v t e North Union Railway
Legend
1834 – 1889
Lancaster & Preston Jn Rly toLancaster Maxwell House ( closed 1844 ) Preston Preston Butler Street (ELR) Victoria Quay goods Preston Fishergate Hill (WLR) River Ribble West Lancashire Railway toSouthport East Lancashire Railway toLiverpool Farrington (renamedFarington) Blackburn & Preston Rly toBlackburn Golden Hill (renamedLeyland) Euxton junction Lancashire Union Railway toBlackburn Euxton(NUR) Euxton(B&PR) Coppull Chorley Rawlinson Bridge Standish Lane (renamedStandish) Adlington White Bear Blackrod Red Rock Lancashire & Yorkshire Rly toHorwich andHorwich Works Lancashire & Yorkshire Rly toHindley Boar's Head Liverpool and Bury Railway toHindley Lancashire Union Railway toHindley Lostock Junction Bolton Trinity Street Manchester, Bolton & Bury Rly toSalford Wigan Wigan Goods Springs branch Liverpool and Bury Railway toLiverpool Lancashire Union Railway toHindley Ince Moss Junction London & North Western Rly toManchester Lancashire Union Railway toSt Helens Bamfurlong Liverpool, St Helens & South Lancs Rly toSt Helens Central Liverpool, St Helens & South Lancs Rly toLowton St Mary's Golborne LNWRWinwick cut-off (opened 1864) Preston Junction (renamedLowton) Liverpool & Manchester Rly toManchester Parkside (second) Liverpool & Manchester Rly toLiverpool Parkside (original) London & North Western Rly toWarrington
North Union Railway and predecessor: Bolton and Preston Railway Other lines (not all shown): Great Central Railway predecessors: Liverpool, St Helens and South Lancashire Railway Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway and predecessors: Blackburn and Preston Railway East Lancashire Railway (1844–1859) West Lancashire Railway Manchester and Leeds Railway predecessors: Liverpool and Bury Railway Manchester, Bolton and Bury Railway London and North Western Railway and predecessors: Lancashire Union Railway Lancaster and Preston Junction Railway Liverpool and Manchester Railway

TheNorth Union Railway was an early British railway company, operating two main routes, fromParkside toPreston and fromBolton Trinity Street toPreston, all inLancashire. The northerly part of the routes sharing the line from Euxton to Preston.

The company was created in 1834 with the first parliamentary authorised railway amalgamation. The two companies amalgamated were theWigan Branch Railway (WBR) and thePreston and Wigan Railway (P&WR). In 1844 the company acquired theBolton and Preston Railway (B&PR).

The company operated independently until 1846, then under joint lease ofLondon and North Western Railway (L&NWR) andLancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) but continuing as an independent company until 1889.

In 1889 it was absorbed by the lessees with the line from Parkside to Euxton going to theL&NWR and the line from Euxton to Bolton (the formerB&PR) being taken by theL&YR. The section from Euxton toPreston becoming jointly owned.

Most of the line eventually became part of theWest Coast Main Line.

TheWigan Branch Railway obtained anact of Parliament, theWigan Branch Railway Act 1830 (11 Geo. 4 & 1 Will. 4. c. lvi) on 29 May 1830 to build a line from theLiverpool and Manchester Railway (L&MR) nearParkside to Wigan. The act included a branch to the south of Wigan, the Springs branch, connecting to collieries in the district.^{[act 1][2][3][4]}

ThePreston and Wigan Railway (P&WR) had been authorised by thePreston and Wigan Railway Act 1831 (1 Will. 4. c. lvi) in 1831 to construct a railway betweenWigan andPreston but was struggling to find sufficient share subscriptions to start construction.^{[act 2]}

The directors considered abandoning the project but decided that an amalgamation with theWBR would be of benefit to both companies. Within a month the board of theWBR resolved to consolidate with theP&WR.[6]

North Union Railway Company Act 1834
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act for uniting the Wigan Branch Railway Company and the Preston and Wigan Railway Company; for authorizing an Alteration to be made in the Line of the last-mentioned Railway; and for repealing, altering, and amending the Acts relating to the said Railways.
Citation	4 & 5 Will. 4. c. xxv
Dates
Royal assent	22 May 1834

The North Union Railway (NUR) was created by an act of Parliament, theNorth Union Railway Company Act 1834 (4 & 5 Will. 4. c. xxv) on 22 May 1834 which authorised the amalgamation of theWigan Branch Railway (WBR) and thePreston and Wigan Railway (P&WR), the first-ever parliamentary approved railway amalgamation.^{[act 3][8]}

