Western Railway (LNWR).
1st September 1864 - Runcorn Gap station was renamed Widnes station.
29th October 1864 - A notice in the Liverpool Daily Post stated that 'the station now named Sutton, will in future be called Sutton Oak'.
4th November 1864 - A collision took place in the fog on Sutton incline near St.Helens Junction. A carriage was damaged and two passengers were slightly injured.
5th October 1865 - 32-year-old James Smith of Peasley Cross was run over at St.Helens Junction after slipping while uncoupling coal waggons and falling under their wheels. He received "dreadful injuries" and died the following day.
27th November 1865 - 53-year-old Eliza Jones of Worsley Brow was killed by a coal train at Peasley Cross station when crossing the line.
8th June 1867 - A spark from an engine shunting on the L & NW line caused an extensive fire at Nuttall’s bottleworks at Ravenhead causing £500 damage.
3rd September 1867 - Coach driver James Tighe was severely injured at St.Helens Junction. He worked for coach proprietor John Marsh and was proceeding to collect a wedding party and convey them to church. As his coach passed over a railway crossing it was struck by a bank engine "shivering it to atoms".
1st January 1869 - The last passenger train from Widnes to St Helens ran into the rear of a coal train near Clock Face Station. The coal train had been slowed down by an incline and was probably overloaded. Several of its carriages were thrown off the line by the impact.
21st January 1869 - An iron bar in a coal train wagon that was projecting at a right angle, broke ten windows of a passenger train from Widnes as the two trains passed each other in between Clock Face Bridge and Sutton Sheds, startling but not injuring passengers.
6th March 1869 - A suspected con man called George Langham made a dramatic leap from a train near St Helens Junction fracturing his skull. The man had been accused of swindling a fellow passenger out of a sovereign.
4th June 1869 - A collision took place near to Sutton Oak station between a light engine and a passenger train. Government inspector Colonel Yolland said a Sutton Oak Junction signalman had instructed a train driver to proceed despite a warning signal. However he apportioned most of the blame on the company’s management who had permitted such a system.
4th September 1869 - A man was thrown out of the Widnes train between Clock Face and Farnworth stations while it was in full motion. This was after a violent dispute with other passengers. When the train arrived at Widnes, the guard was told what had occurred and during the return journey, he and others searched for the missing man but no trace could be found. The men had been to St Helens to watch a foot race at the Dog and Rabbit race ground.
13th September 1869 - Thomas Holmes, the former master of Whiston workhouse, attacked Dr. Rayner on a platform at St Helens Junction station while he was waiting for a train, covering his face with blood. Dr. Rayner had previously been the medical officer at the workhouse and had reported Holmes to the Guardians of the Prescot Union and ultimately the master had been sacked. Five weeks later Holmes was fined £5 at the Prescot sessions for what the magistrates said was an offence of 'unpardonable character'.
27th September 1870 - The Times reported that the Sutton (St Helens) station had been redesignated Sutton Oak station (also see 29th October 1864).
14th November 1870 - A coal train standing in a siding near Sutton Junction was struck by a bank engine which turned into the same siding at the opposite end, smashing both engines. Both sets of drivers and stokers escaped by jumping off their engines. The line was blocked for several hours.
16th December 1870 - A collision occurred at Peasley Cross, when the 9:30am passenger train from St.Helens Junction to Wigan struck a coal train, which had stopped to take in water. Most of the passengers were violently thrown off their seats and three received serious injuries. They were taken to the Temperance Hotel in St.Helens where they were treated by Dr. Ricketts.
23rd January 1871 - Martha Draper was crossing the line over a level crossing at St.Helens Junction when she was knocked down and seriously injured by an express train.
20th May 1871 - Margaret Lamb returning from market, left a train at Peasley Cross thinking it was Sutton Oak station and ended up on the line. The engine ran her down, killing her on the spot.
7th October 1871 - Samuel Lucas of Convent Row was killed when walking from Sutton Oak station along the railway lines to his home. The train from Widnes run him over cutting off a foot and his face was "completely smashed". His son James, then a booking clerk, later became stationmaster at Sutton Oak.
2nd November 1871 - The London & North Western Railway advertised for tenders from contractors to construct a bridge over the railway at Lea Green.
1st January 1872 - The 5¼ mile long St.Helens to Huyton line was opened to passenger traffic reducing pressure at St.Helens Junction station. Previously passengers travelling from St.Helens to Liverpool had to change at St.Helens Junction. The new line reduced travelling time from an average 1 hour to 35 minutes.
28th May 1873 - A collision occurred near Sutton Oak Junction at 8pm between a passenger train and a goods train. A tender and four carriages were badly damaged.
8th October 1873 - The London & North Western Railway advertised in the Manchester Guardian for tenders from builders to construct a new passenger station at Sutton Oak.
22nd October 1873 - Engine driver Robert Wilson and railway blacksmith Thomas Rigby appeared at St.Helens Police Court charged with a violent assault on St.Helens Junction stationmaster James Bush.
24th October 1874 - The railway sheeting sheds at St.Helens Junction were almost completely destroyed by fire.
2nd December 1874 - Engine tenter William Williams was run over and killed by an engine near St.Helens Junction.
8th July 1875 - The London & North Western Railway advertised for tenders from builders to construct new station buildings at Peasley Cross station.
29th May 1876 - John Eden was fined £1 7s 6d plus costs for breaking a window at St.Helens Junction station and using abusive language to a ticket collector.
28th August 1876 - William Russell was fined ten shillings for riding between Manchester and St.Helens Junction stations without a train ticket.
1878 - Three groups approached St.Helens Corporation with separate proposals for providing horse-powered tram services.
24th May 1878 - 19-year-old brakesman Alexander Nelson died in hospital from injuries sustained on the previous day while shunting railway waggons at Sutton Oak Junction. Nelson had been riding on a waggon buffer when he fell off and the engine passed over him.
29th July 1878 - 19-year-old carter John Tilston, who worked for Peasley Cross contractor J. Harrison, was approaching Sutton Glassworks with a load of timber when his horse shied and he was crushed between his cart and the wall of the works. A cart wheel passed over him and Tilston soon died.
22nd November 1878 - Farmer James Hulme from Childwall was mysteriously found dead on the railway line near Collins Green station by miners on their way to work at Bold Colliery.

