Kenyon and Leigh Junction Railway

v t e Kenyon and Leigh Junction Railway and connections
Legend
L&NWR Bolton & Kenyon line to Bolton Westleigh Bolton & Leigh Railway Kenyon & Leigh Junction Rly L&NWR Westleigh Line to Bickershaw Jn and Wigan L&NWR Bedford & Leigh branch to Tyldesley Plank Lane Leigh Leeds & Liverpool Canal Bridgewater Canal Pennington junctions Pennington Kenyon Junction London and North Western Railway

The Kenyon and Leigh Junction Railway (K&LJR) was constructed to link the Bolton and Leigh Railway (B&LR), which terminated at the Leigh Branch of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, with the Liverpool and Manchester Railway (L&MR) at Kenyon.

The B&LR obtained an act of Parliament^[which?] giving it the right to lease the K&LJR in 1836. On 8 August 1845, along with the B&LR and the L&MR, the K&LJR was amalgamated into the Grand Junction Railway (GJR) which, with others, became part of the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) on 16 July 1846.

The 2.5-mile (4.0 km) line started from the B&LR's terminus in Westleigh and crossed the Leeds and Liverpool Canal before heading south towards Kenyon. Stations were built at Bradshaw Leach and Kenyon. As soon as it opened on 3 January 1831, goods trains could access 28.5 miles (45.9 km) of line between Bolton and Liverpool and a few months later a passenger service to Liverpool started. John Hargreaves, an established carrier in Bolton leased the running rights over the K&LJR and the L&MR using his own engines and rolling stock until 31 December 1845. Regular passenger services between Bolton and Kenyon ended in March 1954 and traffic from Leigh ended when the Tyldesley Loopline was closed in 1969.