Fallowfield Station

[spech]

Hi to all. I've been gathering information on Fallowfield station for the last couple of years with a view to building a model in 4mm scale. Having climbed all over what's left of the main building with a tape measure, taken a shed load of photos and collected around another forty or so pictures I decided it was time to have a go at a trial run just to see how it all added up. The attached pictures are of this first attempt and you'll notice the absence of any detail; chimneys, windows etc. On the whole it has worked out pretty well but there are still one or two gaps to be filled before I can start the model proper. In particular I need more information on the huge glazed area at the top of the staircases, modelled in plain cardboard in the picture, and how it was attached to the brick built part of the building. A photo of this area would be a dream come true. Also, I have very little idea of how the interior was arranged. If anybody has any unpublished photos of the rear of the building or maybe just memories of the interior which might help my cause I'd be very happy to hear from them. I explored this station as a child in the early 70's and can remember it as it was after the fire but before the platform buildings were demolished. Incidentally, before anybody sugests it, I have seen the disused stations site and acquired all the foxline books. Cheers, Spech.

[Kris]

Very interesting building shapes there. I would suggest that you make the upper part of the building removable to make track cleaning easier.

[Andy C]

Hi Spech

 

Have you tried the County Records Office - http://www.gmcro.co.uk/ - they have a collection of railway material that is nothing short of brilliant and are more than likely to have plans in etc. Its not a station Im over familiar with myself but must say I recognised the cardboard mock ups straight away!

 

I will draw your appeal to the attention of fellow MMRS members - Im sure someone at Dean Hall is bound to know / have something on what is a local station.

[spech]

Very interesting building shapes there. I would suggest that you make the upper part of the building removable to make track cleaning easier.

 

 

Yes Kris, I had thought of that little problem. With Wilmslow road running across the front I'll end up with a covered area of around eighteen inches; a short tunnel!

[spech]

Hi Spech

 

Have you tried the County Records Office - http://www.gmcro.co.uk/ - they have a collection of railway material that is nothing short of brilliant and are more than likely to have plans in etc. Its not a station Im over familiar with myself but must say I recognised the cardboard mock ups straight away!

 

I will draw your appeal to the attention of fellow MMRS members - Im sure someone at Dean Hall is bound to know / have something on what is a local station.

 

 

Thanks Andy. It is a very recognisable building. I can't help wondering weather the builders just made it up as they went along! I have visited the records office (forgot to mention that one) and as you say, they did have some excellent stuff. If you could ask around at the MMRS I'd be very grateful.

 

 

[woodenhead]

Some pictures of the station front in the early 1900s can be found here:

http://rusholmearchive.org/fallowfield-brow-and-oak-drive

 

Fallowfield was my playground from birth but I kept away from the railway line even though I lived right next to it, mind there was plenty of mischief to be had down the ginnels, alleys and bomb sites around Sherwood St to keep any 5 year old entertained. I'll be watching this thread develop with interest.

 

Are those stairs down from the station building taken from plans as the two covered outer lengths were the steps down I thought coming out under the canopies, if they were there then Fallowfield would have been blessed with two sets of steps which I didn't think the platforms were wide enough to support.

[spech]

Some pictures of the station front in the early 1900s can be found here:

http://rusholmearchi...w-and-oak-drive

 

Fallowfield was my playground from birth but I kept away from the railway line even though I lived right next to it, mind there was plenty of mischief to be had down the ginnels, alleys and bomb sites around Sherwood St to keep any 5 year old entertained. I'll be watching this thread develop with interest.

 

Are those stairs down from the station building taken from plans as the two covered outer lengths were the steps down I thought coming out under the canopies, if they were there then Fallowfield would have been blessed with two sets of steps which I didn't think the platforms were wide enough to support.

 

Hi Woodenhead. I was born in Bosley avenue Withington and spent my first twelve years there. We grew up messing around on the railway but nobody ever came close to being hit by a train. I reckon it's probably more dangerous down there since it became a cycle way! We would get on to the line at the Princess Parkway bridge and occasionally walk west towards Chorlton Junction but mostly we headed for Fallowfield. Wilbraham road had been completely obliterated by this time and so had Chorlton so there was not much to see in that direction. The covered inclines at Fallowfield were basically ramps, I would guess for baggage trolleys and the like. These days they would make useful "disabled access" The floors were made of wood. I'm sure of this because I walked up the one on the up platform one day. I remember it was pitch black at the top and being no more than eight or nine years old I lost my nerve and retreated back down into the daylight. The darkness was probably due to the thing being blocked off at the top; part of the makeshift repairs done to the station after the fire which destroyed the huge glass house. I'm guessing again! They are reproduced from a detailed plan of the station and should have rows of little stained glass windows on the outside walls. I think I may have already found the site you mentioned but I'll check it to make sure. Many thanks.

