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Chester Northgate Station (Layout of a Lifetime)maybe


gismorail
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Thanks Dave feel as though I have started to capture the atmosphere still a lot to do will post some further pictures of the coaling stage and water tower next. Trying create an autumn seen between 1956 to 1960. when things were very run down and staff morale was at an all time low. 

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Thanks Dave feel as though I have started to capture the atmosphere still a lot to do will post some further pictures of the coaling stage and water tower next. Trying create an autumn seen between 1956 to 1960. when things were very run down and staff morale was at an all time low.

 

I must admit that the same period also appeals to me for the very same reasons. It's a bit before my time but seeing films of the railways at that time is, I find, very inspiring.

 

Looking forward to seeing more.

 

Cheers

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Just to continue on the theme of the locomotive facilities the coaling/ash pit and watering area has been quite an interesting area to research. I had worked out from the O/S maps that there was quite a sizeable water tower built there from the start of operations but for some time I could not work out exactly what the structure consisted of and in the outset I only had the following photograph to work on 

post-5136-0-20490800-1438588766.jpg

The date is March 1957 and shows 84001 taking water whilst facing towards the locomotive shed with the LNER coal host in the background. Not sure what today's H&S would say about the staff access to the water facilities........ :nono:  but by looking at the arrangement of the water shut off rod he would not be able to reach it from the loco and if he were on the ground and the tank overfills he would have got a dam good soaking ..... The fact that the water tower would appear to have been the only source of water supply throughout the main station area would suggest that all locomotives came onto shed for watering. Very early maps of the station platform areas do show a water crane on platform one but I have never seen any photographic evidence of this. Locomotives that were turned using the triangle would have been able to take water from one of the three water column's situated at the platforms at Liverpool Road and as a youngster I can remember seeing this from my bedroom window,

The coal hoist was the only bit of labour saving device that the loco crews had at this shed as all other duties required back breaking shovel work.

post-5136-0-58519000-1438590952.jpg post-5136-0-97236400-1438591994.jpg

post-5136-0-20716900-1438592128.jpg

 

 

The shed alongside the coal hoist housed the ash pit and this had been erected during the war under the 'blackout' regulations. It was the positioning of this 'new' structure that gave me some clues to the development of the water tower facilities as on the 1908 maps it clearly shows the water tower covering the second road leading to the turntable 

post-5136-0-92241500-1438591592.jpg

What exactly this structure was I'm not sure as even more recently found images do not give a great deal of detail 

post-5136-0-55235100-1438591846.jpg  post-5136-0-54083100-1438591873.jpg

 

If anyone reading this thread has any additional information I would be very interested to hear from them 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Just to continue on the theme of the locomotive facilities the coaling/ash pit and watering area has been quite an interesting area to research. I had worked out from the O/S maps that there was quite a sizeable water tower built there from the start of operations but for some time I could not work out exactly what the structure consisted of and in the outset I only had the following photograph to work on 

attachicon.gifliverpool road 012 (400x253).jpg

The date is March 1957 and shows 84001 taking water whilst facing towards the locomotive shed with the LNER coal host in the background. Not sure what today's H&S would say about the staff access to the water facilities........ :nono:  but by looking at the arrangement of the water shut off rod he would not be able to reach it from the loco and if he were on the ground and the tank overfills he would have got a dam good soaking ..... The fact that the water tower would appear to have been the only source of water supply throughout the main station area would suggest that all locomotives came onto shed for watering. Very early maps of the station platform areas do show a water crane on platform one but I have never seen any photographic evidence of this. Locomotives that were turned using the triangle would have been able to take water from one of the three water column's situated at the platforms at Liverpool Road and as a youngster I can remember seeing this from my bedroom window,

The coal hoist was the only bit of labour saving device that the loco crews had at this shed as all other duties required back breaking shovel work.

attachicon.gifLoco depot chester northgate 010 (310x400).jpg attachicon.gifLoco depot chester northgate 003 (400x306).jpg

attachicon.gifLoco depot chester northgate 009 (400x276).jpg

 

 

The shed alongside the coal hoist housed the ash pit and this had been erected during the war under the 'blackout' regulations. It was the positioning of this 'new' structure that gave me some clues to the development of the water tower facilities as on the 1908 maps it clearly shows the water tower covering the second road leading to the turntable 

attachicon.gifliverpool road 013 (400x180).jpg

What exactly this structure was I'm not sure as even more recently found images do not give a great deal of detail 

attachicon.gifLoco depot chester northgate 011 (400x244).jpg  attachicon.gifLoco depot chester northgate 012 (400x253).jpg

 

If anyone reading this thread has any additional information I would be very interested to hear from them 

Whatever the building is in the last picture, it was definitely not there in the 1950s (if my memory serves). 