When it was created, the North Union Railway consisted of the single-track line constructed by theWigan Branch Railway from theLiverpool and Manchester Railway (L&MR) atParkside toWigan Chapel Lane but little else. TheWBR did not own any locomotives or rolling stock, its operations were all supplied under contract by theL&MR.[9]

The construction of the Wigan to Preston section did not start until after the amalgamation and the formation of theNUR.[6]^[8]

Within a month of the amalgamation the railway appointedCharles Vignoles as engineer on the railway at a salary of £1,200 (equivalent to £146,000 in 2023^[a]). His duties were to supervise the building of the 15 miles 30 chains (24.7 km) Wigan to Preston line and oversee the running of the already built 6 miles 47 chains (10.6 km) Parkside to Wigan line. The building and supervision of the Springs branch was not included and became a separate contract.^[b][12][13]

A maintenance contract was let to Smith & Eckersley in May 1835, it was extended for a further two years.^[14]

TheL&MR had provided passenger services to theWBR under contract, they continued to provide passenger services for the line underNUR ownership. The service continued as thrice daily each way between Parkside and Wigan.[c]^[17][18]

TheL&MR had initially provided theWBR with freight services but in 1834 theWBR offeredJohn Hargreaves, an established carrier in the North West, the lease for operating the goods service on their line. Hargreaves, in partnership with his son (also called John Hargreaves) declined the offer and made a counter offer based on the previous years receipts which was accepted by the new North Union Railway, as this was now after the merger of the railways. In July 1835 the son,John Hargreaves junior took over as the sole lessee over the Parkside to Wigan section of the line for all goods traffic with the exception of those who already had the right to operate their own trains, mainly coal mine owners likeRichard Evans who operated Edge Green Colliery which was just to the west of theNUR line and connected to it with a standard gauge siding.[19]^[20]

TheNUR carried Post Office mail to Wigan, the mail being brought to Parkside from Liverpool and Manchester each evening, they were then handed to the guard of the Wigan train who handed them on to a messenger on arrival at Wigan.[21]

The construction was undertaken in three contracts which were let in 1835, progress was never as fast as the board would have liked, they blamed much of the delay on Vignoles' frequent absences as he had taken on other work, including in Ireland.^[13] One of the contracts had to be re-let at the end of 1836 and a large culvert burst in a flood in November 1837 requiring the building of a 400 feet (120 m) wooden bridge.^[22]

The line going north out of Wigan was required by its act of Parliament^[which?] to cross Wallgate, a major road into Wigan town centre, by a bridge that was "in character architectural and handsome", this required raising the north end of theWBR on a substantial embankment.[23]

As Preston stands upon a ridge rising sharply from the north bank of the River Ribble reaching it involved some engineering, the North Union reached its northern terminus by descending gradients as steep as 1 in 100 into the valley, crossing the river and cutting into the rising ground as far as Fishergate where it built the station. The river bridge was of five arches, each spanning 120 ft. The line was completed in 1838 and a trial run was held on 22 October with a train running from Wigan to Preston, and the line opened to the public on 31 October 1838.^[24]

TheNUR opened the Wigan to Preston section with the following stations:

• Wigan Chapel Lane had been the northern terminus of theWigan Branch Railway, it was closed on the same day as the opening of the Wigan to Preston section of the railway on 31 October 1838. It was replaced by the slightly further north Wigan station.^[25] This station becameWigan North Western on 2 June 1924.^[26]
• Boar's Head which was closed on 31 January 1949 (this station later became a joint station with theLancashire Union Railway).^[27]
• Standish Lane, this station probably opened shortly after the line's opening. It was renamed Standish by 1844 and was closed on 23 May 1949.^[28]
• Coppull which was closed on 6 October 1969.^[29]
• Euxton which was closed on 2 September 1895.^[30]
• Golden Hill which was renamedLeyland in 1838 and is still open.^[31]
• Farington which was often known as Farrington and closed on 7 March 1960.^[32]
• Preston, the northern terminus which is still open.^[33][34]

The Springs branch branched off the mainline about a mile south of Wigan centre and ran north-east for most of its 2 miles 54 chains (4.3 km) length then turned sharply to run north-west after bridging theLancaster Canal to the New Springs and Kirkless areas of Wigan.^[d] The branch was included in the initial plans of the company, and was included in its act of Parliament, it wasn't built immediately for financial reasons. Vignoles was authorised to set out the line in 1836 and it was opened by the North Union Railway as a single track line but with the infrastructure for double track on 31 October 1838, the branch was constructed for freight traffic, especially coal and had no passenger facilities.^[36]

The area the branch was to run through had a number of coal mines some of which had been worked for decades, several of them had their own horse-drawn tramways, most of them were connected to either theLancaster Canal or theLeeds and Liverpool Canal. Wherever the branch cut across these tramways a flat crossing was provided.^[e][38]

