Whelley railway station was in

Whelley Whelley is an area of northeast Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. Historically part of Lancashire, it is mainly a residential area, between New Springs and Scholes. In Whelley, there is Canon Sharples Church of England Primary School and Nu ...

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the north-east and Warrington ...

(now in

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tam ...

, England) on the

Loop section of the

Lancashire Union Railway The Lancashire Union Railway ran between Blackburn and St Helens in Lancashire, England. It was built primarily to carry goods between Blackburn and Garston Dock on the River Mersey, and also to serve collieries in the Wigan area. Most of the ...

. The station was situated where the B5238 bridged the line.

History

The two stations on the Whelley Loop - Whelley and Amberswood - are believed to be among the shortest lived passenger stations in the country, opening at the beginning of 1872 and closing in March of the same year. Their goods yards remained open until the Whelley loop closed in the 1970s.

Services

The key purpose of the Whelley Loop was to enable trains to avoid Wigan. It is therefore surprising that passenger stations were even constructed on the loop. All lines to or through Wigan were radial, as the accompanying map shows. The loop was connected to every one of them, allowing trains arriving at Wigan from all points except Southport and Pemberton to leave Wigan to all points, without gridlocking the centre. The dominant traffic was goods, especially coal, but passenger diversions used the line from time to time. The loop came into its own in passenger terms with Summer seaside specials, notably to and from Blackpool. Pixton, for example, has a fine 1961 shot of a Summer Saturday Sheffield to Blackpool train at Lowton St Mary's. It would bear right at Hindley South onto the Whelley Loop and then join the WCML at Standish, bypassing Wigan altogether. There is a now school called Canon Sharples C.E Primary School next to the loop line.The school via ''its website''
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The station in the 21st Century

The station has been demolished. The trackbed is a public footpath.

References

Sources

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External links

Line and mileages via ''Railwaycodes''

The station via ''Disused Stations UK''
Disused railway stations in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan Former Lancashire Union Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1872 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1872 {{GreaterManchester-railstation-stub