Castleton East Junction: Gateway to the East Lancs
Castleton east junction: gateway to the east lancashire railway
The mainline junction at Castleton, Rochdale, has been the ‘lifeline’ for the East Lancashire Railway (ELR) for many years. Castleton’s East Junction, recently re-signalled with modern aspect lights replacing the century old semaphore signals, regularly sees ‘through traffic’ onto the ELR’s vintage line via the Hopwood Ground Frame.
All visiting vintage locomotives, both steam and diesel, and vintage coaching stock use the connection with the Calder Valley route, Manchester Victoria to Leeds, Halifax and Bradford, enroute to other preserved railways and for use on mainline excursions. The ‘Bags Yard’ site also has a triangle of track which has the facility to ‘turn’ not only locomotives, but whole excursion trains.
The ELR is planning to extend its destination into Castleton with the help of the three Local authorities, Rochdale, Bury and Rawtenstall and Network Rail. The Friends of Castleton Station and all the residents of Castleton are keen to assist in anyway possible with this venture. This willingness to assist is shown once again by the beautiful floral display on the Manchester bound platform. With the help of Castleton’s primary school pupils, and station adopter Roy Williams, and Cllr Billy Sheerin passengers awaiting to commute can enjoy the results of this example of community work in action.
The proximity of Castleton Station to the East Junction and the Rochdale Canal, the Canal is adjacent to the Station Approach and was the first canal to traverse the Pennine Hills, gives Castleton a unique opportunity to become a destination for tourists using historical forms of transport.
The Friends of Castleton Station need the assistance of members of the community to work to form a firm relationship with the authorities and the East Lancashire Railway to make the project to bring tourist into Castleton and the wider Rochdale area a success.