 

I've been trying to orientate the view showing the 0-6-0 to the left. Is it coming across the top end of the Northgate triangle, heading towards the Wirral/N. Wales? If so, the building looks to be near the site of the GWR shed, beyond and lower than the route from Manchester to Northgate Station. If that's the case, the photographer is standing at the junction of Brook Lane and Victoria Road. I don't think the coal train would be coming from the Northgate Station, nor heading into it from Liverpool Road (which gives the other angles possible on the triangle). A puzzle indeed.

 

I wish you well with the project. Any pictures I took at Northgate were after your period, not long before the station was demolished. By then, the only services were DMUs. As you noted, articles of mine, 'A Cestrian's Urchin Tales', have appeared in BRILL over the last year or so, where I comment on my memories of Northgate in the '50s/'60s. As I recall, all Manchester trains used the nearer platform to the side entrance and all Wrexham/Wirral trains the further one. To begin with, D11s held sway on the former services and GC 4-4-2Ts and 0-6-2Ts on the latter. Then some LMS/BR Standard tanks appeared, before the arrival of the DMUs. The only 'big' engine I ever saw there was ROOKE, on a special off the Manchester road. After the DMUs took over almost exclusively, there was still a steam-hauled passenger train from Manchester which arrived in the early evening, consisting of six/seven LMS non-corridor carriages. The loco (either an Ivatt 2-6-0 43XXX, B1 or K3) would run into the station, the passengers would leave the train, then the stock would be propelled out by the loco, through the remains of Liverpool Road Station, across Parkgate Road and onto the section towards the Shropshire Union Canal. It would then cross over and take the top end of the triangle, cross the line to Birkenhead, then be propelled back into the station to depart. The shed had closed by then, and I assume any locos had enough coal/water to return. Since I lived in Cheyney Road from 1956/'57, my bedroom looked out over the college playing fields, so saw traffic on the line to the Wirral/N. Wales (too far away to see the numbers, though I'd seen them all already).

 

I hope this is of some little interest. 

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The work in progress looks well. I only caught a train into Northgate once when I decided to return from Wrexham via the GC 'top line' either 1963 or 1964. While there was much activity around Croes Newydd where I spent the afternoon, the Wrexham GC station gave the impression of a backwater and the 'stationmaster' seemed happy that he had someone to talk to and  invited me into his office. Our chatting was punctuated by a little 16XX Pannier wheezing through with a goods towards Penyffordd. Aboard the inevitable DMU, we passed a 56XX at Penyffordd on another freight and a Pannier simmering just north of Shotton high Level river bridge. I was just happy to be amongst ex GW engines and travelling back from Chester General to Abergele behind some LM Region engine or other was dull in comparison.  :) From this, you will realise I was never a number taker. Just a bloke who loved trains.

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Whatever the building is in the last picture, it was definitely not there in the 1950s (if my memory serves). 

 

I've been trying to orientate the view showing the 0-6-0 to the left. Is it coming across the top end of the Northgate triangle, heading towards the Wirral/N. Wales? If so, the building looks to be near the site of the GWR shed, beyond and lower than the route from Manchester to Northgate Station. If that's the case, the photographer is standing at the junction of Brook Lane and Victoria Road. I don't think the coal train would be coming from the Northgate Station, nor heading into it from Liverpool Road (which gives the other angles possible on the triangle). A puzzle indeed.