A crash at St.Helens Junction station in 1906 in which a train overran and struck the stationmaster's house

A train struck the stationmaster's house at St.Helens Junction in 1906

Junction station crash in 1906

24th July 1879 - An Act of Parliament incorporated ‘The Saint Helens and District Tramways Company’ with an authorised capital of £70,000 in £10 shares. The legislation also authorised tramways to Sutton at the corner of Robins Lane and Marshalls Cross Road.
 1880 - Sutton Oak Shed which stored and maintained locomotives opened. A replacement for previous sheds, it originally had 10 roads.
13th April 1880 - Edwin Calland was found lying across a rail in a siding half-a-mile from St.Helens Junction station having been run over by a train. The pointsman at Appleton station died next day in hospital.
18th September 1880 - A collision took place at Sutton Oak Junction between a passenger train and part of a mineral train.
29th September 1880 - A collision took place near St.Helens Junction station between a passenger train and an engine and tender.
10th December 1880 - 26-year-old brakesman Peter Robinson was found dying in his van at Sutton Oak Junction after apparently falling out.
3rd April 1881 - The Census completed on this day lists the following Stationmasters - St.Helens Junction Station: James Bush, Station House; Sutton Oak Station: James Lucas, 40 Convent Row; Lea Green Station: Llewelyn Jones, 28yrs; Peasley Cross Station: John Ashton, 53yrs; Clock Face Station: William Leigh, 37yrs, Gartons Lane; Thatto Heath Railway Station: Mr. Prescott.
23rd May 1881 - 34-year-old James Cowan, a lodger of 4 Ashton Street, Parr, was mysteriously found dead on the railway at St.Helens Junction after travelling from Liverpool. His skull had been smashed and arm broken. Ticket collector Thomas Taylor of Herbert Street gave evidence at the inquest.
24th May 1881 - A Bill authorising the construction of a railway between St.Helens Junction and St.Helens passed its Commons stage unopposed.
16th November 1881 - Father Sebastian Enrico CP, Rector of the Passionist monastery in Ovada in Italy, was "cut to pieces" by the Manchester express at St.Helens Junction station after crossing the line to catch a train. The priest had been resident at Sutton Monastery for 3 months and had been expelled from France a year earlier.
12th December 1881 - Samuel Williamson - described as a professional gambler and cardsharper - was sent to prison for 3 months with hard labour at St.Helens Police Court for taking £10 off a fellow passenger on a train to St.Helens Junction using the three-card trick.
23rd March 1882 - 52-year-old labourer Patrick Comber was killed by a train while crossing the railway lines at Ravenhead.
2nd May 1882 - Government Inspector General Hutchinson inspected the proposed St.Helens tramways route. Upon examining the low railway bridge at Peasley Cross, Hutchinson ordered that after dark the tram cars must be stopped and outside passengers warned of the bridge.
3rd May 1882 - After numerous disputes between the tramways company and St.Helens Corporation, a service from Dentons Green / Bridge Street to Peasley Cross terminus at the corner of Sutton Road began. However for unknown reasons it ended 32 chains short of the authorised terminus at Robins Lane. The open top double-deckers with a capacity of 36 persons, would travel to Peasley Cross via Church Street returning to St.Helens via Shaw Street, Corporation Street and Cotham Street.
22nd January 1883 - A report in the Manchester Guardian stated that the L&NW railway were making considerable alterations to the Liverpool and Manchester line between the Sankey viaduct and St.Helens Junction. Additional land had been acquired for sidings, several new under and over bridges were being constructed and a new passenger station was in the course of erection at Collins Green.
28th February 1883 - A special general meeting of the St.Helens & District Tramways Co. was held to discuss a bill before Parliament which would authorise the construction of new tramways. It was explained how they intended to extend the line from Peasley Cross to St. Helens Junction via Sutton Oak and Sutton Glass Works.
16th July 1883 - The Saint Helens & District Tramways Act authorised an extension from the Peasley Cross terminus to St.Helens Junction station via Sutton Road, Worsley Brow, Ellamsbridge Road and Junction Lane although the finance could not be found to construct it. The Act also authorised steam traction but, again, the company could not afford it.
20th October 1884 - Bold farmer James Brocklehurst was charged in St.Helens Police Court with furious driving and being drunk in charge of a horse and carriage. He'd chased members of St.Helens Cyclist Club who were returning from a trip to Warrington, wrecking Robert Coop's tricycle. Brocklehurst was fined £5 5s.
20th October 1884 - Robert Jackson from Parr was fined 40 shillings in St.Helens Police Court for seizing Lea Green station master Llewelyn Jones after alleging that a train to St.Helens had departed early.
16th May 1885 - Members of Widnes cricket team were returning home after playing St.Helens Recreation Club when their waggonette - which was driven by four horses - violently collided with a steam tram at Peasley Cross. One player broke his arm.
30th May 1885 - The ‘Sutton Oak curve’ measuring 36 chains, just under half a mile, was added to the L& NWR line.
13th June 1885 - 46-year-old Martin Scott was decapitated at Ravenhead Junction after accidentally stepping in front of the St.Helens to Widnes train.
17th August 1885 - 58-year-old Joseph Webster, who worked at the Sutton Rolling Mill, threw himself across the rails at St.Helens Junction hours after being charged with assaulting a 4-year-old girl. He was instantly killed by a train and his body carried 50 yards.
11th May 1886 - A Royal train carrying Queen Victoria, Prince and Princess Henry of Battenberg and the Duke of Connaught travelled through St.Helens Junction on a trip from Windsor Castle to Liverpool.
26th July 1886 - St.Helens Town Councillor Joseph Ellison, who was also a member of Prescot Board of Guardians, was fined 40 shillings at St.Helens Police Court for travelling from Appleton to Sutton Oak without a train ticket.
27th December 1886 - A collision took place at St. Helens Junction between a passenger train and a goods train.
31st December 1886 - 67-year-old platelayer Thomas Garton of St.Helens Road, Bold, was run down and "shockingly mutilated" by an engine at Clock Face Station during thick fog. At Garton's inquest, the jury recommended that in foggy weather, engine drivers should be required to sound their whistle at crossing points.

