Notes: Chequerbent 1st Station was situated on the Kenyon Junction to Bolton line which had opened in stages from 1828 to 1831 as the 'Bolton and Leigh Railway'. The first section of the line from Bolton to Chequerbent opened on 28.8.1828. The line had been engineered by George Stephenson and it was one of his locomotives, the Lancashire Witch, that made the inaugural run. The line had reached Leigh by March 1830 but it was not until 2.6.1831 when the line had reached Kenyon Junction on the famous Liverpool and Manchester Railway that passenger services began. The first passenger run was an excursion from Bolton to Newton for a horse racing event.

The line had two steep inclines originally rope worked one of which was at Chequerbent. Although locomotives had started to climb the inclines by the 1840's they still presented formidable obstacles. In the 1880's the LNWR decided to realign the route to avoid the obstacles. The new line was opened in 1885 and the original station closed. It was replaced by a new station. The new line passed under Manchester Road, whereas the original line crossed at road level. Sections of the original line were retained for some years, but transferred to colliery use for the nearby Hulton Colliery (Pretoria Pit).

The 1849 map (below) doesn't show the station so it's unclear whether it was north or south of Manchester Road.

* Huish List is a list of LNWR passenger stations and their passenger revenues prepared by Captain Mark Huish by order of the Roads & Traffic Committee.

To see the other stations on the Bolton Great Moor Street - Kenyon Junction line click on the station name: Kenyon Junction, Pennington, West Leigh, Atherleigh, Atherton Bag Lane, Chequerbent 2nd, Daubhill 1st, Rumworth & Daubhill & Bolton Great Moor Street