 

I wish you well with the project. Any pictures I took at Northgate were after your period, not long before the station was demolished. By then, the only services were DMUs. As you noted, articles of mine, 'A Cestrian's Urchin Tales', have appeared in BRILL over the last year or so, where I comment on my memories of Northgate in the '50s/'60s. As I recall, all Manchester trains used the nearer platform to the side entrance and all Wrexham/Wirral trains the further one. To begin with, D11s held sway on the former services and GC 4-4-2Ts and 0-6-2Ts on the latter. Then some LMS/BR Standard tanks appeared, before the arrival of the DMUs. The only 'big' engine I ever saw there was ROOKE, on a special off the Manchester road. After the DMUs took over almost exclusively, there was still a steam-hauled passenger train from Manchester which arrived in the early evening, consisting of six/seven LMS non-corridor carriages. The loco (either an Ivatt 2-6-0 43XXX, B1 or K3) would run into the station, the passengers would leave the train, then the stock would be propelled out by the loco, through the remains of Liverpool Road Station, across Parkgate Road and onto the section towards the Shropshire Union Canal. It would then cross over and take the top end of the triangle, cross the line to Birkenhead, then be propelled back into the station to depart. The shed had closed by then, and I assume any locos had enough coal/water to return. Since I lived in Cheyney Road from 1956/'57, my bedroom looked out over the college playing fields, so saw traffic on the line to the Wirral/N. Wales (too far away to see the numbers, though I'd seen them all already).

 

I hope this is of some little interest. 

Tony many thanks for your input into my continuing research and have to say that your two articles ' A Cestrain's Urchin Tales' have been so very useful to me in trying to piece together fading memories of my very early train spotting days. The whole scene at Chester Northgate and the Liverpool Road area was such a fascinating place to me as a small boy and I would spent what seemed like hours at my bedroom window watching trains going through the then closed Liverpool Road station as well as shunting movements around the triangle in Chester Northgate. The Chester West Junction signal box was right opposite the end of our garden in Abbot's Park beyond what was then allotments before it was turned into playing fields for the Queen's school junior department. 

post-5136-0-81608800-1438685657.jpg

This photo was taken from the end of our garden with a very old Brownie camera just wish I had taken more. You can see the new block at Chester College behind the houses in Moss Bank. The allotments have gone and the playing field has replaced them, at the bottom of the railway embankment there was a lane that ran from the Parkgate Road into Alan Morris's builders yard and this was used to store household coal which once came in by rail but I can only remember it being delivered in Alan Morris Foden wagons. ( Just as a matter of interest Alan Morris is still going and are based up near Buckley, their no longer builders merchants but are Hauliers of lime stone and wood chip. It has occurred to me that I should contact them to see if they have any old photographs of the old yard on Liverpool Road.)   I remember a friend of my parents told me that on market days a cattle train would be held in the sidings opposite the signal box in the early hours before being shunted into the goods yard at Northgate and the cattle would then be herded up St Anne Street and into the Cattle Market at the end of George Street.and Gorse Stacks.

You are quite right about the 0-6-0 (J10) which is just about to pass under Brook Lane bridge and into the small cutting between Liverpool Road bridge and into Liverpool Station.

post-5136-0-26588700-1438688894.jpg This is a picture looking east at Brook Lane bridge the loco would have been just beyond the bridge on the down line./the two lines on the right head towards Chester Northgate.

post-5136-0-91878800-1438688973.jpg and then once through the two bridges and into Liverpool Rd station site with Alan Morris yard on the right

post-5136-0-71052800-1438689108.jpg the up starter in the cutting between the two bridges was an interesting signal. The lower arm was for better sighting for drivers who had stopped in the station as the Liverpool Rd bridge would have blocked the view. I believe that when the station was open there was a footbridge on the west face of this bridge from the station building which was on the city side of Liverpool Rd. 

post-5136-0-29165400-1438689726.jpg When I walked to school passed this old station building in the winter there was always a big puddle about where the car is parked in the picture and I always seemed to be drawn to splash me way through it ....... oh the joys of childhood. 

 

post-5136-0-71121300-1438690291.jpg  post-5136-0-95392300-1438690307.jpg And this is what remains of the old Great Central avoiding line. It has since these pictures were taken been turned into a cycleway from Mickle Trafford to Conah's Quay. 

 

Going back to the water tower at Northgate Loco Depot it was quite a large expanse of land that the triangle occupied and I can understand you thinking that the building in the photograph might be part of the GWR depot at Chester General but hopefully the following map will show that the GWR depot was further to the left before the Birkenhead line passed beneath the CLC  line and Brook Lane (the Co-op Dairy used to be on the left just before the road started to climb on the approach the bridge and Chester East Junc signal box was on the embankment to the right hand side.)

post-5136-0-87470500-1438691379.jpg  The 0-6-0 (J10) loco in the picture would have been on the bottom left hand of the map just before Brook Lane bridge. The 1/4 mile post on the east curve from the station is just alongside the point work into the goods yard and depot where the Banana warehouse was alongside Trafford Street. 

