Wigan Chapel Lane railway station

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

Wigan Chapel Lane
General information
LocationWigan
England
Coordinates53°32′30″N 2°37′48″W / 53.5418°N 2.6300°W / 53.5418; -2.6300
Grid referenceSD583052
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original companyWigan Branch Railway
Key dates
3 September 1832Opened
31 October 1838Closed

Wigan Branch Railway

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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

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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

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Notes

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  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

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  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. ^ a b 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. ^ a b "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. ^ a b 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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