Preston and Wigan Railway

Preston and Wigan Railway

Overview
Locale	Lancashire
Dates of operation	22 April 1831–22 May 1834
Successor	North Union Railway
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge

v t e North Union Railway
1834 – 1889
Lancaster & Preston Jn Rly to Lancaster Maxwell House ( closed 1844 ) Preston Preston Butler Street (ELR) Victoria Quay goods Preston Fishergate Hill (WLR) River Ribble West Lancashire Railway to Southport East Lancashire Railway to Liverpool Farrington (renamed Farington) Blackburn & Preston Rly to Blackburn Golden Hill (renamed Leyland) Euxton junction Lancashire Union Railway to Blackburn Euxton (NUR) Euxton (B&PR) Coppull Chorley Rawlinson Bridge Standish Lane (renamed Standish) Adlington White Bear Blackrod Red Rock Lancashire & Yorkshire Rly to Horwich and Horwich Works Lancashire & Yorkshire Rly to Hindley Boar's Head Liverpool and Bury Railway to Hindley Lancashire Union Railway to Hindley Lostock Junction Bolton Trinity Street Manchester, Bolton & Bury Rly to Salford Wigan Wigan Goods Springs branch Liverpool and Bury Railway to Liverpool Lancashire Union Railway to Hindley Ince Moss Junction London & North Western Rly to Manchester Lancashire Union Railway to St Helens Bamfurlong Liverpool, St Helens & South Lancs Rly to St Helens Central Liverpool, St Helens & South Lancs Rly to Lowton St Mary's Golborne LNWR Winwick cut-off (opened 1864) Preston Junction (renamed Lowton) Liverpool & Manchester Rly to Manchester Parkside (second) Liverpool & Manchester Rly to Liverpool Parkside (original) London & North Western Rly to Warrington
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

The Preston and Wigan Railway would have been an early British railway company operating in Lancashire.

Preston and Wigan Railway Act 1831
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act for making and maintaining a Railway from the Borough of Wigan to the Borough of Preston, both in the County Palatine of Lancaster, and collateral Branches to communicate therewith.
Citation	1 Will. 4. c. lvi
Other legislation
Repealed by	Preston and Wigan Railway Act 1834
Status: Repealed
Text of statute as originally enacted

The Preston and Wigan Railway obtained an act of Parliament, the Preston and Wigan Railway Act 1831 (1 Will. 4. c. lvi) on 22 April 1831 to build a 15 miles 30 chains (24.7 km) line between Wigan and Preston.^{[a][act 1][4][5][6]}

Preston and Wigan Railway Act 1834
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Citation	4 & 5 Will. 4. c. xxv

On 8 August 1833 the board decided that it would be to their advantage to amalgamate with the Wigan Branch Railway, the directors of the Wigan Branch Railway met shortly thereafter and agreed with them. The Preston and Wigan Railway Act 1834 (4 & 5 Will. 4. c. xxv) was approved and gained royal assent on 22 May 1834 incorporating the two railways as the North Union Railway. It was the first-ever amalgamation of railway companies.^{[act 2][8]}

The line was formally opened by the North Union Railway on 21 October 1838 and to the public on 31 October.^[4]

Acts of Parliament

1. An Act for making and maintaining a Railway from the Borough of Wigan to the Borough of Preston, both in the County Palatine of Lancaster, and collateral Branches to communicate therewith.^[3]
2. 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 ^[7]

Notes

1. Railways in the United Kingdom are, for historical reasons, measured in miles and chains.^[1] A chain is 22 yards (20 m) long, there are 80 chains to the mile.^[2]

Citations

1. Jacobs 2009, p. 11.
2. "Weights and Measures Act 1985". Legislation.gov.uk. Sch 1, Part VI. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
3. "Local and Personal Act, 1 William IV, c. lvi". UK Parliamentary Archives. UK parliament. 1831. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
4. Awdry 1990, p. 99.
5. Grant 2017, p. 461.
6. Marshall 1969, p. 66.
7. "Local and Personal Act, 4 & 5 William IV, c. xxv:" (PDF). UK Parliament Parliamentary Archives. UK parliament. 1834. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
8. Sweeney 2008, p. 13.

Bibliography

• Awdry, Christopher (1990). Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies. Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-8526-0049-7. OCLC 19514063. CN 8983.
• Grant, Donald J. (2017). Directory of the Railway Companies of Great Britain (1st ed.). Kibworth Beauchamp, Leicestershire: Troubador Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-1-78803-768-6.
• Jacobs, Gerald (2009). "Railway Mileages". In Bridge, Mike (ed.). TRACKatlas of Mainland Britain. Bradford on Avon: Trackmaps. ISBN 978-0-9549866-5-0.
• Marshall, John (1969). The Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway. Vol. 1. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 978-0-7153-4352-4.
• Sweeney, Dennis (2008), The Wigan Branch Railway, Triangle Publishing, ISBN 978-0-9550030-35