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A very challenging walk tracing the route of the Great Central from Glazebrook through to Wigan passing the silenced coal industries at Bickershaw, a tough walk but very rewarding.
Wigan Central was the eventual terminus of the Wigan Junction Railways from Glazebrook West Junction. It was built by the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (later to become the Great Central) and opened on 3 October 1892, when it replaced the temporary Wigan Darlington Street terminus, which had opened on 1 April 1884. Central was about 1⁄3 mile (540 m) nearer the town centre than Darlington Street.
According to Beeching's Reshaping of British Railways the line was more heavily used than many which did not close, however, as with many unmodernised and heavily used commuter lines it was deemed uneconomic. The line's main passenger traffic was workers travelling from the Wigan area to industrial plants in Cadishead and Partington and around the docks in Salford and Manchester.Steam remained the dominant motive power to the end of services, though some DMUs made an appearance.
In April 1884 the service pattern to Wigan (Darlington Street temporary terminus) was straightforward. Seven "Down" trains arrived from Manchester Central, one "express" called at Glazebrook only and three called at all stations. The remaining three missed some stations between Manchester and Glazebrook. With the exception of the "express", all trains called at all stations between Glazebrook and Wigan. The "Up" service was similar.
In 1922 six "Down" trains arrived, All Stations from Manchester Central on "Weekdays" (Mondays to Saturdays), with a further evening train from Lowton St Mary's only. Three other trains arrived, apparently All Stations from Culcheth, but it is possible they originated at Liverpool Central and turned west to north at Dam Lane Junction. One of these trains ran on Fridays and Saturdays only and the other two ran on Saturdays only. The "Up" service was broadly similar, but the mix of Saturday-only trains was even more complicated. There was no Sunday service.
History: The Wigan Junction Railways (WJR) was incorporated on 16 July 1874. It was to link the coalfields around Wigan with the Cheshire Lines Committee (CLC) line at Glazebrook, on the line between Liverpool Central and Manchester Central. Promoted by local businessmen, it came to the interest of the board of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (MSLR) which suggested that it might become an extension of the CLC, in which the MSLR had a one-third share. However, of the MSLR's other two joint partners in the CLC, the Midland Railway (MR) were in favour, whereas the Great Northern Railway (GNR) were not. Accordingly, the MSLR and MR decided that its construction should be supported by both companies, and later on be formally added to the Sheffield and Midland Railway Companies' Committee, a body which was owned jointly by the MSLR and MR only.
The line was opened between Glazebrook and Strangeways for goods on 16 October 1879, and was extended to Wigan on 1 April 1884; passenger services also began on 1 April 1884. The trains were provided by the MSLR. Wigan Central railway station was opened on 3 October 1892.
A branch to St Helens was built from Lowton St. Marys: the Liverpool, St Helens and South Lancashire Railway it opened on 2 January 1900.
The CLC constructed a curve from their line at Dam Lane Junction to the WJR line at Glazebrook Moss Junction; known as Glazebrook West Curve, creating a triangular junction at Glazebrook; by this means, trains from Wigan could run to Warrington and Liverpool Central.
Wigan Darlington Street station opened on 1 April 1884 as the temporary terminus of the Wigan Junction Railways (WJR) line from Glazebrook West Junction. The permanent terminus - Wigan Central - was completed in 1892 a third of a mile nearer the town centre. When that station opened Darlington Street closed to passengers and became a goods depot. Lower Ince station was in a cutting on the south side of Ince Green Lane, a short distance from the LYR's rival station, Ince. Lower Ince Engine Shed stood north west of the station. It closed on 26 March 1952. Until the 1960s the area surrounding Wigan had an unusually large number of intersecting railway lines, nowhere more so than in the south east of the town. Hindley South had a three-way junction immediately to the north, with arms west and north in both directions onto and from the "Whelley Loop" and northwest to Lower Ince and Wigan Central. It also had a two-way junction immediately to the south, which enabled trains to continue southeast along the Central line to Bickershaw and Abram and Manchester Central or to veer east onto the Manchester and Wigan Railway (MWR) line to Tyldesley and Manchester Exchange. The station opened as "Strangeways and Hindley" in 1884. It was renamed "Hindley and Platt Bridge" in 1892, only to be renamed as "Hindley South" in 1950.
Filmed by Allan Roach