 

Mentioning the Banana warehouse and the depot sidings reminds me that in your second article ' A Cestrain's Urchin Tales 2' you have a photograph of Gorton 04/3 63686 on Chester Northgate shed on Jan 1958 in the snow. In the write up about the photograph you mention that you could not remember where the goods shed was in relationship to the scene in the photograph well it would have been behind and to the right of the tank loco in the background and the building that rises behind the 'curious canopy' is the Banana warehouse. The following os map should orientate it for you .......................

post-5136-0-25496900-1438693328.jpg

 

Once again Tony many thanks for you help

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The work in progress looks well. I only caught a train into Northgate once when I decided to return from Wrexham via the GC 'top line' either 1963 or 1964. While there was much activity around Croes Newydd where I spent the afternoon, the Wrexham GC station gave the impression of a backwater and the 'stationmaster' seemed happy that he had someone to talk to and  invited me into his office. Our chatting was punctuated by a little 16XX Pannier wheezing through with a goods towards Penyffordd. Aboard the inevitable DMU, we passed a 56XX at Penyffordd on another freight and a Pannier simmering just north of Shotton high Level river bridge. I was just happy to be amongst ex GW engines and travelling back from Chester General to Abergele behind some LM Region engine or other was dull in comparison.  :) From this, you will realise I was never a number taker. Just a bloke who loved trains.

Like you good self I was never one for taking numbers I just enjoyed the sites and smell of the railway as it used to be ' back in the day'.

Wrexham Central station always seemed to be a very uncared for place right from the outset almost as if neither the GC or the GWR were never sure as to who was responsible for it's upkeep. But despite that it was an interesting place ........ how many other stations were shared by these two companies. It certainly would make an interesting model that might well cause a few comments. 

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Tony many thanks for your input into my continuing research and have to say that your two articles ' A Cestrain's Urchin Tales' have been so very useful to me in trying to piece together fading memories of my very early train spotting days. The whole scene at Chester Northgate and the Liverpool Road area was such a fascinating place to me as a small boy and I would spent what seemed like hours at my bedroom window watching trains going through the then closed Liverpool Road station as well as shunting movements around the triangle in Chester Northgate. The Chester West Junction signal box was right opposite the end of our garden in Abbot's Park beyond what was then allotments before it was turned into playing fields for the Queen's school junior department. 

attachicon.gifIMG_0001Chester West Junc signalbox (500x251).jpg

This photo was taken from the end of our garden with a very old Brownie camera just wish I had taken more. You can see the new block at Chester College behind the houses in Moss Bank. The allotments have gone and the playing field has replaced them, at the bottom of the railway embankment there was a lane that ran from the Parkgate Road into Alan Morris's builders yard and this was used to store household coal which once came in by rail but I can only remember it being delivered in Alan Morris Foden wagons. ( Just as a matter of interest Alan Morris is still going and are based up near Buckley, their no longer builders merchants but are Hauliers of lime stone and wood chip. It has occurred to me that I should contact them to see if they have any old photographs of the old yard on Liverpool Road.)   I remember a friend of my parents told me that on market days a cattle train would be held in the sidings opposite the signal box in the early hours before being shunted into the goods yard at Northgate and the cattle would then be herded up St Anne Street and into the Cattle Market at the end of George Street.and Gorse Stacks.

You are quite right about the 0-6-0 (J10) which is just about to pass under Brook Lane bridge and into the small cutting between Liverpool Road bridge and into Liverpool Station.

attachicon.gifIMG_0002Victoria Road overbridge looking west (500x325).jpg This is a picture looking east at Brook Lane bridge the loco would have been just beyond the bridge on the down line./the two lines on the right head towards Chester Northgate.

attachicon.gifIMG_0003Liverpool Road Station site (500x293).jpg and then once through the two bridges and into Liverpool Rd station site with Alan Morris yard on the right

attachicon.gifIMG_0001Up Starter signal with lower sighting arm (358x500).jpg the up starter in the cutting between the two bridges was an interesting signal. The lower arm was for better sighting for drivers who had stopped in the station as the Liverpool Rd bridge would have blocked the view. I believe that when the station was open there was a footbridge on the west face of this bridge from the station building which was on the city side of Liverpool Rd. 

attachicon.gifIMG_0001 Liverpool Road Station building (500x300).jpg When I walked to school passed this old station building in the winter there was always a big puddle about where the car is parked in the picture and I always seemed to be drawn to splash me way through it ....... oh the joys of childhood. 

