Michael Delamar Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 ive become very interested in this stretch of line of late, ive spent some time in the Northenden area and have grown interested in the lines history. areas around Skelton junction and Heaton Mersey must have been a great place to sit and watch trains go by. also interested in the surrounding connecting lines such as the LNWR route through Latchford some pics Ive come across while having a bit of a google. Railway bridges spanning the River Mersey at Heaton Mersey, Stockport in 1953. by TheBrinkswayBoy, on Flickr Stockport Georges Road by Roy's In Ireland, on Flickr 40117 ambling through Tiviot Dale Dec 1977 by Deadmans Handle, on Flickr 40129 between tunnels - 12 March 1978 by Deadmans Handle, on Flickr wouild like to hear recollections and see pics of this route. Mike 10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Delamar Posted May 23, 2012 Author Share Posted May 23, 2012 a nice shot of the now dismantled bridges at Heaton mersey. A scene from my early childhood: A goods train on its way from Heaton Mersey towards Cheadle Junction crosses one of the two bridges spanning the River Mersey at Cheadle Heath, Stockport, on Thursday, April 20th, 1950. by TheBrinkswayBoy, on Flickr 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Delamar Posted May 23, 2012 Author Share Posted May 23, 2012 I really like these shots,, last day of steam at Heaton mersey shed. this convoy of 2 8fs and a 9f are backed out of Heaton mersey shed onto the river mersey bridge seen in the pic above. Heaton Mersey Stockport Cheshire 4th May 1968 by loose_grip_99, on Flickr then on through the remains of Tiviot dale station Stockport Tiviot Dale Cheshire 4th May 1968 by loose_grip_99, on Flickr he has more similar shots on his flickr photostream, these 2 are my favourites. 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 65179 Posted May 23, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted May 23, 2012 (edited) Have you got the Foxline books that cover the area (Scenes from the Past 1, 13/13A and 39) Michael? I along with a couple of others started to build an N gauge model of Tiviot Dale many years ago, but university and a switch to 2mm got in the way sadly. Tiviot Dale and Portwood viaduct would make a wonderful model. All you need is the space and lots of cash to afford the 8Fs and O4s! Lovely view though that of 48503 above (edit: the April 1950 one) is (I hope to build it in this condition once Chris Higgs's 2mm 8F kit is available), the photo is credited to N. Fields in the first Foxline Stockport book so I'm not sure about the copyright position of this photo (particularly as another photo in the book also appears in the same stream). Simon Edited May 23, 2012 by 65179 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Delamar Posted May 23, 2012 Author Share Posted May 23, 2012 (edited) I havent Simon, my dad and I have got quite a few of the excellent foxline books but I shall have to get that one. a work in progress 2mm finescale model of Tiviot dale was exhibited at our Liverpool show last year, will be returning next year and im looking forward to seeing it finished Edited May 23, 2012 by michael delamar 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 65179 Posted May 23, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted May 23, 2012 I was lucky enough to get to have a play with John Whitehead's version when it was exhibited at the big 2mm Expo a couple of years ago. Yes, it will be great to see it finished. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Delamar Posted May 23, 2012 Author Share Posted May 23, 2012 an interesting picture of the line with motorway on the site of Heaton mersey shed. http://www.ciht.org.uk/motorway/m63stockport.htm Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Delamar Posted May 24, 2012 Author Share Posted May 24, 2012 travel along the surviving section at Northenden jnc to Skelton jnc in this speeded up cab ride film. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJS1977 Posted May 24, 2012 Share Posted May 24, 2012 What's Clan Line doing in Stockport? ;-) The late Peter Jones had a 16mm scale model based on the Tiviot Dale buildings on the Compton Down Railway - I don't know if this building still exists anywhere. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted May 24, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 24, 2012 travel along the surviving section at Northenden jnc to Skelton jnc in this speeded up cab ride film. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQ4BsoNaFy4 Hmm, looks like things have changed since I last travelled between Manchester and Chester - mind you back then the return trip was behind a fairly grubby 'Brit' (how the mighty had fallen to be on that work). 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poggy1165 Posted May 24, 2012 Share Posted May 24, 2012 (edited) When I was a boy I fell in love with Stockport Tiviot Dale. It was a marvellous station, best described as semi-disused with an alleged train service, to my mind the railway equivalent of an enchanted castle*. I never saw such a clear case of 'the glory hath departed.' * Not a GW one - one of those medieval jobbies with towers and things... Heaton Mersey Shed was a bit special too. It was the only one of my acquaintance where, if you asked the gentleman politely, he would freely give you permission to wander around. Given that we were snotty-nosed kids aged 9-11 I find that quite amazing in retrospect. Usually one had to sneak round sheds, and if you were very lucky no one would shout at you. His hospitality was never, ever abused. All we wanted to do was look at the engines and take the numbers. Happy days, I wish I could go back. No modern boy would be given the opportunity to do something like that, and, in my opinion, the country is worse for it, though I quite understand the reasons why. And we used to travel there on Stockport Corporation Crossley buses (or sometimes Leylands). T'was joy to be alive, and yet it was all taken for granted. Edited May 24, 