The East Lancashire Railway was formed by an amalgamation of several railway lines in the North-West, including the Liverpool, Ormskirk & Preston Railway. A separate approach to Preston was constructed to avoid paying tolls to the .
The East Lancashire Railway from Todd Lane was opened in 1850. Originally this ran to its own terminus in what is now the Fishergate Centre car park, cutting between Avenham and Miller Parks by way of a splendid skew-arched bridge (Ivy Bridge). Since it ran close to the exclusive houses of Avenham the bridge and embankments were landscaped. The Borough Council even obliged the railway company to construct a footpath on the river bridge, which soon became a favourite place for watching trains! This photograph was taken c. 1900.
The railway line closed in the 1970s, but the bridge, which is a Grade II listed building, remains.
Originally the embankment carrying this line across the flood plain south of the river was by a viaduct, as can be seen in the engraving below of the Ribble from
which shows both the bridge and, in front of it, the later East Lancashire Railway bridge.
Another view of the Ribble valley taken from . The tram road plates can be seen crossing at the end of the lane.
The viaduct was later filled in to make the embankment seen in the engraving below, "A General View of Preston" c. 1900, which shows the East Lancashire Railway on the left. The pedestrians in the foreground are walking along , which had closed some forty years earlier. Just look at the chimneys on the skyline!
