Pilling railway station

Pilling railway station served the villages of Pilling and Stake Pool in Lancashire, England.

Under the Garstang and Knot-End Railway
The station opened on 5 December 1870 as the terminus of the Garstang and Knot-End Railway when it opened the 7 mi long line from Garstang and Catterall.

The station was located on the southern edge of Stake Pool village to the east of the road running south (now Bradshaw Lane), and was sometimes called Stake Pool station by the local press. Although called Pilling station, it was about 1500 yds from Pilling village across country, or about 1.5 mi by road.

The line was a single track, and a passing loop, which appeared to cross the adjacent road on the level, was provided at the station to enable the locomotive to run round the train. At this time there was one platform to the south of the running line and a small building between the platform and the road. A small goods yard was to the south and east of the station. Able to accommodate most types of goods including live stock, it was equipped with a half-ton crane. The initial service was for four trains in each direction.

Under the Knott End Railway
The railway company was bought out by the Knott End Railway and the line was extended to Knott End on 30 July 1908, at which time a second platform was built, so that the platforms were either side of the passing loop, the goods yard was extended and a goods shed provided. A substantially larger station building was constructed immediately south of the southern platform.

In 1922, the service had increased to six trains each way, with an extra train on Fridays to and from Knott End. There were no services on Sundays.

LMS and closure
The station closed to passengers on 31 March 1930. Despite being closed, the station was still available for goods and parcels, by 1938 the crane had been upgraded to 1 ton capacity. The line and station closed for freight on 31 July 1963. In 1981, it was reported that the station goods yard was now a small industrial estate and the former station house had become a private dwelling.