2012 by Poggy1165 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Delamar Posted May 24, 2012 Author Share Posted May 24, 2012 plenty of detail on the subbrit site.. i like the pic of the mucky duck entering the station. http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/s/stockport_tiviot_dale/index.shtml and signalbox diagrams for Skelton jnc, Brinnington jnc and woodley jnc can be downloaded here... http://www.lymmobservatory.net/railways/sbdiagrams/sbdiagrams.htm George Woods has plenty of shots of the line around Brinnington and also this nice one at Skelton jnc.. 48471 Skelton Junction 20.4.68 by George of Dufton, on Flickr 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Delamar Posted May 24, 2012 Author Share Posted May 24, 2012 Heaton Mersey Shed was a bit special too. ive only seen pics and cine footage of the shed but its fascinated me for a while, I like the location and the sort of urban grassland around it. hard to explain, Aintree shed near where I live was similar, ie surrounded by housing and railway lines but with a bit of a grassland. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Delamar Posted May 25, 2012 Author Share Posted May 25, 2012 the tall cheshire lines signalbox at Northenden jnc still survives.. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Richard_A Posted May 25, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 25, 2012 are the first two pictures where the m60 now runs? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJS1977 Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 The two bridges were to the north of the M60 ( http://goo.gl/maps/IaOw ) and the trackbed ran pretty much parallel. Apart from being severed by the motorway junction and the loss of several bridges (most notably the viaducts east of Travis Brow), a remarkable amount of the trackbed still appears to be clear - almost enough to be able to extend Metrolink from East Didsbury (but not quite!). The M60 (was the M63 when I knew it!) was built before the railway closed - the subsidence from building the motorway (allegedly) made the tunnels unsafe. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 65179 Posted May 25, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted May 25, 2012 It wasn't actually subsidence if I remember correctly, I read somewhere that a crane (or other bit of construction kit) ended up in a void behind the tunnel lining and the line was closed on a precautionary basis whilst damage was assessed. Temporary then became permanent. Simon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 65179 Posted May 25, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted May 25, 2012 (edited) If anyone is interested I could post a few photos of the bridges in the Portwood/Tiviot Dale area after closure. Edited May 25, 2012 by 65179 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bike2steam Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 Ah Heaton Mersey shed, always one of my favourites, after spending the best part of an hour round the shed ( well it could be done in 15 minutes), I would climb up the short bank to the sidings, skirt round,and find a nice spot by the main line into Tiviot Dale, and watch, the then, countless freights which would invariably be putting on a good speed almost on par with GC 'runners' - happy days. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold big jim Posted May 25, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 25, 2012 the thing that always fascinated me when i used to drive down there on my bendy bus was you were on so many different lines, up and down altringham, up and down liverpool, up and down stockport and on the single line you passed over the old midland line with a mile post for 200 miles from st pancras! incidently the interior of the box at northenden jn is painted "man city" blue as the signaller a few years back was a huge city supporter! once had a pair of 142s come apart electrically on the curve at skelton jn too 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Delamar Posted May 25, 2012 Author Share Posted May 25, 2012 What's Clan Line doing in Stockport? ;-) railtour sometime around 1979-80. I remember a now and then shot in the back of a railway magazine with the past shot being a similar shot of clan line at that location with the modern shot showing the line gone. I havent yet seen a shot of that tunnel entrance. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Delamar Posted May 25, 2012 Author Share Posted May 25, 2012 the last 9f hauled railtour in 1968 takes the LNWR route to Warrington and Liverpool via Latchford at Skelton junction. can just see the Manchester central to Altrincham and Chester line to the bottom left. that house in the centre distance would have been ideal to watch from 92160 Skelton Junc. 20.4.68 by George of Dufton, on Flickr 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bennyboy Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 I took a load of pictures of the track bed about twenty years ago. The quality isn't great, but I thought that they might be of interest. Sadly I didn't take any while the line was still in use, although I always remember wanting to sit on the top deck of the bus from Didsbury to Stockport in the 70/80s just to see if there was anything interesting sat in in Georges Rd sidings, which unfortunately there rarely was! 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Delamar Posted May 25, 2012 Author Share Posted May 25, 2012 (edited) superb shots. thanks for posting them. some here from 1984/5 when a single line was still in place.. http://www.panoramio...r=kh.google.com http://www.panoramio...r=kh.google.com http://www.panoramio.com/photo/34353124?source=wapi&referrer=kh.google.com http://www.panoramio.../photo/34352766 Edited May 25, 2012 by michael delamar 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Delamar Posted May 25, 2012 Author Share Posted May 25, 2012 40129 at what was left of Tiviot Dale - 12 March 1978 by Deadmans Handle, on Flickr 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now