DURING a period of Victorian railway mania, the Longridge branch almost graduated to main line status with an ambitious plan to link the line with the industries of West Yorkshire.
Only partial implementation reached fruition and acted as a catalyst for the Longridge branch line to be connected to the main line at Maudland (Preston) in 1850 and Preston's main station in 1885.
The arrival of the first horse drawn train in 1840 later provided some incentives for the formation of modern Grimsargh, though the passenger and goods lines have been closed for eighty and 40 years respectively.
I have often wondered what rail travel was really like on the PLR in those halcyon days of the mid-19th century and how much attention was paid to passenger comfort.
A contemporary newspaper report in the Preston Guardian, describes a primitive country railway worked by 'old asthmatic engines,' and a 1st class passenger sharing a passenger compartment with a 1st class bovine.
Consequently it emerges that the railway serving an agricultural community was looked upon in some quarters with a mixture of amusement and affection, prompting correspondents to write tongue in cheek letters to newspapers reporting upon such a bizarre occurrence.
This surprising level of eccentricity was not without precedent, however, for contiguous with the line at Grimsargh was the unconventional Whittingham Hospital Railway (WHR)
The connecting line to Whittingham established Grimsargh as a junction in 1889. Here the station porter greeted his trains with the mantra 'Grimsargh, change here for trains to Whittingham Hospital.'
It now seems incredible that a small village like Grimsargh once had two railway stations, with junction and passenger facilities for the trains to Whittingham.
The hospital's private station was situated on the north side of Long Sight Lane diagonally opposite the joint LNWR/LYR station, which opened in 1870, on the south side of Long Sight Lane and adjacent to a level crossing.
The railway was undoubtedly unique, claiming to be the only free railway in the country.
Anyone could travel between Grimsargh and Whittingham stations and, as a boy, I frequently enjoyed free rides up and down the line.
The charm of both rural branch lines once epitomised those wonderful days of steam at a time when thousands of passengers boarded ancient carriages at wayside stations of yesteryear but, in line with national trends, was abruptly curtailed when the railways conceded to the powerful road transport industry.