Lancashire Union Railway

Lancashire Union Railway
Lancashire & Yorkshire Rly toAccrington Blackburn Lancashire & Yorkshire Rly toBolton Mill Hill Cherry Tree Lancashire & Yorkshire Rly toPreston Feniscowles Withnell Brinscall ROF Heapey Heapey Heapey Bleachworks North Union Railway toPreston Chorley Rawlinson Bridge Ellerbeck Colliery North Union Railway toBolton White Bear Red Rock North Union Railway toPreston Boar's Head Whelley Wigan Amberswood North Union Railway toWarrington Bryn Garswood Carr Mill St Helens London & North Western Rly toLiverpool

Lines around Chorley and Blackburn in 1903(right of diagram)

Lines around Wigan in 1907

TheLancashire Union Railwayran betweenBlackburnandSt Helensin Lancashire, England. It was built primarily to carry goods between Blackburn and Garston Dock on theRiver Mersey,and also to serve collieries in theWiganarea.Most of the line has now been closed, except for the St Helens-to-Wigan section that forms part of the main line betweenLiverpooland the North.

History

The Lancashire Union Railway (LUR) was authorised by an act of Parliamentof 25 July 1864, to build a line from theBlackbrookbranch of theSt Helens RailwaytoAdlingtonon the Bolton-to-Preston line of theLancashire and Yorkshire Railway(LYR) nearChorley.This connected with the existing lines betweenGarston DockandSt Helens.A further act of Parliamentof 13 July 1868, authorised an extension fromChorleytoBlackburn,and vested the section betweenBoar's Head(on theNorth Union Railway(NUR) north ofWigan) andCherry Tree(on the LYR near Blackburn) jointly with the LYR.

The whole line between St Helens and Blackburn opened to passengers on 1 December 1869.Most passenger services were local between Blackburn and Wigan.LNWRtrains travelled to the station later known asWigan North Westernvia Chorley and Boar's Head, but LYR trains used an alternative route between Chorley and the station later to becomeWigan WallgateviaHindley.

The LUR also built a line, the "Whelley Loop", that bypassed Wigan to the east. It opened in 1869, mainly for freight.Stations atWhelleyandAmberswoodwere open for only three months between 1 January and 1 March 1872.Additional connections were made to the NUR'sWest Coast Main Linenorth and south of Wigan in 1882 and 1886 respectively, and to other lines radiating from Wigan, thus allowing many trains to bypass Wigan.

The LUR company was vested jointly between the LNWR and LYR from 16 July 1883, until the two parent companies merged on 1 January 1922.

The Blackburn-to-Chorley line closed to passengers on 4 January 1960and to goods in 1966, although a short section between Cherry Tree andFeniscowlescontinued until 1968. The Chorley-to-Wigan line also closed to passengers in 1960, and to goods on 25 May 1971.The Whelley Loop survived until 1976.The Wigan-to-St Helens section is still in use as part of theLiverpool to Wigan Line.

Route

The line began atBlackburnand followed theEast Lancashire LinetoCherry Treewhere the line branched toFeniscowles;there remnants of the bridge that carried the railway over the A6062 Livesey Branch Road can clearly be seen. From there the line is more or less undeveloped except that gravel and rails are missing; the line carries on where theM65 motorwayis now, towardsWithnell.

The line between Withnell andBrinscallnow forms Railway Park. Leaving Brinscall the line ran parallel to Lodge Bank Road and has been built on. At Brinscall Hall there is an old bridge carrying the railway over a footpath which is still intact. The line of the railway is still evident as it passesWheeltonPlantation towards Heapey. BeforeHeapeythe line passes the former ROF Heapey site where there were sidings serving the plant. Heapey Station is now a private residence. The line had another siding which intersected two of theHeapey reservoirsbefore serving the Heapey Bleachworks; half of the bridge carrying the line over Higher House Lane to the works is still in situ. The line continued under a bridge under Tithe Barn Lane toward the Blackburn–Chorley road (again under an existing bridge) towards the arched viaduct atBotany Baywhich carried the line over theLeeds and Liverpool Canaltowards Chorley. The viaduct was demolished in 1968 to make way for theM61 motorway.

The line continued past the North Gate estate and past the rear of St. Joseph's Church where it crossed Highfield Road and ran parallel to theManchester to Preston Lineon an embankment (now a footpath). The line headed towards where Friday Street car park now stands where it merged with the main line and enteredChorley station.The LUR uses the main line toAdlingtonwhere the line branched off and under theA6along the Leeds-Liverpool Canal and on toWhite Bear Station.On leaving the station the line continued parallel to the canal bypassing the town ofBlackrodto the east.

The line followed the canal to thestation at Red Rock.It continued south and split as it neared Pendlebury Lane. The first route – theWhelleyLoop which bypassed Wigan – was built to serve collieries and iron works before the loop split at De Trafford junction joining theManchester to Southport Linejust beforeHindley railway stationto the East and toAmberswoodto the West, before re-joining the LUR atBrynor heading further south toWarringtonvia the NUR. The second route headed over a viaduct, the 13 bridges which carried the railway over theRiver Douglas.The bridges are known locally as the dominoes due to the position and shape of the pillars and are the only parts left standing. After the viaduct the line continued toBoar's Headbefore connecting with the Blackpool to Liverpool Line. The line then continued throughWigan North Westernbefore heading towards Bryn andGarswoodbefore eventually joining theSt Helens and Runcorn Gap Railwayand continuing to that line's southern terminus atGarston Dock.

References

Bibliography

• Awdry, C. (1990),Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies,Patrick Stephens Ltd, Wellingborough,ISBN1-85260-049-7.
• Butt, R. V. J.(October 1995).The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present(1st ed.).Sparkford:Patrick Stephens Ltd.ISBN978-1-85260-508-7.OCLC60251199.OL11956311M.
• Daniels, Gerald David; Dench, Leslie Alan (September 1964).Passengers No More(1st ed.). Shepperton:Ian Allan.VPNM/1354/138/CXX-964.
• Dewick, T. (2002),Complete Atlas of Railway Station Names,Ian Allan Publishing,ISBN0-7110-2798-6.
• Marshall, John(1970).The Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway, volume 2.Newton Abbot: David & Charles.ISBN0-7153-4906-6.
• Marshall, J. (1981).Forgotten Railways: North-West England.Newton Abbot: David & Charles.ISBN0-7153-8003-6.
• Suggitt, G. (2003, reprinted 2004),Lost Railways of Lancashire,Countryside Books, Newbury,ISBN1-85306-801-2.
• Suggitt, G. (2004),Lost Railways of Merseyside and Greater Manchester,Countryside Books, Newbury,ISBN1-85306-869-1.
• Wignall, C. J.(1983).Complete British Railways Maps and Gazetteer, from 1830–1981(1st ed.). Oxford: Oxford Publishing Company.ISBN0-8609-3162-5.OCLC10360638.
• Wignall, C. J.(1985).Complete British Railway Maps and Gazetteer 1825–1985(2nd ed.). Poole, UK: Oxford Publishing Company.ISBN0-8609-3294-X.

External links

• Chorley to Blackburn Railwaywww.white-coppice.co.uk