Kirkham and Wesham railway station

Kirkham and Wesham railway station serves the Lancashire towns of Kirkham and Wesham, in England. It is managed by Northern, who operate most of the passenger services that call there.DescriptionThere are two platforms, and fairly obvious signs of the former size of the station by way of disused sidings areas and blocked-off arches. The station ticket office is at street level with a wide staircase leading down to the platforms. Originally a cast iron and glass roof covered the platforms similar to Poulton-le-Fylde station. This was removed in the 1960s.Fast lines used to run from Kirkham North Junction (located a half a mile to the west of the station) to what was known as Kirkham South Junction - just east of the station allowing through trains to pass without running through the platforms. These were the last vestige of the four track which originally started at Preston and were removed during remodelling work in 2017 to allow for a third platform and a faster alignment of the remaining and new lines As part of the works, all of the disused sidings were removed. The signalbox at Kirkham North Junction was opened in 1903 and had over 70 levers and was worked by two signalmen and a train recorder. A framed summary in the box detailed the total number of train movements there in a 24-hour period in July 1936 as 656 - the vast majority of these would have been connected with the Blackpool holiday trade.HistoryThe station, opened in 1840, was originally located to the west of Station Road and named Kirkham Station. In 1890, it was rebuilt on the east side of the road and later renamed Kirkham and Wesham. Historically the "Wrangway Brook", beside which the railway was laid, has always been the boundary between Kirkham and Wesham, and the station buildings are all situated in Kirkham.