Loco at Sutton Oak Sheds off Baxters Lane (now Morrisons supermarket) photographed on 14th May 1939

Loco at Sutton Oak Sheds off Baxters Lane photographed on 14th May 1939

Loco at Sutton Oak Sheds in 1939

February 1887 - The Saint Helens and District Tramways Company were accused of poor management of its services and after commissioning a report, the shareholders sacked the directors at a meeting. It was alleged that crews were often drunk and rude to customers and would routinely let their friends travel for free. Delays in return journeys at termini meant that tram cars would often be left idle for a considerable time while the staff enjoyed themselves in a local pub!
26th November 1887 - Guard William Higham of Junction Lane was killed by a train while crossing the line at St.Helens Station and had both legs severed.
4th December 1887 - About 100 railwaymen formed a procession in front of William Higham's Junction Lane home which then wended its way to St.Nicholas Church. There the men attended the Sunday service as a mark of respect to their fallen colleague and in sympathy with Higham's widow and eight children. A subscription was opened in St.Helens to support the family.
30th May 1888 - Henry Whitehead was charged with attempted suicide after being discovered at St.Helens Junction in a third-class carriage of the 8 o'clock evening train from Manchester, suspended by a handkerchief from a rack.
July 1888 - The Saint Helens and District Tramways Company went into receivership.
18th October 1889 - Three wagons and a break van belonging to a goods train left the rails as it passed through Sutton Oak Station, blocking the line for some time.
22nd October 1889 - From the ashes of its predecessor, the St.Helens & District Tramways Company Limited was registered.
23rd November 1889 - 23-year-old Mrs. Canning of Harrison Street, Sutton and her 16-month-old child Benjamin were struck down by a goods train at Sutton Oak Station, after crossing the line at the end of the platform in dense fog. The child was instantly killed and the mother died in the Cottage Hospital 5 days later. Steps were provided to allow safe crossings but these were routinely ignored.
2nd January 1890 - Farnworth Station changed its name to Farnworth & Bold.
5th February 1890 - Shoeing forgeman Ambrose Jackson was instantly killed by a train at St.Helens Junction station when he crossed the lines instead of using the footbridge.
3rd April 1890 - The short-lived era of steam powered trams began on the St.Helens Junction line (9 locomotives in total were purchased).
27th July 1890 - 400 railway workers of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants, led by Roughdales Brass Band, marched from St.Helens Junction to the Town Hall in support of a call for reduced working hours.
24th November 1890 - A letter was published in the Liverpool Mercury criticising the "wretched" train service between Warrington and Sutton Oak. The writer who claimed to be a frequent traveller said that the distance had never been accomplished in under 40 minutes.
20th April 1891 - Four Widnes men were each fined 10s. for vandalising a weighing machine at Sutton Oak Station. William Crowe was fined a further 10s. for striking porter William Spencer.
9th December 1891 - A goods train from Lea Green was being shunted from the Liverpool and Manchester line onto the Widnes branch near St.Helens Junction when it backed into a standing goods train that had just arrived from West Leigh. The engine and tender of the latter were overturned and thrown down an embankment. The Times reported that the engine-driver and fireman had a "marvellous escape" after leaping from their tender.
27th May 1892 - A horse and trap belonging to a Bold farmer called Lowcock was startled by a Sutton Methodist Brass Band playing in Worsley Brow by the Railway Inn. It scattered the band “right and left” and knocked many onlookers down. Five-year-old Elizabeth Woods of Assam Street received a fractured skull and eight-year-old Kezia Jones received arm and leg injuries.
18th September 1892 - A signal man called Harrison living in Sutton Leach was walking along the line to his signal box at Clock Face to start work when he was knocked down by an engine. An arm was severed from his body and his skull was fractured.
5th January 1893 - Several waggons of a goods and mineral train that was being shunted into a siding at Lea Green Station overturned, completely blocking the main line for some time.
1894 - Consideration was given to extending the Peasley Cross tram line to St.Helens Junction but, again, nothing happened.
3rd February 1894 - Henry Williams of Sutton Road, who worked as an engine cleaner at Sutton Oak Sheds, was sent to prison for a month with hard labour for "insulting" 14-year-old Mary Reeves, daughter of a Sutton tradesman, in a railway carriage during the previous evening.
22nd February 1894 - A goods train was derailed at Collins Green on the L&NW main line from Liverpool to Manchester, blocking both lines for some time.
