Long Preston Station was built by the North Western Railway Company* (NWR) as part of its scheme to connect the West Riding of Yorkshire with Lancaster, Carlisle, and the West of Scotland. The section of line through Long Preston opened to goods traffic on July 30th, 1849 and to passenger traffic on August 1st, 1849 (twenty years before the Midland Railway Company began construction work on the Settle & Carlisle Railway).
The line was designed and built to double-track standards, but the Company's Directors were determined to keep the 'cost-per-mile' as low as possible. To minimise the initial outlay, rails were only laid for a single track and only one platform was provided at each of the stations. When Long Preston station first opened for passenger services, the single platform had not received its final surface treatment and passengers & staff had to make-do with a temporary booking office and a temporary waiting shelter. It wasn't until March 1850 that the NWR Directors finally issued instructions for the platform to be surfaced with asphalt (rather than one of the more expensive options such as Yorkstone paving). The second line and associated platform became operational during the Autumn of 1850 and, when the permanent booking office and waiting shelter were finally authorised, the materials specified for the walls were timber & plaster (rather than the more durable - and much more expensive - options of brick or stone).
The passenger facilities consisted of a main station building (adjacent to the 'Up' platform) and a waiting shelter (adjacent to the 'Down' platform). The design of the main station building was similar in general form to the one that still stands at Gargrave, but its exterior walls were constructed from timber frames clad externally with overlapping horizontal timber boards (rather than the timber frames with plaster infills used for Gargrave) and an extension was added at the northwest end during the Midland Railway's period of ownership. The station facilities also included a detached Station Master's House (located between the main station building and the road overbridge) and a small goods yard.
Between circa 1919 and circa 1935, there was a connection from the 'Down' loop to the Fylde Water Board Sidings and these played an important role in the construction of nearby Stocks Reservoir. All of the associated structures have since been removed and the area is now occupied by a small housing estate.
The main goods facilities closed to traffic on November 4th, 1963 and the associated structures and trackwork have all been demolished / removed.
The main station building, waiting shelter and former station master's house were demolished during the early 1970s (circa January 1972) and passenger facilities are now limited to a pair of functional, but unattractive metal & glass waiting shelters.
* This was often referred to as 'The Little North-Western', to differentiate it from the much larger London & North-Western Railway Company.
