Wigan Chapel Lane railway station

Wigan Chapel Lane
General information
Location	Wigan England
Coordinates	53°32′30″N2°37′48″W / 53.5418°N 2.6300°W / 53.5418; -2.6300
Grid reference	SD583052
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	Wigan Branch Railway
Key dates
3 September 1832	Opened
31 October 1838	Closed

Wigan Chapel Lane railway station served the town of Wigan in Lancashire, England.

Wigan Branch Railway

The station opened as Wigan on 3 September 1832 as the terminus of the Wigan Branch Railway (WBR) when it opened the 6 miles 47 chains (10.6 km) long line from Parkside on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. ^{[a] [1] [2]}

The station building was located to the south of the running line adjacent to Chapel Lane, no other details are known. ^[3] The station was only known as Wigan and Chapel Lane was added in an explanatory way as to the location of the Railway's office. ^[4]

The station was short-lived as the line was extended northwards to Preston in 1838 necessitated taking it over Wallgate, the turnpike to Warrington, which required the building of substantial embankments, a new station, Wigan North Western was constructed to the south of this new bridge over Wallgate. ^{[5] [6]}

Goods station

After closure in 1838 the station site became Wigan goods station. ^[6] The goods station and yard gradually expanded until there were three sheds, it was able to accommodate most types of goods including live stock, and was equipped with a ten-ton crane. ^{[7] [8] [9]} Sometime between 1938 and 1956 the yard lost its capacity to deal with livestock and its crane was downgraded to one of four tons. ^{[10] [11]}

The goods yard was still in use in 1957 but by 2008 the goods sheds had been demolished and the goods yard site was occupied by a retail warehouse and car park. ^{[3] [8]}

References

Notes

1. Railways in the United Kingdom are, for historical reasons, measured in miles and chains. A chain is 22 yards (20 m) long, there are 80 chains to the mile.

Citations

1. "Engineer's Line References PJL, NGJ & CGJ5 Parkside to Wigan Chapel Lane". Railway Codes. 4 July 2018. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
2. Quick 2022, p. 483.
3. Sweeney 2008, p. 91.
4. "Opening of the Wigan Branch Railway" . Preston Chronicle. 25 August 1832. p. 1. Retrieved 2 October 2020– via British Newspaper Archive.
5. Sweeney 2008, p. 94.
6. "Wigan Station on OS Six-inch map Lancashire XCIII (includes: Billinge and Winstanley; Orrell; Wigan.)". National Library of Scotland. 1849. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
7. The Railway Clearing House 1970, p. 579.
8. Pixton 1999, p. 24.
9. "Wigan Goods Yard on OS 25 inch map Lancashire XCIII.8 (Aspull; Ince In Makerfield; Wigan)". National Library of Scotland. 1929. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
10. The Railway Clearing House 1938, p. 633.
11. The Railway Clearing House 1956, p. 480.

Bibliography

• Pixton, Bob (1999). Main Line Railways Around Wigan. Runpast Publishing. ISBN   978-1-870754-45-3.
• Quick, Michael (2022) [2001]. Railway passenger stations in Great Britain: a chronology (PDF). version 5.04. Railway & Canal Historical Society. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 November 2022.
• Sweeney, Dennis (2008). The Wigan Branch Railway. Triangle Publishing. ISBN   978-0-9550030-35.
• The Railway Clearing House (1970) [1904]. The Railway Clearing House Handbook of Railway Stations 1904 (1970 D&C Reprint ed.). Newton Abbot: David & Charles Reprints. ISBN   0-7153-5120-6.
• The Railway Clearing House (1938). Official Hand-book of Railway Stations 1938. London: The Railway Clearing House.
• The Railway Clearing House (1956). The Railway Clearing House Handbook of Railway Stations 1956. London: British Transport Commission (Railway Clearing House).