Liverpool To Wigan Railway Bridge - Bamfurlong, UK
Posted by: 
dtrebilc
N 53° 31.078 W 002° 37.402
30U E 524972 N 5929958
This bridge carries the Liverpool to Wigan railway over the Leigh Branch of the Leeds Liverpool Canal.
Waymark Code: WMQWG0
Location: North West England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 04/06/2016
Views: 1
The Leeds Liverpool Canal
The main line of the canal is 127.25 miles long and flows from the inland woollen town of Leeds to the coastal sea port of Liverpool, crossing the Pennines along the way. Work on the canal started in 1770 and built in a number of sections and was finally completed in 1816.
This branch off the main line links Wigan to Leigh at the junction with the Bridgewater Canal.
The canal is a broad canal and the maximum dimensions for a boat to be able to travel on the waterway are 62 feet long and 14 feet wide. The maximum headroom is 7 feet and 8 inches. The maximum draught is 3 feet and 7 inches.
The Liverpool To Wigan Line
The Liverpool to Wigan Line is a railway line in the north-west of England, running between Liverpool Lime Street station and Wigan North Western via St Helens Central.
The route from Liverpool, running east follows part of the Northern section of the Liverpool to Manchester line up to Huyton Junction; where it branches north-eastwards, routing via Prescot and St Helens Central, then to Ince Moss Junction. Here, the line joins the West Coast Main Line near Springs Branch and runs on to Wigan North Western.
The route sees service from three passenger trains per hour in both directions between Liverpool and Wigan. Following the 17 May 2015 timetable changeover, it is now usually operated by Northern Rail 4-Car Class 319 electric units. The frequency of three per hour comprises two local stopping services and one longer distance express.
The section of line from Huyton to St Helens was opened on 1 November 1871 by the London and North Western Railway and the line from St Helens to Wigan was opened on 1 December 1869 by the Lancashire Union Railway.
All services on this route are currently operated by Northern Rail. From the new timetable changeover on 17 May 2015 electric service was introduced on the Liverpool to Wigan service using 4-Car Class 319 units. From 5 October 2015, The express Liverpool South Parkway/Liverpool Lime Street now terminates as an electric service at Preston. However, as electrification is not yet complete between Preston and Blackpool, the Preston to Blackpool North service continues to be diesel-operated, using Class 142 Pacer, Class 150 Sprinter, or Class 156 Super Sprinter DMUs, requiring travellers to Blackpool to now change at Preston.
Extracted from this link
The Bridge
The bridge is between the Wigan North Western station and ST. Helens Central station and carries Northern Rail trains.
It is bridge number 2A over the Leigh Branch of the canal counting from the Wigan end of the canal. The suffix letter A indicates that it was built after the canal was completed and is therefore the first bridge added between bridge 2 and 3. The current bridge at this site is quite modern.