North Union Railway
4. c. lvi) on 29 May 1830 to build a line from the Liverpool and Manchester Railway (L&MR) near Parkside to Wigan.
[act 2] The directors considered abandoning the project but decided that an amalgamation with the WBR would be of benefit to both companies.
The WBR did not own any locomotives or rolling stock, its operations were all supplied under contract by the L&MR.
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 like Richard Evans who operated Edge Green Colliery which was just to the west of the NUR line and connected to it with a standard gauge siding.
[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.
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 the WBR 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.
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.
[h] By 1838 the Parkside to Wigan section of the railway had been double-tracked.,[53] a new Parkside 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 the L&MR.
Their railway terminated at Bolton Trinity Street station and part of the enabling act of Parliament[which?]
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.
[act 5][69] Parkside west curve opened in 1847 by the L&NWR under powers obtained by the GJR.
[71] Winwick cut-off opened in 1864 which provided a straight route between Warrington Bank Quay and Wigan North Western saving express trains 24 minutes along that stretch.
[65] This was the situation until 26 July 1889 when it was jointly absorbed by the L&NWR and L&YR under the terms of the London and North Western Railway Act 1889 (52 & 53 Vict.
[66][81] This section of the West Coast Main Line between London Euston and Carlisle had been the only part not wholly owned by the L&NWR.
Balshaw Lane and Euxton station was opened by the L&NWR on 2 September 1905, it closed on 6 October 1969.