When it opened the branch had connections with several collieries and other industrial concerns, in 1845, when the first Ordnance Survey was conducted there were connections with:^[f][39][40]

• Springs Colliery, on the east of the branch and connected with a standard gauge siding and opened in 1840. The owners Pearson & Knowles worked their own trains to Preston in the 1840s. There were coke ovens on an adjacent site and it later became an engineering and wagon repair works.^[41][42]
• Ince Hall Coal & Cannel Company Colliery had several pits in the area.
  • Their lower coal works was on the west of the branch alongside a basin on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal near lock 19. This had a standard gauge transfer siding and opened before 1845.^[43][44]
  • The other side of their lower coal works had a narrow gauge tramway running alongside a lengthy arm of the canal to a flat crossing over the branch and onto the north side of Moss Hall Collieries, this tramway was in existence before 1829.^[43][45]
• Moss Hall Collieries were to the east of the branch, as well as the connection above they had a lower narrow gauge connection which ran to lock 17 on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. There was a transfer siding provided from 1845.^[g][43][46]
• New Hall Colliery was to the east of the branch and connected via a narrow gauge tramway.^[45]
• New Hall Mill was to the west of the branch and connected via a narrow gauge tramway and a standard gauge siding.^[45]
• Barton's Kirkless Colliery was mainly to the west of the branch with at least one pit well the east, they were connected together and to the branch by standard gauge sidings.^[47]
• Thicknesse's Kirkless Colliery was to the north of the branch after the branch had crossed theLancaster Canal, there was some overlap with Barton's Collieries in the area but Barton mined mostly deeper workings and Thicknesse the shallower ones, Thicknesse had a narrow gauge tramway connecting to a transfer siding on the branch.^[48]
• TheEarl of Crawford and Balcarres owned mines in the Haigh and Aspull areas of Wigan. He had two Moor Pits and Wall Hey Pit that were connected together and to the branch at an end-on connection.^[49]

The branch was doubled in 1845 except for a short section where it crossed the canal spur.^[h]

• Ince Hall Colliery, later known as Crow Orchard Colliery, had a connection to the mainNUR line just north of the Springs branch. The owner, Thomas Pearson, ran his own coal trains from the early 1840s.[42]^[51]
• Amberswood colliery originally had a connection to theNUR mainline south of Springs branch junction, this line was removed in the early 1860s when it was replaced by a connection at Fir Tree House Sidings, close to the end of theL&NWR's Eccles, Tyldesley and Wigan line.[52] The owner, Richard Hollinshead Blundell, ran his own coal trains to Preston from the early 1840s. Blundell was authorised to run his own trains over theL&MR to Liverpool and later agreed to carry some of the Earl of Crawford's coal when theL&MR refused him permission to run his own. Blundell also ran trains over the Grand Junction Railway working coal to Winsford from 1844.[52]

By 1838 the Parkside to Wigan section of the railway had been double-tracked,^[53] a newParkside station opened on 31 October 1838, providing improved connections with the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, it was east of the original station and situated at the junction with theL&MR. It was constructed jointly by theL&MR,Grand Junction Railway andNUR. The former station became a goods station on theL&MR.[54]

Golborne was opened betweenParkside andWigan North Western asGolborne Gate orGates by theNUR probably sometime before 1839 as thestation started to appear on the maps in Bradshaw from then, fares to intermediate stations, including Golbourne Gate [sic] were published in 1839.[i]^[56][58]

The North Union Railway was concerned to protect its interests and had many disagreements with rival railways and canals.^[59] The North Union Railway opposed the proposedBolton and Preston Railway (B&PR), whose original act of Parliament, theBolton and Preston Railway Act 1837 (7 Will. 4 & 1 Vict. c. cxxi), of 15 July 1837 made for an independent route through to Preston. A further act of Parliament, theBolton and Preston Railway Company Act 1838 (1 & 2 Vict. c. lvi), of 4 July 1838 was enacted withdrawing theB&PR's powers to build beyond Chorley and instead authorised an extension to join the North Union Railway's line atEuxton, north ofChorley.^[60]

The Bolton and Preston Railway Act 1837 was passed with the proviso that the line north of Chorley should be delayed for three years so that a compromise could be reached between the two companies about running trains into Preston.^[60] Section 17 of the Bolton and Preston Railway Company Act 1838 removed this restriction.

