Wigan Album

these are exceptional photographs winder, you have made my day again, mind I would rather the DMU had been a steamer, but you cant have everything, they are all going in my photographs documents, hope nobody minds, something to show the grandkids.

Great to see this winder. I have traipsed all along here a few times after the lines were removed and the signal box had become just a shell. I believe the left hand branch, as well as joining to Hindley, served Hindley Deep Pits and curved back on itself through the area beyond Hemfield road to meet the Springs Branch line and Kirkless Works.
As kids we'd have a day's walk to Twenty Bridges marching along the sleepers and whilst it's still there today it is heavily overgrown and difficult to get at. I'd love to see billowing steam.

I found a site showing pictures of steam around Standish junc, Rylands siding and the Douglas viaduct in the late 50s. The quality is excellent.
http://steampassed.fotopic.net/c726708.html
If the link doesn't work I'll post them through to you.
This is my web site.
www.freewebs.com/windinghouse

Brilliant photo Winder. I remember seeing this train a few times as a 10-year-old lad from the top deck of a Wigan Corporation bus.

In the early 1970s, my mate and I used to go to the Minors’ Matinee on Saturday mornings at the ABC Cinema in Station Road. A couple of times we saw this train going past De Trafford Junction onto the Whelley line, as were on our way home on the Number 3 bus going passing Walmersley Park at Ince. We were both into train spotting and we knew it was very unusual to see a passenger train on the Whelley loop.

We never knew where this train was coming from or going to (although when I asked my dad, he said it was probably a holiday special to Blackpool). At the time I was not smart enough, or too young to find a railway timetable and look it up.

Anyhow, that strange six-coach DMU train on the Whelley line lingered in the back of my memory for 35 years or so, until literally a couple of weeks ago when I bought an old BR Working Timetable on E-Bay for the 1971–72 period. The Working Timetable is a very detailed timetable produced for railwaymen, showing all the trains scheduled to run over a line – passenger, freight & light engines – and the times they’re meant to pass all the important stations & junctions. My new purchase showed the mystery train from summer 1971 to be train no. 2P65, the 10:45 Pendleton to Blackpool, scheduled to pass Hindley No. 2 signal box at 11:12 and De Trafford Junction at 11:12½. It only ran on Saturdays during the summer season – in 1971 it ran from 12 June to 4 September.

Then just to round things off, Winder posts a photo of the very same train on WiganWorld! It’s amazing what you can find on T’internet.

By the way, according to my 1971 timetable, there were two other summer Saturday trains to Blackpool which took the same route from Hindley round onto the Whelley line. There was an 08:05 DMU from Leeds to Blackpool North, due to pass De Trafford Junction at 09:57 and a loco-hauled train from Leicester to Blackpool North, due to pass at 11:50. You didn’t happen to get photos of these did you, Winder?

The train in the photo came back by the same route on Saturday afternoon as train no. 2J65, leaving Blackpool North at 12:25, passing De Trafford Jn at 13:43 on its way to Pendleton.

One final comment: It always confused me why me and my mate were allowed to go to the Minors’ Matinee when neither of our fathers worked in the pit – until I realised it was Minors’, not Miners’!

For Ian. I didn't take the photograph, I bought it from the Model Shop when it was in Library St, Wigan. I have no idea who the photographer was.

Brings back memories, There was only one passenger train booked over the whelley line at the start of the d.m.u. era circa 1960 this was the afternoon Manchester to Windermere service.I was a fireman at Springs Branch depot and on the morning of the 5th Feb 1966 I was in a smash at this point whilst assisting the Bamfurlong to Bullfield (Bolton) freight, wasnt the Springs Branch traincrews fault I might ad,the train consisted of 50 wagons, they went all over the place and the bridge span that this photo was taken from was badly damaged due to the concertinaing of the wagons below.Does anyone have any photos of this incident!

I think you will find that the mystery photographer of Winders series of Whelley Loop Line photos is or was a chap called Brian Barlow as I also have the same set of photos and more besides also obtained from G AND I Models that was in Library St alas no longer there.

I Used to be a driver at Springs Branch, i worked on the class 20s and class 40's! thanks for the image!

Is that the line that passed over the low bridge close to Belle Green school?

Yes Terry it went over Belle Green Lane next to the then Bush hotel pub, it was known as the Whelley loop line.