 

attachicon.gifIMG_0005 (500x358).jpg  attachicon.gifIMG_0006 (500x341).jpg And this is what remains of the old Great Central avoiding line. It has since these pictures were taken been turned into a cycleway from Mickle Trafford to Conah's Quay. 

 

Going back to the water tower at Northgate Loco Depot it was quite a large expanse of land that the triangle occupied and I can understand you thinking that the building in the photograph might be part of the GWR depot at Chester General but hopefully the following map will show that the GWR depot was further to the left before the Birkenhead line passed beneath the CLC  line and Brook Lane (the Co-op Dairy used to be on the left just before the road started to climb on the approach the bridge and Chester East Junc signal box was on the embankment to the right hand side.)

attachicon.gifos map ChesterNorthgate 001 (489x500).jpg  The 0-6-0 (J10) loco in the picture would have been on the bottom left hand of the map just before Brook Lane bridge. The 1/4 mile post on the east curve from the station is just alongside the point work into the goods yard and depot where the Banana warehouse was alongside Trafford Street. 

 

Mentioning the Banana warehouse and the depot sidings reminds me that in your second article ' A Cestrain's Urchin Tales 2' you have a photograph of Gorton 04/3 63686 on Chester Northgate shed on Jan 1958 in the snow. In the write up about the photograph you mention that you could not remember where the goods shed was in relationship to the scene in the photograph well it would have been behind and to the right of the tank loco in the background and the building that rises behind the 'curious canopy' is the Banana warehouse. The following os map should orientate it for you .......................

attachicon.gifos map northgate loco depot 001 (347x500).jpg

 

Once again Tony many thanks for you help

Thanks so much for posting such interesting pictures.

 

You mention one of the bridges as being Brook Lane bridge. Don't you mean Victoria Road bridge? My memory is of Brook Lane coming off Liverpool Road and running parallel with the avoiding line at the Northgate, never crossing it. Obviously, it crossed the line to Birkenhead, but not the CLC. Ermine Road ran beneath the CLC off Brook Lane (at the crossroads with Dicksons - Dixons? - Drive) and it was then crossed by the bridges at Newton Lane, Newton Hollows, Mannings Lane and the A41 by-pass. 

 

Mention of Victoria Road reminds me of a teaching practice fortnight spent at the school there in the spring of 1968. I was in charge (under supervision) of an ESN Class (in those far off, politically-incorrect days, ESN stood for Educationally Sub-Normal, which these kids were!). Can you imagine such a title today for those not bright? The classroom was on the first floor, directly overlooking the cutting between the tunnels out of Chester General, and on one or two occasions a steam loco would pass through - some of the very last Black Fives in service. It also overlooked the Northgate Station. How much teaching or learning took place is questionable! 

 

But what a wonderful juxtaposition of different railways, all visible from the same spot. Only a few years before, locos of ex-LMS origin, ex-GWR origin and ex-LNER origin, plus the BR Standards, and even SR green carriages, all to be seen and enjoyed. Is Victoria Road School still standing, and, if it is, what railway views from its first floor windows are to be enjoyed now?

 

post-18225-0-22569600-1438696242_thumb.jpg

 

Out of possible interest, here's a shot I took later in 1968 of Chester Northgate. By now full yellow ends are present on the DMUs, and the Wrexham/Wirral half of the roof has gone. On the original print, the lower-quadrant CLC splitting signals for one way or the other are just visible. And, what about those cars?

 

Many thanks, again.

 

Best,

 

Tony.

 

PS. I once went out (for a very short time) with a girl who lived in Moss Bank, and had friends who lived in Abbot's Park! 

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Thanks so much for posting such interesting pictures.

 

You mention one of the bridges as being Brook Lane bridge. Don't you mean Victoria Road bridge? My memory is of Brook Lane coming off Liverpool Road and running parallel with the avoiding line at the Northgate, never crossing it. Obviously, it crossed the line to Birkenhead, but not the CLC. Ermine Road ran beneath the CLC off Brook Lane (at the crossroads with Dicksons - Dixons? - Drive) and it was then crossed by the bridges at Newton Lane, Newton Hollows, Mannings Lane and the A41 by-pass. 

