The line was fully opened in 1892 and remained in use until 1988; the stations at Hyde Road, Levenshulme South, Fallowfield and Wilbraham Road closed in 1958, following the withdrawal of passenger services.
Reddish Traction Depot was built adjacent to the line in 1954, to maintain the new fleet of electric trains for the Woodhead Line. It remained open until 1983; it has since been demolished and a housing estate was built on the site.
Manchester Central Station, terminus of the Fallowfield line
In 1897, the MS&LR became the Great Central Railway; in 1923, the line was absorbed into the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER). Over this period, the Fallowfield Loop line suffered from competition from alternative rail services into Manchester, provided by the LNER from Levenshulme and later from the electric trams. By the 1930s, the LNER had greatly reduced the stopping services and used the line mostly for express trains. After 1948, the line moved under the ownership of the nationalised British Railways. Briefly, consideration was given to electrification of the line, but instead the local stopping services were withdrawn and Fallowfield station was closed to passenger services on 7 July 1958. Express services out of Manchester Central continued to use the line, until that terminus was closed in 1969 during implementation of the Beeching cuts. For another two decades, the line was used by freight trains, until the line closed completely in 1988.[5]
Reddish traction depot
In 1954, Reddishtraction maintenance depot was built alongside the Fallowfield line, between Hyde Road and Levenshulme South stations. Its purpose was to service the new Class EM1 and EM2 electric locomotives and the Class 506EMUs on the now-electrified Woodhead Line. After the Woodhead line closed beyond Hadfield in 1981, the depot's activity was reduced to servicing the EMUs on the Glossop Line until it was closed in April 1983. Servicing of the Class 506 EMUs was then transferred to Longsight depot, until the Glossop line was converted to 25 kV AC in December 1984.[6] Several years after its closure, Reddish depot was demolished; the site remained derelict until the late 2000s, when the site was redeveloped for housing.[7]
"Chorltonville"
On 7 May 1964, six years after passenger services had been withdrawn from the line, Wilbraham Road railway station featured in a Granada Television music programme, Blues and Gospel Train. Granada transformed the disused buildings into "Chorltonville", a fictional Southern U.S.-style station which was the setting for a televised performance by prominent Blues artists of the day, including Muddy Waters, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Rev. Gary Davis and others. The performers and artists are shown being taken by steam train from Manchester Central to Wilbraham Road and performances take place on the station platforms.[8][9]
Project Light Rail
The light rail demonstration at Debdale Park in March 1987
Demonstrations were held on 14, 15, 20, 21 and 22 March 1987 at a specially-constructed railway station at Debdale Park. Ticket holders were treated to a short ride on the DLR vehicle along a 1-mile (1.6 km) stretch of track, from just north of the Hyde Road junction to just south of the closed Reddish depot. The DLR train was specially fitted with a pantograph and powered by overhead line; it was driven manually rather than in automatic mode, which was to be normal practice when in operation on the Docklands system. The test track was closed to normal heavy rail traffic on demonstration days and, at night, the DLR train was stationed in a siding and the line was re-opened to freight trains. An exhibition also exhibited examples of street track, overhead line and platform facilities.[1][10]
After the public event, Debdale Park station was dismantled and the timber platform was used to build the new Hag Fold railway station near Wigan; the electric overhead line equipment was taken down and re-used at the Heaton Park Tramway on the lakeside extension. The demonstration train DLR Number 11 was transported to London, where it was put into operation on the Docklands Light Railway. It served as the Royal train, transporting the Queen and Prince Philip on the formal opening of the DLR. In 1991, DLR Number 11 was the first of the P86 fleet to be sold to the City of Essen, Germany, where it is in service today on the Essen Stadtbahn.[12]
The junction with the former Midland Railway at St Werburgh's Rd tram stop; the shared-use path is seen veering off to the left towards Fallowfield
The Metrolink light rail tram system, first demonstrated on the Fallowfield Line in 1987, eventually came into operation across Greater Manchester in 1992; it made use of several former British Rail lines, converted for light rail operation. Most of the disused Fallowfield Loop was not included in these plans, except for a short stretch of line between Central station and St. Werburgh's Road. This line was to be developed by re-opening the former Cheshire Lines Committee track, which branches off the Fallowfield line south to East Didsbury. It remained disused for many years, due to lack of funding, until July 2011 when a new Metrolink extension was opened to passengers between Deansgate-Castlefield (adjacent to the former Central Station) and St Werburgh's Road. A further Metrolink extension along the Didsbury line opened in May 2013.[citation needed]
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