28th April 1894 - Farmer Henry Parr fractured his left thigh and arm after his horse was startled by a steam tram in Peasley Cross.
28th June 1894 - George Clarke, who lived at St.Helens Junction, was knocked down and "terribly mutilated" by an express passenger train after crossing the railway line on his way to work at Bold Colliery.
1st August 1894 - 55-year-old shunter William Beesley was killed when his head was caught between the buffers of runaway waggons in a St.Helens Junction siding.
24th September 1894 - Sutton Oak Station Master Joseph Leather, who lived at the Station House at 20 Dixon Street, had his name removed from the voters’ lists after making a "faulty claim".
20th February 1895 - 53-year-old Thomas Ireland Lowe of Micklehead Farm at Lea Green, who had financial worries, was found dead in a carriage at Exchange Station in Manchester after swallowing carbolic acid.
5th November 1896 - 42-year-old Patrick Ryan of Sutton Moss was killed near Sutton Oak station whist walking along the railway lines.
8th February 1897 - a bull wandered onto the platform at St Helens Junction station and then got onto the line. It was bad timing as the one o'clock express from Liverpool to Manchester was passing through at a high rate of speed. The train was reported as having struck the bull’s head, spinning it round and hurling the animal against a bridge. The beast then rebounded onto the line and was “cut to pieces” by the engine.
1st April 1897 - St.Helens Corporation purchased the tramways for £23,000 but the existing tram company continued as operator.
9th May 1897 - 500 railway workers, headed by a large banner of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants and Sutton Road Prize Band, processed from St.Helens Junction to the People's Palace, St.Helens in support of 25 striking dressers at the Junction's sheeting sheds.
7th June 1897 - Mary Ann Cornise had to have both legs amputated after getting out of a train on the wrong side at St.Helens Junction as the train began to leave.
25th September 1897 - Three-year-old Richard Hope of Hughes Street, Sutton was run over and killed in Baxters Lane by a horse and springcart that was carrying two empty churns and was driven by Annie Haslam. The street was then unpaved and the boy ran across the road into the path of the horse.
October 1897 - St.Helens Corporation decided to electrify, a bold move considering the few existing electrified tramways in the country.
22nd February 1898 - The Liverpool Echo reported that St. Helens Station was extending its horse-driven van delivery service for parcels to Peasley Cross, Sutton Oak, St.Helens Junction, Marshalls Cross and Lea Green.
10th March 1898 - An inquest was held on telegraph inspector Frank Bourne who was struck by the Manchester to St.Helens express near St.Helens Junction. He had been stood on the line absorbed in thought while making sketches of telegraph poles and wiring and died from his injuries later that day.
4th June 1898 - The St.Helens Newspaper reported that suggestions by St.Helens Town Council for improvements at St.Helens Junction station had been rejected by the London and North Western Railway Company. However LNWR planned to lengthen the station platform by widening the bridge on both sides and also raise the platform by eighteen inches. Cllr. Bates had argued for a subway, stating that in wet or frosty weather the steps to the bridge became slippery and many elderly people were instead getting to the other platform by dangerously crossing the rails.
12th August 1898 - An Act authorised tramways electrification and yet another proposed extension from Peasley Cross to St.Helens Junction but following a different route.
1st October 1898 - The Corporation awarded a 21 year lease to the existing tram operator.
4th November 1898 - After control of the operating company had changed hands, the new Board decided to form another new company and the New St.Helens & District Tramways Company Limited came into being with a capital of £150,000 in £1 shares.
24th March 1899 - The retirement of Robert Newton, who had been in charge of Sutton Oak Sheds for over 25 years, was announced.
11th July 1899 - Sixteen-year-old Walter Houghton was struck down and killed by an express passenger train near Bold Colliery where he worked.
1st September 1899 - Ada Ghent and Alice and Clara Bold who the Liverpool Mercury said were "stylishly-dressed young ladies and respectably connected" were each fined 20 shillings for travelling from Liverpool Lime Street to St.Helens Junction without tickets in what was described as a premeditated fraud.
 9th December 1899 (probably) - A public electric tram service began to Peasley Cross.
19th September 1900 - After months of work building the tram extension to St.Helens Junction, public services began although the new terminus was at Peckers Hill Road instead of the actual station (Ellamsbridge Road initially).