 

Mention of Victoria Road reminds me of a teaching practice fortnight spent at the school there in the spring of 1968. I was in charge (under supervision) of an ESN Class (in those far off, politically-incorrect days, ESN stood for Educationally Sub-Normal, which these kids were!). Can you imagine such a title today for those not bright? The classroom was on the first floor, directly overlooking the cutting between the tunnels out of Chester General, and on one or two occasions a steam loco would pass through - some of the very last Black Fives in service. It also overlooked the Northgate Station. How much teaching or learning took place is questionable! 

 

But what a wonderful juxtaposition of different railways, all visible from the same spot. Only a few years before, locos of ex-LMS origin, ex-GWR origin and ex-LNER origin, plus the BR Standards, and even SR green carriages, all to be seen and enjoyed. Is Victoria Road School still standing, and, if it is, what railway views from its first floor windows are to be enjoyed now?

 

attachicon.gifDSC_2224.JPG

 

Out of possible interest, here's a shot I took later in 1968 of Chester Northgate. By now full yellow ends are present on the DMUs, and the Wrexham/Wirral half of the roof has gone. On the original print, the lower-quadrant CLC splitting signals for one way or the other are just visible. And, what about those cars?

 

Many thanks, again.

 

Best,

 

Tony.

 

PS. I once went out (for a very short time) with a girl who lived in Moss Bank, and had friends who lived in Abbot's Park! 

You are quite right Tony it was Victoria Road bridge , slip of the keyboard me thinks. Thanks for the picture of the front of the station ..... back in the time when British Leyland ruled our roads judging by the cars parked by the railings. 

 

Victoria Road school still stands to this day 'but not as you knew it' as the saying goes. It ceased being a council run school a long time ago and became a private school under the name of Abbeygate College which was a private school formed after the closure Merton House and Holly Bank school both of which were on Liverpool Rd. It became empty around 2007 and in 2008 was damaged by fire. 

post-5136-0-13217900-1438756845.jpg

The future of the building was in doubt for some considerable time even though it has listed building status and eventually in fairly resent times it has been turned into student accommodation for Chester University or the old Teacher Training College as you and I would remember it. 

 

Here's a some more photographs to bring back some memories for you Tony. 

post-5136-0-07511100-1438757383.jpg 

I mentioned in my earlier post about the cattle trains being unloaded at the goods yard and the cattle being herded down to Gorse Stacks cattle market well found this photograph of the streets around the station frontage. Have to say I'd forgotten how many house's were within area at the time, many of which have been pulled down now.

 

post-5136-0-40414100-1438757704.jpg      post-5136-0-90588000-1438757730.jpg

 

Here's a couple of pictures from about ten years ago of the Parkgate Rd over bridge looking east towards Chester which of course was at your end of the line if you lived in Cheyney Rd. The Junction signal post still stands to this day complete with the metal gantry alongside the cycleway. I little further down the line where it crossed the Shropshire Union Canal there is now an access down to the tow path. I will make a point in the near future of taking some up to date photographs of this area and will post them on this thread. 

Once again thanks for you input 

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he up starter in the cutting between the two bridges was an interesting signal. The lower arm was for better sighting for drivers who had stopped in the station as the Liverpool Rd bridge would have blocked

 

 

The post from this signal survived into the early 80s, I remember seeing it on several occasions when we walked from Upton-by-Chester into Chester (to try and photograph stuff on the depot)

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You are quite right Tony it was Victoria Road bridge , slip of the keyboard me thinks. Thanks for the picture of the front of the station ..... back in the time when British Leyland ruled our roads judging by the cars parked by the railings. 

 

Victoria Road school still stands to this day 'but not as you knew it' as the saying goes. It ceased being a council run school a long time ago and became a private school under the name of Abbeygate College which was a private school formed after the closure Merton House and Holly Bank school both of which were on Liverpool Rd. It became empty around 2007 and in 2008 was damaged by fire. 

attachicon.gif808875_3393f363 (500x373).jpg

The future of the building was in doubt for some considerable time even though it has listed building status and eventually in fairly resent times it has been turned into student accommodation for Chester University or the old Teacher Training College as you and I would remember it. 