[woodenhead]

Ah, by the time I got interested in railways the structures at platform level had been demolished so all I have is the odd picture (nothing special just what has already been published in books).

 

So there was a ramp and a staircase to each platform, I suppose as the premiere station on the line it got additional features over the others.

 

Did you know it even had it's own banking engine in the early days to bank trains up towards Reddish.

[spech]

Ah, by the time I got interested in railways the structures at platform level had been demolished so all I have is the odd picture (nothing special just what has already been published in books).

 

So there was a ramp and a staircase to each platform, I suppose as the premiere station on the line it got additional features over the others.

 

Did you know it even had it's own banking engine in the early days to bank trains up towards Reddish.

 

Yes it must have been a bit of a climb up to Reddish. I can remember, like it was yesterday, lying in bed at night and hearing the class 40s pulling freighliner trains. They always seemed to give it the gun past our house, probably taking a run at the bank. I'm told that the banking engine at the station was at one time a Gresley A1. There were also two Parachute water columns at either end of the station. I have a photo which clearly shows the footprint of a standard MS&L column on the up platform. Then there were the stables at the east end of the goods yard. It must have been quite a place in its heyday.

[woodenhead]

I moved further up the line in the later 1970s and my parent's house backed onto the line so I could hang out my bedroom window and watch the trains pass, this is when I first got an interest in railways.

 

At that time there were services seven days a week because on a Sunday evening Irlam Steelworks sent a train east, don't know it's destination and don't ever remember a balancing inbound turn but it was usually Peak hauled.

 

I would be woken in the morning to the early trip workings and light engine workings between Trafford Park and Reddish/Ashburys/Dewsnap and when I got home from school the late afternoon trips were running. Considering it was a single line it was run at quite a pace especially on the Freightliners which had 40s thumping out of Chorlton to begin the ascent towards Reddish. Late night services from the North East arriving around 11:00pm tended to move a lot slower and were double headed by 37s which returned north in the early hours of the next morning.

 

In the early days I could watch the trains from Princess Parkway bridge till they disappeared under Wellington Road but as the years progressed North West Water and BR stopped cutting back foliage as much and the views became more restricted.

 

Had the line not been built across it could have been used now as a way of bring trains into Manchester Piccadilly from over the Pennines without the need to reverse or create conflicting movements as they could have used the loop to enter Manchester from the West passing through platform 14 and on to the airport - surely cheaper than building a chord in Salford.

[trains12]

Hi Spech

I lived for 53 years in Corkland Road, with Chatfield road facing the house os spent most of my time at Chorlton Station and the Junction.

Have you looked at the books by Foxline Publishing Eddy Johnson has done few covering all the lines around that area, I will look them up tomorrow in The Railway Study Centre libary. I also seem to remember that there was some plans issued on the station in one of the railway modelling mags in the 70,s will check in my plans to see if I still have them

In the early mid 60,s I made a model of Chorlton Sation and the Junction.

Cheers Peter

[spech]

Hi Spech

I lived for 53 years in Corkland Road, with Chatfield road facing the house os spent most of my time at Chorlton Station and the Junction.

Have you looked at the books by Foxline Publishing Eddy Johnson has done few covering all the lines around that area, I will look them up tomorrow in The Railway Study Centre libary. I also seem to remember that there was some plans issued on the station in one of the railway modelling mags in the 70,s will check in my plans to see if I still have them

In the early mid 60,s I made a model of Chorlton Sation and the Junction.

Cheers Peter

 

 

Thanks Peter. I have just about all the Foxline publications covering this area. As a matter of fact, I've had the privilege of meeting Mr Johnson himself. His help and advice, not to mention his collection of photos of Fallowfield, have been an enormous boost to the project. I'm very interested to hear that you may know of a magazine article, especially from the 70's. That is a new one to me! I have managed to get my hands on the May 1956 Model railway constructor which had some very useful photos of the goods shed. By the way, I'm no stranger to Corkland road. I went to the school there between 1978 and 81.

