Wigan Chapel Lane railway station

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

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

Contents

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. [lower-alpha 1] [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]

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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. 1 2 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. 1 2 "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. 1 2 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

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