Miley Tunnel, Preston
April 2014 - Explored with ViralEye and Kenni
Miley tunnel is 862yds long (half mile approx) and is on an S bend. A surprising feature half way in the tunnel is what appears to have been a short open air section with 2 portals. The top has now been covered over with reinforced concrete beams and has been built on with the Preston division police HQ.
The Preston and Longridge Railway (P&LR) was a branch line in Lancashire. Originally designed to carry quarried stone in horse-drawn wagons, it became part of an ambitious plan to link the Lancashire coast to the heart of Yorkshire. The plan failed, and the line closed to passengers in 1930 and to goods in 1967.
The Preston and Longridge Railway Company was set up in 1836 to build a tramway from the newly opened Tootle Heights Quarry in Longridge to Preston.
The 6½-mile single-track line was opened in 1840, with crude passenger facilities at Longridge, Grimsargh and Deepdale Street in Preston.
In June 1889, a private branch line was opened northwards from Grimsargh to Whittingham Asylum two miles away. As well as supplies, hospital staff and visitors were carried free of charge in converted goods brake vans. Trains were timed to connect with passenger trains at Grimsargh.
By 1930 the popularity of bus travel caused the line to close to passengers. The line to Longridge remained open to goods traffic until November 1967.
Goods traffic continued to use part of the line as far as the Courtaulds factory at Red Scar, until its closure in 1980, after which the Gamull Lane bridge over the line at Ribbleton was removed. All that now remained of the whole line was a triangle spur link between the West Coast Main Line and coal yards at the site of the original Deepdale Street terminus. This, too, was closed in the 1990s, although the tracks for this section were never taken up.
April 2014 - Explored with ViralEye and Kenni
Miley tunnel is 862yds long (half mile approx) and is on an S bend. A surprising feature half way in the tunnel is what appears to have been a short open air section with 2 portals. The top has now been covered over with reinforced concrete beams and has been built on with the Preston division police HQ.
The Preston and Longridge Railway (P&LR) was a branch line in Lancashire. Originally designed to carry quarried stone in horse-drawn wagons, it became part of an ambitious plan to link the Lancashire coast to the heart of Yorkshire. The plan failed, and the line closed to passengers in 1930 and to goods in 1967.
The Preston and Longridge Railway Company was set up in 1836 to build a tramway from the newly opened Tootle Heights Quarry in Longridge to Preston.
The 6½-mile single-track line was opened in 1840, with crude passenger facilities at Longridge, Grimsargh and Deepdale Street in Preston.
In June 1889, a private branch line was opened northwards from Grimsargh to Whittingham Asylum two miles away. As well as supplies, hospital staff and visitors were carried free of charge in converted goods brake vans. Trains were timed to connect with passenger trains at Grimsargh.
By 1930 the popularity of bus travel caused the line to close to passengers. The line to Longridge remained open to goods traffic until November 1967.
Goods traffic continued to use part of the line as far as the Courtaulds factory at Red Scar, until its closure in 1980, after which the Gamull Lane bridge over the line at Ribbleton was removed. All that now remained of the whole line was a triangle spur link between the West Coast Main Line and coal yards at the site of the original Deepdale Street terminus. This, too, was closed in the 1990s, although the tracks for this section were never taken up.
