Pictures
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so on this page we bring you a selection of photos showing the station, trains and FOWS activities at Walkden. If you wish to use any of the pictures on this page, please contact friends@walkdenstation.org.uk
A Manchester-bound express charges through Walkden on the now dismantled fast lines, shown on an old Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway postcard from the collection of Tom Wray.
Today most services are operated by the unpopular class 142 "Pacer" trains, built on a modified Leyland bus chassis by British Rail in the 1980's.
This picture shows 142 052 in Merseyrail yellow with a Manchester bound train in August 2007.
After the class 142s, class 150's are the second-most common sight on services from Walkden, offering more space and a much smoother ride than their smaller cousins.
Here 150 147 leaves for Wigan after a fall of snow in February 2008.
Walkden is occasionally visited by trains built this century, but unfortunately they don't stop here ! The Wigan-Manchester via Atherton line is a popular diversionary route when engineering works are carried out in the Bolton area.
This picture shows a Trans Pennine Express approaching Walkden on its way to Barrow in June 2008.
A class 142 Pacer looks strangely serene as it shakes and judders towards Manchester on a quiet, misty morning in August 2007.
The station's original entrance with its polychromatic brickwork and modest parapet is ill-served by the cluttered street furniture and tangle of wires and pipes that have been crudely attached over the years. FOWS have cleaned the lower areas but the whole facade is in dire need of a thorough professional clean.
The L&Y were pioneers of the "island" platform design where a single platform is sited between the railway tracks. Walkden is unique on the Atherton line in having an island platform that is above rather than below street level, an unusual arrangement that is of interest to historians of railway and vernacular architecture.
The station's 120-year-old Lancashire and Yorkshire platform canopy survives to this day. In summer 2008 it was repainted in a smart blue and white colour scheme and the pillars - which are hollow and serve as gutter downpipes - were unblocked.
These photos show the detail of the platform canopy's new colour scheme with the L&Y "wheel" device picked out in white and the blue, star-shaped bosses on the rafters.
Similar ironwork can be seen at various stations along the L&Y route through Hebden Bridge and Halifax.
The Wigan platform at Walkden before and after FOWS renovated the disused flower bed.
On July 2nd 2008 FOWS celebrated the 120th anniversary of the first passenger train from Walkden.
FOWS are grateful to our friends at the Salford Advertiser for the use of these pictures.