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Photos of Wigan
Photos of Wigan



Wigan Album

Wigan Wallgate Station

3 Comments

Wigan Wallgate Signal Box
Wigan Wallgate Signal Box
Photo: RON HUNT
Views: 2,016
Item #: 27987
Exterior view of the Wigan Wallgate Signal Box.

Comment by: Tony G on 13th June 2016 at 20:11

Lovely. When was this built?

Comment by: English Electric on 14th June 2016 at 07:41

The signalbox was apparently built by the LMS in 1941, during World War 2.

I've never seen it described as "lovely" before - but definitely characterful!

The box was built to ARP (Air Raid Precautions) standards, meant to make it resistant to bombing. It has a reinforced concrete roof, smaller windows than usual in a railway signal box and no windows to the lower floor room where a lot of the equipment is housed.

It's unlikely the large concrete "Wigan-Wallgate" signs (there's another facing the Southport line) would have been installed initially, in accordance with wartime blackout and "confuse the enemy" precautions.

I read somewhere that the brick-outhouse standards of construction used in other ARP signalboxes around the country can give Network Rail a bit of bother when it comes to demolishing them after completion of modern re-signalling schemes.

Comment by: Sir Bob on 14th June 2016 at 11:11

That signal box is still there and it looks exactly the same now, as it does in the photo.

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