Britannia railway station served Britannia near
Bacup
Bacup ( , ) is a town in the Rossendale Borough in Lancashire, England, in the South Pennines close to Lancashire's boundaries with West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester. The town is in the Rossendale Valley and the upper Irwell Valley, east of ...
,
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...
, England, from 1881 until closure in 1917. The station was just to the west of the summit of the line, which was also the highest point on the entire
Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) was a major British railway company before the 1923 Grouping. It was incorporated in 1847 from an amalgamation of several existing railways. It was the third-largest railway system based in northern ...
(LYR) system.
History
The LYR branch line from to had opened for goods on 5 October 1870, and to passengers on 1 November 1870. On 18 July 1872 the LYR was authorised to extend the line to . There were to be two intermediate stations: one was at ; the other, from Rochdale, was named ''Britannia'' after a nearby
public house
A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...
, the ''Britannia Inn'', which was built in 1821 at the junction of the old and new roads from Bacup. The station was built by Samuel Warburton, who was contracted for the work on 28 July 1880; it had an island platform. The line opened on 1 December 1881, and with it, Britannia station. The station was situated above sea level, and just to the east of the station was the summit of the line, which at above sea level was also the highest point on the entire LYR system.
To the west of the station was a skew arch bridge built to carry the Lee Moor Colliery tramway over the railway line.
On 29 August 1891 a goods train of 24 wagons carrying stone from Britannia ran away on the falling gradient of 1 in 34 (3%) and collided with a passenger train at Facit station. Three passengers died and six were injured.
In 1940 a passenger train became stuck in snow for five days at Britannia.
The station closed on 2 April 1917 as an economy measure, although passenger services on the line continued until 16 June 1947. Goods traffic between Facit and Bacup ceased around the same time, but the line was not lifted until at least August 1963.
Notes
References
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Further reading
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External links
Site of Britannia Station on navigable 1947 O.S. map
{{DEFAULTSORT:Britannia Railway Station
Disused railway stations in the Borough of Rossendale
Former Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway stations
Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1881
Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1917
1881 establishments in England