When the first section of the Bolton to Preston line opened on 4 February 1841 it met theManchester, Bolton and Bury Railway (MB&BR) coming up from Salford which had opened on 29 May 1838. This railway was built by theManchester, Bolton and Bury Canal Navigation and Railway Company who had in 1831 converted from acanal company. Their railway terminated at Bolton Trinity Street station and part of the enabling act of Parliament^[which?] for the Preston to Bolton section made provision for the station to be converted to a through station to allow for traffic to Preston.^[61]

In the same way as theL&MR provided operational services to theWBR andNUR over the Parkside to Wigan section, so theMB&BR provided operational services to theNUR over the Bolton to Preston Section.[62]

There was immediate competition between the two companies for the Manchester to Preston traffic and they tried to undercut each other's fares. The North Union managed to maintain the upper hand in the competition as they were able to extract tolls from its rival for running trains along its Euxton to Preston stretch.^[53][63]

The rivalry was short-lived as the Bolton and Preston Railway was acquired by the North Union Railway by theBolton and Preston Railway Act 1844 (7 & 8 Vict. c. ii) of 10 May 1844.^{[act 4][8][65]}

In 1846 arrangements were authorised by theNorth Union Railways Purchase Act 1846 (9 & 10 Vict. c. ccxxxi) for the line to be leased jointly to theGrand Junction Railway (GJR) and theManchester and Leeds Railway (M&LR) but before this happened theGJR became part of theLondon and North Western Railway (L&NWR), the arrangement continued however with theL&NWR and theM&LR jointly leasing theNUR.[66]

On 9 July 1847 the Manchester and Leeds Railway changed its title to theLancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) but the leasing arrangement continued.^[67]

North Union and Ribble Navigation Branch Railway Act 1845
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Citation	8 & 9 Vict. c. cxvi
Dates
Royal assent	21 July 1845

In 1845, in conjunction with theRibble Navigation Company, the North Union obtained powers in theNorth Union and Ribble Navigation Branch Railway Act 1845 (8 & 9 Vict. c. cxvi) to build a branch to Victoria Quay on the River Ribble. This line was built to convey coal from the Wigan district to the river for shipment.^{[act 5][69]}

Parkside west curve opened in 1847 by theL&NWR under powers obtained by theGJR.[70]Preston Junction was opened by theL&NWR in 1849 at the junction of the two curves from the formerL&MR line.[71]

Winwick cut-off opened in 1864 which provided a straight route betweenWarrington Bank Quay andWigan North Western saving express trains 24 minutes along that stretch.^[72]

Bamfurlong station was opened on 1 April 1878 by theL&NWR and closed on 27 November 1950.[73]^[74]

TheNUR continued independently under this leasing arrangement with theL&NWR owning60⁄94 and theL&YR34⁄94.[65] This was the situation until 26 July 1889 when it was jointly absorbed by theL&NWR andL&YR under the terms of theLondon and North Western Railway Act 1889 (52 & 53 Vict. c. xcviii).^{[act 6]}

TheNUR was absorbed by the two larger companies by the simple expedient of the section from Euxton to Bolton (the formerB&PR) being taken by theL&YR and the section from Parkside to Euxton going to theL&NWR.[76] The section from Euxton to Preston andPreston remained in joint ownership.^[77]

The first chairman of the company wasSir Thomas Dalrymple Hesketh, Bart. He had previously held the same position at the Preston and Wigan Railway.^[78] The board had active and powerful members in T. W. Rathbone, andHardman Earle, who were also on the boards ofL&MR andGJR.[12]^[79]

To cope with ever-increasing traffic, the line was quadrupled between 1889 and 1891.^[80]

The stretch between Euxton Junction and Preston, which included the major part ofPreston station, remained in joint ownership up to 1921 when theL&YR was absorbed by theL&NWR so from that date the former North Union Railway had only one owner.[66]^[81] This section of theWest Coast Main Line betweenLondon Euston andCarlisle had been the only part not wholly owned by theL&NWR.

Balshaw Lane and Euxton station was opened by theL&NWR on 2 September 1905, it closed on 6 October 1969.[30] Services restarted from this station now namedEuxton Balshaw Lane on 15 December 1997.^[82]

• In November 1832 a locomotive from Evans' collieries at Edge Green collided head-on with aWBR passenger service on its way to Wigan atParkside.^[83]
• A Pearson & Knowles locomotiveASA collided with a stage coach on a level crossing at Euxton on 7 September 1841.^[84][85]
• In February 1844 a coal train operated by Henry Blundell ran into the back of a Pearson & Knowles coal train near Coppull killing the brakesman.^[84]
• On 28 June 1847, the boiler of a locomotive exploded, injuring one person.^[86]
• On 17 October 1850 a Pearson & Knowles locomotiveLIVER was involved in an unspecified accident near Boars Head.^[87]

• Whishaw, Francis (1842).The Railways of Great Britain and Ireland Practically Described and Illustrated (2nd ed.). London: John Weale. pp. 380–390.OCLC 833076248.

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