 

Here's a some more photographs to bring back some memories for you Tony. 

attachicon.gifnewtownaerial60s (489x500).jpg

I mentioned in my earlier post about the cattle trains being unloaded at the goods yard and the cattle being herded down to Gorse Stacks cattle market well found this photograph of the streets around the station frontage. Have to say I'd forgotten how many house's were within area at the time, many of which have been pulled down now.

 

attachicon.gifliverpool road 001 (400x356).jpg      attachicon.gifliverpool road 002 (400x300).jpg

 

Here's a couple of pictures from about ten years ago of the Parkgate Rd over bridge looking east towards Chester which of course was at your end of the line if you lived in Cheyney Rd. The Junction signal post still stands to this day complete with the metal gantry alongside the cycleway. I little further down the line where it crossed the Shropshire Union Canal there is now an access down to the tow path. I will make a point in the near future of taking some up to date photographs of this area and will post them on this thread. 

Once again thanks for you input 

Terrific stuff once again, and many thanks.

 

The view of the school is most interesting, and there's my classroom top-left. I wish I'd carried a camera then!

 

The elevated view, I assume, must have been taken from the then-new block of flats in the area (do they still stand?). Though my near-70 year old memory is crumbling, is the large building beyond the station part of the Crossville garage, in Delamere Street? I thinks that's right because Pettit's (think that's the right spelling) funeral parlour used to be nearby. It was quite exclusive I believe (deceased members of my family were dealt with by the much cheaper Co-op in Hoole!) and an older friend (ex-trainspotter) worked as a pall-bearer there, part-time. The main street is St Anne's Street, leading down to Black Diamond Street. Do you remember Myra's Cafe in St Anne's Street? - everything cooked in grease! A mate used to live at the end of one of the cul-de-sac terraces running at right-angles from St Anne's Street towards the main line, right opposite the elevated 'box (Chester No. 6?). Occasionally we'd climb the fence and be really up close and personal with the WR traffic leaving the city!

 

Happy days indeed. 

 

Best of luck with the model. 

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Victoria Road school (courtesy of Bing maps)...

 

http://www.bing.com/maps/#Y3A9NTIuMzQ2NDAxfi0yLjA4OTcwMCZsdmw9NiZzdHk9ciZlbz0wJnE9VmljdG9yaWElMjBSb2FkJTJDJTIwQ2hlc3RlciUyQyUyMFVuaXRlZCUyMEtpbmdkb20=

(link may not work, so searching for CH2 2FD will find Majestic Wine just the other side of the railway lines)

 

If you scroll northwards, the signal post near Parkgate Road bridge is also visible on the 'bird's eye' views (though I wouldn't have known what it was without your close up photograph).

 

 

My son is currently at Chester University and uses the cycle path to commute to and from his accomodation which is near to another one of Tony's former addresses.

Edited by teaky
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The post from this signal survived into the early 80s, I remember seeing it on several occasions when we walked from Upton-by-Chester into Chester (to try and photograph stuff on the depot)

When I took the picture which must be well over ten years ago, maybe even longer before the cycle way had been established,  there was still a wooden stump within in under growth.The other thing that was still evident of the old railway system was a continual escape of water at the end of where the central platform ended This must have been the supply to the water tower crane in the photograph of the 9F in my earlier post. God knows who was picking up the bill for that  :O .... 

My parents moved from Abbot's Park not long after the line was finally lifted having been 'mothballed' for quite a long time. In fact I'm led to believe that the final nail in the coffin was because gipsy's where robbing lengths of track further up the line near the Hoole round about when they set up camp on the waste land which had been used be contractors building the M53 link road. Even though the line was under threat of closure at the time of the road construction a brand new under-pass was built as well as a new bridge between the Parkgate Rd and Blacon when a link road to Sealand Ind est / Retail Park was built. I can remember that the line's use was dependant on the steel flow from Ravenscraig and Shotton and trains did run after the road construction, but in the end all traffic was diverted via Wrexham even through it was a single line from Chester.  When we see what's going on today regarding the 'long loop' between Green Lane and Rossett the line should never have been lifted. 

I do have some pictures of a Class 56 running back empty through the Liverpool Rd station site somewhere I will post it if I can find it. I also have a cab video of a Class 56 travelling the line on' Scenes From A Working Cab' 1992-1997 Volume One produced by Trainman F.G. Publications of Warrington but unfortunately my copy is not playing that section I must see if I can get another copy.

