In today's lovely spring sunshine a fantastic excuse to nip down to Ellesmere Port presented itself...

My 2 year old daughter needed a nap and wouldn't settle at her grandparents - so I offered to take her out for a drive! She was off within the first 5 minutes! Anyway I headed down to Ellesmere Port docks first, to the location of the old MSC Railway engine shed. From here I traced the line up to Eastham before heading back on myself to Stanlow. These shots won't set the world on fire but show a little more of what I'm going to try and capture in Meadow Lane - as well as providing a historic record of the last section of the MSC railway in existence which see's some use...

It was sad to see at Stanlow a lot of the yard had been lifted and track panels stacked along the road - how much longer will Peel Holdings keep the line to Eastham in situ?

First up a view of the dock entrance, and my car! The shed can be seen on the left - the tracks I'm parked on are severed either side of the road and were the access to the shed. I crept upto the gates for the second and third shots - but didn't venture further as there was no one around to ask permission.

This old office will form a scenic break on the layout - so I took a few shots. I presume it was either a weighbridge, or traffic office of some description?

The section of line from Ellesmere Port station to the old Bowaters plant is in regular use by Freightliner for imported coal. This view is towards Eastham.

I followed the track up towards Eastham and paused opposite the Vauxhall car plant. First view towards Ellesmere Port, second towards Eastham. As you can see this section is still 100% intact although a little overgrown.

At Eastham the track enters the old refinery (spur on the left) and also crosses, then follows the road further up to some oil storage tanks.

Now back at Stanlow and the situation is a little more sadening with track still in situ on the bank - but the yard area largely derelict. First shot taken facing up the bank, and then some yard detail shots. Here there were a lot of road crossings as lines headed into the Stanlow complex - not much trace of these anymore.

So there you go - a glimpse of a forgotten age - 14 years since trains ceased operating on these sections regularly - what Peel Holdings intends for the future remains to be seen. Expect some more modelling posts this week - in the meantime questions, comments or further information greatly appreciated!