5th December 1900 - The Electric Supply and Tramways Committee of St.Helens Council reported that a memorial or petition had been received from residents in Clock Face requesting that the tramways be extended from Robins Lane to their district. The committee decided to bear the matter in mind when the next application to Parliament for further powers was made.
12th July 1901 - St.Helens Junction porter Josiah Parr suffered a bad facial injury when he struck a signal stay post wire whilst travelling on the footboard step of a moving brake van.
7th December 1901 - A double railway accident at Sutton Oak Station completely blocked both lines between St.Helens and Manchester for 5 hours. A goods train was passing through the station when the brake van left the metals and dragged a wagon with it. Directly afterwards a bank engine proceeding in the opposite direction crashed into the derailed brake van, throwing it off the line. The van and stones on the station platform were damaged.
12th May 1902 - 51-year-old James Garner of Mill Brow (or Lane), Sutton, was knocked down and run over on the Ravenhead branch of the London and North-Western Railway while working as a foreman shunter. Both legs were amputated by Dr. Jackson at St.Hospital Hospital but Garner died soon afterwards.
12th April 1903 - About 11pm a tram travelling near the hospital in Peasley Cross ran into a steam motor tower used to repair overhead cables. The front of the vehicle was smashed and the driver named Mayor broke his arm.
13th July 1903 - The Peasley Cross Station booking hall and waiting room caught fire causing considerable damage.
11th October 1904 - In Robins Lane a tram crashed into a stationary St.Helens Hospital ambulance. The driver of the horse-drawn vehicle and another man were inside with a patient and considerable damage costing £4 15s to repair was caused.
4th May 1905 - Striking tram staff marched through Peasley Cross to St.Helens Junction to hold an open-air meeting in Sutton. In Peasley Cross Lane a strike-breaking tram appeared and the men threw mud and sods at it and broke windows. This forced the driver to make a hasty retreat back into St.Helens.
2nd September 1905 - Edward Littler of Clock Face Road committed suicide by throwing himself in front of the engine of the 6:45pm Liverpool train as it was leaving Sutton Oak station. The Lancashire Evening Post said he was ’shockingly mangled’.
24th January 1907 - Engine driver Samuel Almond (43) received injuries to his head and left side after a train carrying 17 stores vehicles struck his light engine in a siding at St.Helens Junction. An inspector’s report blamed signalman Thomas Malkin, who had changed the points to allow an express passenger train to pass. This sent the stores train into the down siding where it struck the engine, whose exact position Malkin was unaware of, despite placing it in the siding himself. The inspector who investigated the crash commented on the signalman’s ‘unusual mode of working’.
21st June 1907 - Michael Garrity was fined 10 shillings in St.Helens Police Court for needlessly pulling the communication cord on the Manchester to LIverpool express. He stopped the train near Lea Green after losing his ticket through a window.
19th June 1909 - 14-year-old Lois Smart was cut in two and her older brother John Thomas Smart of 14 Sutton Road had to have both legs amputated after they were hit by the Ditton to St.Helens train at Peasley Cross station. Walter Smith of Waterdale Crescent rendered first aid and made tourniquets from his shirt, which a doctor said had saved the man's life.
30th June 1909 - The jury at Lois Smart's inquest brought in a verdict of accidental death but added that understaffing and the construction of Peasley Cross station had contributed to the accident. It had been revealed at the inquest that porter Joseph Leather was on the day also acting stationmaster, ticket collector, lamplighter etc. The coroner Samuel Brighouse said it reminded him of a Gilbert & Sullivan opera.
27th August 1909 - Young boy James Whalley from Clock Face Road was run over by a motor waggon in Marshalls Cross Road and died in St.Helens Hospital.
5th August 1911 - 15-year-old Alice Lea of 6 Harrison Street and 16-year-old Martha Almond of 59 Waterdale Cresent were on a footpath that crosses the railway lines when they were struck by the buffers of a passenger train that had just left St.Helens Junction, Martha receiving a fractured skull.
1st October 1911 - Union Bank Railway Station near Sutton Manor opened.
24th February 1913 - The Liverpool Echo reported that a little boy had been 'mangled to death' at St.Helens Junction station. He had been playing 'whip-top' on the platform and jumped on the line to retrieve his top unaware that an express was approaching at great speed.
13th January 1914 - 20-year-old William Spencer of 118 Edgeworth Street, who worked at Crone & Taylor's manure works, fractured his skull after being run down by a loco near Sutton Oak Station.

