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When royals stpped off for a sleep

1/ 1/2007

ROYAL trains have been regular visitors to the Rochdale area, although, mainly for security reasons, their presence was not always announced.

But it was widely known within the rail fraternity that royal trains on long journeys - not necessarily to Lancashire - sometimes 'over-nighted' in the sidings at Castleton station.

The train, bearing its regal visitors, would be shunted into a quiet part of the vast expanse of sidings, the lights switched off and left until the next morning when it resumed its journey.

Older Castleton residents still talk about visits by 'official looking men' checking the streets and pubs. A day or two later a royal train would quietly arrive and be gently pushed into a siding away from the main line and away from prying eyes.

But it was not all cloak and dagger stuff.

Far from it.

In July 1913, for instance, practically the whole population assembled at Rochdale station, and the roads leading from it, to say goodbye to the royal train which was to take King George the Fifth and Queen Mary back to London.

According to John Wells, author of 'Rochdale's Railways', the Lancashire and Yorkshire railway used the occasion to decorate its 'new' station, major extensions, including a new goods shed, having been completed the year before.

The Observer also reported: "The Rochdale station has never before presented such a handsome spectacle.

"The drab exterior had its brightness renewed by cleaning and repainting ... the tiled walls of the subway were washed down ... the gates through which ticket-holders pass were removed to give the king and queen a straight and uninterrupted course to the steps leading up to the departure platform."

On Friday 22 October 1954 at 3pm, the station again saw the royal train.

The Queen and Prince Philip arrived in the third coach of a rake of 11, drawn by Jubilee Class engines, No 45584 'North West Frontier' and No 45571 'South Africa'.

The royal train, at least on this occasion, had spent the previous night in sidings at Lowton, near Warrington, on the West Coast main line.

These days of course the royal train is becoming something of an expensive anachronism and its days seem numbered.