[Timara]

Hi Spech,

 

My dad's got a couple of pics from 1963 when he was living in that area while at Manchester Uni. I'll ask if he'll allow me to scan them in for you

 

Cheers,

Tim

[spech]

Hi Spech,

 

My dad's got a couple of pics from 1963 when he was living in that area while at Manchester Uni. I'll ask if he'll allow me to scan them in for you

 

Cheers,

Tim

 

Thanks Tim, that'll be great. I've got the road side of the building pretty much covered as it is mostly still there but anything of the railway side is bound to be helpful.

[Timara]

Hi Spech,

 

Found only one usable shot of Fallowfield with the station in it, but the others from the same month (according to Dad's notes) are from Throstle Nest Junction, which I haven't scanned.

 

Hope this one is useful - PM me with your email address and I'll send you the big version. Would I be right in thinking this shot is taken from your other scenic break?

 

 

 

Cheers,

Tim

[woodenhead]

That's taken Ladybarn Lane which appears to be a popular location from which to get good shots including the station.

[Timara]

That's taken Ladybarn Lane which appears to be a popular location from which to get good shots including the station.

 

Certainly is! The shot looking the other way was more than a bit blurred, so it was left unscanned!

 

Tim

[spech]

Certainly is! The shot looking the other way was more than a bit blurred, so it was left unscanned!

 

Tim

 

Thanks very much for this Tim, it really is appreciated. I have to tell you though that I already have this one. At some point over the last couple of years I've come across this picture on the internet. I honestly can't remember how I found it. It is however accredited to your dad; Bryan Easter and it is dated 1963. I found it before I'd ever seen a detailed diagram of the track layout at this end of the station so it has been a very interesting and useful addition to my pictures.The Ladybarn Lane overbridge does indeed make for a perfect scenic break. Will you thank your dad for me. Spech.

[Timara]

Thanks very much for this Tim, it really is appreciated. I have to tell you though that I already have this one. At some point over the last couple of years I've come across this picture on the internet. I honestly can't remember how I found it. It is however accredited to your dad; Bryan Easter and it is dated 1963. I found it before I'd ever seen a detailed diagram of the track layout at this end of the station so it has been a very interesting and useful addition to my pictures.The Ladybarn Lane overbridge does indeed make for a perfect scenic break. Will you thank your dad for me. Spech.

 

Haha! That'll probably have been on his site, though I wasn't aware he'd already scanned it in. Ah well, ne'er mind!

 

Cheers,

Tim

[kevinlms]

Perhaps you already know this information (it is over 9 years since the last post!), but there is an article by Doris M. Stokes in Railway Modeller 1961 January, where she builds a goods shed based on the one at Farrowfield. Includes a couple of photos of the completed model & drawings of the office end and a side elevation.

[spech]

Yep, seen that one, but thanks anyway Kevin. I can't believe I've been planning this thing for so long. Ten years is a big chunk of your life. I have actually been able to make a proper start recently, due to the unusual circumstances we have found ourselves in this year and the abundance of spare time I've had as a consequence. It's been a long time since I've done anything like this and I'm amazed at how the hobby has progressed; there are so many new things to learn. I'm very much in the "keen idiot" category for now, but getting there slowly and having lots of fun.  I hope to devote some time to learning how to post on here properly and start a "blog", (is that the right word?) but for now here's a rather poor quality picture of how she looks at the moment. better pictures will follow. Once again, thanks for the suggestion. 

[woodenhead]

Spech, did you ever hang around in the David Bowler tyre place?

[PenrithBeacon]

I lived in Withington 1968-72 and there was a Greek (?) deli/supermarket in the booking hall then

[woodenhead]

35 minutes ago, PenrithBeacon said:

I lived in Withington 1968-72 and there was a Greek (?) deli/supermarket in the booking hall then

I remember there being some sort of travel agency in the part of the building right next to the goods entrance and the chemist on the other side of Ladybarn Road, plus the fishmongers just behind the station building - but the actual station building I don't remember what it was used for until it became a wine bar and I certainly remember it then hazily.

[spech]

Was David Bowler the building with the big arched asbestos roof right next to the goods yard. I used to rummage through their scrap pile for bits of exhaust pipe. That was back in the eighties, the age of string and chewing gum.  I remember the deli and the fish shop around the corner. My mum was always in there.