Wigston Magna railway station was a railway station serving

Wigston Magna Wigston, or Wigston Magna, is a town in Leicestershire, England, just south of Leicester on the A5199. It had a population of 32,321 in 2011. Geography Wigston is south of the city of Leicester, at the centre of Leicestershire and the Ea ...

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

History

In 1857 the Midland Railway opened its new main line to , diverging from the Midland Counties Railway main line at a junction slightly north of its Wigston station. A new Wigston railway station was opened on the new main line, and the Midland Counties station was renamed to reduce confusion. In 1860 the Midland acquired running powers to on the

South Leicestershire Railway The South Leicestershire Railway was founded in 1850 as the Nuneaton and Hinckley Railway, with parliamentary powers to build a railway from on the London and North Western Railway to in Leicestershire. In 1860 Parliament authorised the compa ...

, which was later extended to . In 1872 a south chord was added to Wigston Junction, creating a direct link between Wigston Magna and stations. In its heyday Wigston was an important interchange with large sidings and wagon repair shop. A motive power depot (MPD) was added in 1873. In the

1923 grouping The Railways Act 1921 (c. 55), also known as the Grouping Act, was an Act of Parliament enacted by the British government and intended to stem the losses being made by many of the country's 120 railway companies, by "grouping" them into four la ...

the Midland became part of the

London, Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally u ...

and later the second Wigston station was renamed Wigston Magna for further clarity. The

closed the MPD in 1934 but reopened it in the Second World War while Leicester MPD was being rebuilt.

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

ways closed the MPD again in 1955. By 1968 BR closed all Midland Main Line stations between and , including Wigston Magna.

Stationmaster

*James Wilkinson until 1861 (afterwards station master at Foulridge) *G. Rawlings 1861 - 1862 (formerly station master at Alvechurch, afterwards station master at Desborough) *F. Hessey 1862 - 1864 *Alexander McCall 1864 - 1865 (afterwards station master at Mountsorrell Junction) *H. Jeffries from 1865 (formerly station master at Mountsorrel Junction) *John Henry Garton ca. 1871 - 1898 (afterwards station master at Kettering) *Walter George Fudge 1898 - 1922 (formerly station master at Sileby) *John James Wood Grundy from 1922 *Harry Finch *T. Bond ca. 1936 - 1940 (also stationmaster at Glen Parva and South Wigston, afterwards station master at Barking)

Route

References

Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1857 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1968 Former Midland Railway stations Disused railway stations in Leicestershire Beeching closures in England Railway depots in England Charles Henry Driver railway stations 1857 establishments in England {{EastMidlands-railstation-stub