Proposed Railway Bridge at Fishergate Hill, Preston 1914
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This proposal would have fulfilled two ambitions. First, to eliminate the steeply graded curve from the west side of Preston Railway Station down to the dock estate, and second, to provide an alternate route to Blackpool and the Fylde by avoiding Preston Station altogether. This would have created an entirely new route using the course of the former West Lancashire Railway that terminated at the bottom of Fishergate Hill. This proposal would, as the diagram illustrates, have required the construction of a high level bridge running across the former site of the West Lancashire Station. This new avoiding line would have linked up with the present Blackpool line at Lea. The dock railway line would have run under Fishergate Hill to the west of the avoiding line. This scheme would have required the 'new' Penwortham bridge to have been built 100 yards downstream from where it is located today. One town councilman strongly objected to the proposal as it would have required the removal of several mature trees surrounding the bowling green on Hartington Road. In the end, it was the Great War that put paid to this and several similar plans.
Proposed Railway Bridge at Fishergate Hill, Preston 1914
To ENLARGE - either
1. Right-click the image then choose Original or...
2. Select View all sizes from the Actions tab then choose Original
This proposal would have fulfilled two ambitions. First, to eliminate the steeply graded curve from the west side of Preston Railway Station down to the dock estate, and second, to provide an alternate route to Blackpool and the Fylde by avoiding Preston Station altogether. This would have created an entirely new route using the course of the former West Lancashire Railway that terminated at the bottom of Fishergate Hill. This proposal would, as the diagram illustrates, have required the construction of a high level bridge running across the former site of the West Lancashire Station. This new avoiding line would have linked up with the present Blackpool line at Lea. The dock railway line would have run under Fishergate Hill to the west of the avoiding line. This scheme would have required the 'new' Penwortham bridge to have been built 100 yards downstream from where it is located today. One town councilman strongly objected to the proposal as it would have required the removal of several mature trees surrounding the bowling green on Hartington Road. In the end, it was the Great War that put paid to this and several similar plans.