Advert in the Liverpool Echo from January 1915 for a driver for the new Sutton Manor bus

Liverpool Echo advert from 1915 for a driver for the new Sutton Manor bus

Advert in the Liverpool Echo of 1915

3rd April 1914 - The Liverpool Echo reported the retirement of James Lucas who'd been stationmaster at St.Helens Junction station for 31 years. Ambrose Merrill succeeded Lucas with Guard Bowsted becoming stationmaster at Sutton Oak.
June 1914 - County Carriers began a Daimler motor bus service between Sutton Manor and Market Street, St.Helens, the first in the town.
6th October 1915 - St.Helens Corporation labourer John Goulding died after having been knocked down by the Sutton Manor bus. He was working on the road by the sanatorium in Peasley Cross when hit.
12th February 1916 - Spencer Cliff of Keighley dropped dead on the platform at St.Helens Junction station. He'd been to visit his soldier son at Oakdene Military Hospital in Rainhill.
16th February 1916 - An inquiry was held at St.Helens Town Hall into the Sutton Manor Colliery Co.'s application to construct a new railway. This would connect the mine with the Liverpool & Manchester line at Lea Green and replace an inadequate temporary line that was hampering its coal distribution.
01st August 1916 - The St.Helens Newspaper described how a ‘rather serious railway mishap’ had occurred at Clock Face Colliery sidings, which had blocked the St.Helens to Widnes line for 2 hours. An engine had run off the line and turned over on its side, although the engine driver and fireman were uninjured, having leapt for their lives before the loco came to grief. A large breakdown crane was needed to clear the line.
4th August 1916 - 43-year-old egg merchant John Byrne was run over and killed by his own motor van. While in Junction Lane Byrne’s engine stalled, so he got out of his van and turned the starter handle to get it going again. Unfortunately his vehicle was in gear and when the engine was re-started, the van shot forward with the wheels going over Byrne’s head and neck, fatally injuring him.
6th September 1916 - Fog caused a "somewhat destructive collision" between the Sutton Manor bus packed with colliers and a tramcar in Peasley Cross Lane, although there were no serious injuries.
23rd September 1916 - 39-year-old Charles Dyer, who lodged at 41 New Street, died in St.Helens Hospital after being crushed by a locomotive.
10th November 1916 - 18-year-old Benjamin Fenney of Grace's Square, Sutton was killed when his cycle skidded under the back wheels of the Sutton Manor bus.
20th April 1917 - Henry Hewitt, driver of the Sutton Manor bus, was fined 20s. for overcrowding. The police had counted 63 passengers coming off his bus when it was only licensed to hold 30.
17th May 1917 - St.Helens Hospital took delivery of its first motor ambulance, a Ford Model T Field Ambulance with a top speed of 45mph, which cost £215.
31st May 1918 - 4-year-old William Corner of 2 Powell Street, Sutton died in St.Helens Hospital after having had his leg cut off by a tram. He'd been hanging on the side of its front platform and dropped off under a wheel.
1st October 1919 - St Helens Corporation refused to extend the tramways lease and took over operations itself.
7th January 1920 - 2-year-old William Alfred Ashton died after running in front of a tramcar in Robins Lane at its junction with Baxters Lane. The St Helens Reporter said the little boy - who was known as 'Little Freddie' - missed the lifeguard by inches, and was drawn under the car and 'terribly mangled'.
5th November 1920 - The St Helens Reporter stated that that the Tramways Committee of St Helens Town Council had resolved that the track be extended by two rail lengths over Peckers Hill Road along Station Road at the St Helens Junction tram terminus.
23rd November 1920 - Frederick Wallace of Tennyson Street was killed on the line between Sutton Manor Colliery and Clock Face Station by a passing train. Wallace was employed as a brakesman at Sutton Manor Colliery.
4th August 1921 - The St Helens Corporation Act authorised the operation of motorbuses and trolleybuses (initially known as trackless vehicles).
Autumn 1921 - Two motorbuses were used on the St.Helens Junction line to maintain the service whilst tram tracks were being re-laid, probably the first use of motorbuses in Sutton. This was some years prior to regular bus services being established.
1921/22 - The complete St Helens Junction tram line was relaid with additional loops. The station entrance also received a minor extension.
21st March 1923 - The Highways Committee of St Helens Town Council gave permission for a level crossing on Reginald Road as Sutton Farm (a.k.a. Willis’s farm) was being partly developed for industry.
29th September 1923 - St Helens Junction railway worker G. J. Chesters retired after 45 years service. Working on the railway was a family tradition as his father and grandfather had both served L&NW for 50 years.
25th December 1923 - John Case was killed at St Helens Junction station after leaping from a train. He worked at Pilkington's Doncaster factory and was returning home for Christmas when he realised that he should have changed trains.
1927 - A new tram terminus was opened at St Helens Junction station extending the existing Peckers Hill Road terminus, albeit by only 110 yards.
29th January 1927 - 17-year-old cyclist John Edward Ireland of Sutton Road was killed in a gale when his cap blew over his face and he rode his bike into a tram.
21st June 1931 - The long-standing through service from Denton’s Green to St Helens Junction ended. The Junction tram service from St.Helens town centre costing 2½d, now left from Sefton Place.
9th February 1932 - The North-Western Traffic Commissioners sitting at Manchester Town Hall granted an application by St.Helens Corporation for consent to apply for powers to run motor buses on three short routes outside of the borough. These included a service from St.Helens to the Rosehill Estate for the benefit of Clock Face Colliery miners and from Sutton Manor to Prescot for workers at British Insulated Cables and Prescot wireworks.
28th July 1933 - Part IX of the St.Helens Corporation Act formally authorised the abandonment of tramways.
