 The London and North Western Railway (LNWR) built a line from Eccles to Wigan via Tyldesley and the Tyldesley Loopline via Leigh to Kenyon Junction in 1864 providing the impetus for the exploitation of coal seams in Tyldesley and Greens Sidings were constructed for the company to the east of Tyldesley Station.After the arrival of the railway the company expanded rapidly.It opened Shakerley Colliery near Shakerley Little Common in 1867, which had the first iron headgear in the country but finished operating in 1878.