12th July 1934 - A provisional order authorised a further 8 miles of trolleybus routes in St.Helens, including conversion of St.Helens Junction tram route.
1st May 1935 - Trolleybuses replaced trams on the St.Helens Junction route. Although authorisation was obtained to extend the route half a mile beyond the tram terminus to Bold Road, it still terminated at St.Helens Junction. However a turning loop extended the route by turning left from Station Road into Peckers Hill Road, then right into Junction Lane and back into Station Road.
1st May 1935 - By the end of the year there were only 8 tramcars still in service in St.Helens, with 36 trolleybuses and 28 motor buses in use.
3rd January 1936 - James Atherton, a railway engine Fireman aged 33 years of 252 Reginald Road in Sutton, was killed when crushed between a railway engine and wagon at Sutton Oak Sheds.
12th October 1936 - Robins Lane Halt rail station opened on the line that connected the Widnes & Runcorn Gap railway with Liverpool & Manchester line.
31st December 1936 - The Times announced that a new station was going to be built at Marshalls Cross which would replace the existing Lea Green station. However, it didn't open until the year 2000!
1937 - A new circular bus service began on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays. It began at Market Street and ran via New Street, Sutton Leach, Sutton Road and Peasley Cross back to Market Street.
1937 - A 60 feet turntable was installed at Sutton Oak Sheds.
26th September 1938 - Robins Lane Halt station closed through lack of passenger traffic.
14th January 1939 - The railway line between St.Helens and St.Helens Junction Station was blocked for several hours after a light goods engine jumped the points as it crossed the double track near Sutton Oak Station.
16th August 1939 - Some coal wagons fouled points near Collins Green Station, blocking the line to St.Helens Junction for 2 – 3 hours.
29th September 1939 - The St. Helens Reporter stated that most Sutton Manor bus services would terminate at Sutton Leach, although through buses would operate as normal up until 9am. The circular service from Market Street to Sutton Leach via New Street and Sutton Road was discontinued. These changes were initiated by St.Helens Corporation’s Transport Department because of fuel rationing.
15th December 1939 - Thomas Fitzpatrick (62) of 67 Peasley Cross Lane was killed near his home by a trolley bus travelling at 12 – 15 mph during the black out, while searching for a torch that had been lost by his wife. Assistant Deputy Coroner C. Bolton said at his inquest "I cannot understand the mentality of anybody who goes groping about the middle of the road in the black-out".
February 1940 - There was some easing of the service reductions with some buses now running to Sutton Leach and Sutton Manor.
25th April 1940 - William Pollitt, the St.Helens Town Clerk, issued a notice that the Town Council had applied to the Regional Transport Commissioner for permission to increase bus fares on a number of routes, including St.Helens to Sutton Heath at the Boars Head, St.Helens to Sutton Manor and St.Helens to Gorsey Lane, Clock Face.
14th November 1941 - St.Helens Transport Committee announced that, due to a shortage of drivers, the last buses would leave St.Helens at 9.45pm, with cinema-goers having to walk home after that time. Special buses would be provided for those on shift work.
28th June 1943 - A shunting engine jumped the points near St.Helens Junction station, which led to single-track working between the Junction and Lea Green until the line could be cleared.
December 1943 - Motor bus services to Sutton Manor were increased, partly to transport workers to the colliery.
17th April 1944 - William Norbury was killed by a train while working on the line near Peasley Cross Lane bridge. The 65-year-old was in charge of a number of platelayers and was seen to step out of the way of one passing train but then stepped into the way of another train travelling in the opposite direction.
17th June 1944 - The guard's van and five trucks of a runaway goods train crashed over a bridge near St.Helens Junction onto a road, bursting a water main. Just before the accident, 4-year-old Maureen Wilson of Sutton Road and 5-year-old Margaret Keating of Worsley Brow had been playing on the road. Their young lives were saved by having an argument and running home to their mothers. The girls' abandoned tricycle was found surrounded by the trucks, which required huge cranes to get them upright.
30th July 1945 - The Dundee Courier reported how a rail strike on the previous day had affected passengers: 'Holidaymakers shouldered their cases and marched in disgust from St Helens Junction Station when the 8 a.m. train for North Wales failed to arrive. The next train was hailed with pleasure by soldiers, who, in the belief that they were stranded, had been queueing at phone kiosks.'
14th November 1945 - A decision by the Transport Workers union to ban the carrying of more than 5 standing passengers on buses in St.Helens came into effect. The secretary of the union said the workers were suffering from war weariness and they wanted St.Helens Corporation to improve workload and working conditions. The dispute was settled three days later.
September 1946 - A new bus service to Sutton Leach was launched.
February 1947 - Sutton Leach bus services were extended to Clock Face and Bold, bringing frequent daily services to the district for the first time.
1950 - The Bold and Gorsey Lane bus routes were linked to Clinkham Wood and the Sutton Heath service was extended to Sutton Manor.
20th October 1950 - The St.Helens Reporter stated that approval for a footbridge costing £1200 over Clock Face bridge had been received from the Ministry of Transport and was now awaiting British Railways approval.
6th November 1950 - An engine pulling 23 coal wagons from Sutton overturned at Parr. Driver Robert Bridge from Kenwright Crescent and his mate Harold Halton of Orville Street in Sutton were uninjured. The guard Ernest Birch from Belvedere Avenue suffered minor injuries, requiring hospital treatment.
1951 Clock Face station closed.

A Class 40 (D354) train arrives at St.Helens Junction station

A Class 40 (D354) arrives at St.Helens Junction station

Class 40 arrives at St.Helens Junction

18th June 1951 - Sutton Oak Station closed to passenger traffic.
2nd February 1952 - The St.Helens Junction trolleybus service ceased operations with a replacement motorbus service commencing the following day. Using service number 6, the trolleys had connected to Dentons Green in a 27 minute journey, with usual frequencies of 7.5 mins (trams had been at 10 minute intervals). Travelling from the Junction to Baldwin Street had cost 2.5d.
26th January 1953 - The funeral took place at St.Nicholas of Lea Green stationmaster Herbert S. Lloyd. Retired stationmaster F. Benson was in attendance.
January 1955 - St.Helens Corporation’s fleet was now 100 motorbuses (8 single-deck) and 39 trolleybuses.
7th March 1955 - Lea Green railway station closed to passengers.
28th June 1955 - Railwaymen Vincent Stokes (20) from Garston and George Poole (64) from Walton were fatally killed by a train opposite Bold Colliery signal box while working on the line. They were struck by the 10:45am Warrington to St.Helens train and other workmen received minor injuries.
27th December 1957 - A brief letter from S. Moss of Margate appeared in the Daily Express. It read: A gas heater is provided for the comfort of travellers in the waiting room-cum-booking office at St. Helens Junction, Lancashire. But it only works if passengers pay their pennies in the slot. A notice says: "There is approximately 10 minutes of heat for 1d."
1958 - St.Anne’s RC Church in Monastery Lane began its own Sunday bus service.
25th September 1958 - Lea Green station completely closed.
May 1964 - A decision was made to close Sutton Oak Sheds but then rescinded.
14th June 1965 - Passenger trains were withdrawn between St.Helens Shaw Street (Central) and St.Helens Junction. However express trains between Liverpool Lime Street and Manchester Exchange now stopped at the Junction and buses linked the trains to St.Helens. The line was still used for a few years for freight and diversions.
15th August 1965 - Collins Green signal box closed.
29th December 1965 - A Trans-Pennine express with 70 passengers travelling at 50mph was derailed at Bold Colliery at 9.28am due to a partial points failure but there were no serious injuries.
8th February 1967 - A Ministry of Transport report into the derailment of the Leeds-Liverpool Trans-Pennine express at Bold Colliery in December 1965 said the points failure was caused by the fretting of two wires. St.Helens Junction Stationmaster H. Meace quickly made arrangements for single line working but was criticised for not checking whether medical aid had been summoned.
8th March 1967 - Barbara Castle, the Minister of Transport, announced a reprieve for thirteen stations - including St.Helens Junction - on the line between Manchester Exchange and Liverpool Lime Street, which British Railways had wanted to close.
April 1967 - The 22 bus route between Lancots Lane and Eccleston became one of only two routes in St.Helens to begin using one-man vehicles.
December 4th 1967 - Sutton Oak Shed closed for steam (other reports state 9th June and 19th July as the final day).
April 22nd 1968 - Two thieves stole 975 yards of telegraph wire that connected signal boxes at Clock Face and Anne Street, Widnes. Trains had to be stopped and drivers warned to travel with extreme caution, in case other traffic was on the line. Then on the following day after new cable had been connected, the men stole it once again! In June they were given suspended nine months prison sentences.
May 29th 1968 - Two freight trains collided near Sutton Oak causing eight wagons to be derailed, but no one was injured. The line was blocked for 11 hours but only a few freight trains were delayed.
March 1969 - Sutton Oak Sheds closed completely - the site is now the car park of Morrisons supermarket.
1981 - The St.Helens & Runcorn Gap Railway was closed as a through route with the sections between Sutton Manor Colliery and St.Helens Junction remaining open until 1986 and the mid-1990s, respectively. The line was cut back to a point just south of the site of Peasley Cross Station, where a siding led into Hays Chemical works.
20th January 1989 - The last train to travel over the rails linking St. Helens Junction with Shaw Street ran.
10th October 2000 - A new Lea Green railway station officially opened by Cllr. Terry Hanley, Chair of Merseytravel Rail Committee. The station is actually located at Marshalls Cross, opposite Sherdley Park.
May 2002 - The Sutton Oak Shed building is demolished.
19th July 2002 - The Guardian published photographs of three boys, aged 6, 7 and 9, building a barricade on the main line between Lea Green and St.Helens Junction stations. The barricade comprised a shopping trolley, tyres, tree trunks and traffic cones. The incident took place on June 27th and a passer-by took the pictures and contacted the police, who dismantled the barricade five minutes before a Liverpool to Manchester train passed through at 80 mph.
27th September 2002 - Trains completed stopped using the St.Helens & Runcorn Gap line. All that is left is a mile of single-track branch line.
Other Relevant Pages and Articles on Sutton Transport:
Transport in Sutton; Sutton Tragedy Part 1: The Ironic Tale of the Fortune Teller and the Ditton Train Crash; Sutton Tragedy Part 2: Crossing The Line – Rail Deaths in Old Sutton; Sutton Crime: Murder and Suicide on a Train and The Great Railway Robbery; Sutton Trivia & True Facts!: When Queen Victoria Came Through Sutton
Other Relevant Pages and Articles on Sutton Transport:
Transport in Sutton; Sutton Tragedy Part 1: The Ironic Tale of the Fortune Teller and the Ditton Train Crash; Sutton Tragedy Part 2: Crossing The Line – Rail Deaths in Old Sutton; Sutton Crime: Murder and Suicide on a Train and The Great Railway Robbery; Sutton Trivia & True Facts!: When Queen Victoria Came Through Sutton
Next:  Part 27)  Health & Sanitary Conditions
Stephen Wainwright
This website has been written and researched and many images photographed by myself, Stephen Wainwright, the Sutton Beauty & Heritage site owner. Individuals from all over the world have also kindly contributed their own photographs. If you wish to reuse any image, please contact me first as permission may be needed from the copyright owner. High resolution versions of many pictures can also be supplied at no charge. Please also contact me if you can provide any further information or photographs concerning Sutton, St.Helens. You might also consider contributing your recollections of Sutton for the series of Memories pages. Sutton Beauty & Heritage strives for factual accuracy at all times. Do also get in touch if you believe that there are any errors. I respond quickly to emails and if you haven't had a response within twelve hours, check your junk mail folder or resend your message. Thank you! SRW
This website is written and researched by Stephen R. Wainwright ©MMXX  Contact Me
Visit Sutton Beauty & Heritage on Facebook
Visit St Helens History This Week Facebook Group
Visit Sutton Beauty & Heritage on Facebook
Visit St Helens History This Week Facebook Group