 

As signalling would appear to be your interest here is a photograph of the remains of the gantry at the East Junction end of the triangle just as the line has crosses the Birkenhead line alongside Brook Lane. Chester East Junction signal box used to be on the right as the point work started the long sweeping curve into Northgate Station.     

 

post-5136-0-53250100-1438770547.jpg

 

Not sure when it was taken but I'm fairly certain it is a Class 24 which would have been allocated to Dee Marsh at the time which might give you a clue as to the date.

 

post-5136-0-60202900-1438771349.jpg

 

And this is how it used to be 'back in the day' .......

The lowered signal is indicating a clear run through to the station with the fixed distant the right hand arm of the bracket was for entry into the goods yard and those to the left were for the avoiding line to Dee Marsh . There really was a real mix of signals in this area as I'm sure you know.

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Victoria Road school (courtesy of Bing maps)...

 

http://www.bing.com/maps/#Y3A9NTIuMzQ2NDAxfi0yLjA4OTcwMCZsdmw9NiZzdHk9ciZlbz0wJnE9VmljdG9yaWElMjBSb2FkJTJDJTIwQ2hlc3RlciUyQyUyMFVuaXRlZCUyMEtpbmdkb20=

(link may not work, so searching for CH2 2FD will find Majestic Wine just the other side of the railway lines)

 

If you scroll northwards, the signal post near Parkgate Road bridge is also visible on the 'bird's eye' views (though I wouldn't have known what it was without your close up photograph).

 

 

My son is currently at Chester University and uses the cycle path to commute to and from his accomodation which is near to another one of Tony's former addresses.

Thanks for that one ... can clearly see the signal post in the birds eye view and also the new link pathway down to the canal which I'm sure your son must use to get to the University Campus on Cheyney Road. 

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Terrific stuff once again, and many thanks.

 

The view of the school is most interesting, and there's my classroom top-left. I wish I'd carried a camera then!

 

The elevated view, I assume, must have been taken from the then-new block of flats in the area (do they still stand?). Though my near-70 year old memory is crumbling, is the large building beyond the station part of the Crossville garage, in Delamere Street? I thinks that's right because Pettit's (think that's the right spelling) funeral parlour used to be nearby. It was quite exclusive I believe (deceased members of my family were dealt with by the much cheaper Co-op in Hoole!) and an older friend (ex-trainspotter) worked as a pall-bearer there, part-time. The main street is St Anne's Street, leading down to Black Diamond Street. Do you remember Myra's Cafe in St Anne's Street? - everything cooked in grease! A mate used to live at the end of one of the cul-de-sac terraces running at right-angles from St Anne's Street towards the main line, right opposite the elevated 'box (Chester No. 6?). Occasionally we'd climb the fence and be really up close and personal with the WR traffic leaving the city!

 

Happy days indeed. 

 

Best of luck with the model. 

Tony don't for one minute say your 'memory is crumbling' it might well be like mine and is playing tricks but not crumbling .......

 

Pettit's Funeral parlour was on Delamere street next to the black and white pub on the corner in the photograph.The Newtown Tower blocks are still standing in fact they have just been re-furbished over the last couple of years and I believe are quite ' desres' now. What a shock to the City of Chester they were when they were built....... certainly gave the 'Fur coat and no nickers brigade' something to talk about. The large building beyond the station next door to the Pub (The name of which escapes me)  was a works in the early years but I can remember it being the parts department for Quicks of Chester the Ford agents during the mid seventies as I made many visits to purchase bits for my old Ford Escort mk1 I always remember that there was always lots of Crosville buses parked on the station forecourt in those days. Beyond that was the railway cutting which Victoria Road school overlooked then to the right of the school gates was a small warehouse called 'Tremblets' who was the local Sweet wholesaler.  (No wonder you had an ESN class in that school they were full of 'E' numbers.... :jester:)  this small warehouse was surrounded at the back by the Crosville Bus Depot. then there was Abbot's Nook which turned into a passageway that brought you out onto Liverpool Road opposite The George and Dragon. I had a part time job as a barman in there during the holidays when I was at college and I always remember a chap called Derek Draper who was a striker for Chester City was always in there drinking Guinness by the pint ....no wonder they were always in the fourth division. 

 

post-5136-0-48843500-1438775411.jpg

 

You can see the Crosville Depot in the background of this shot of 41215 which is just by the turntable and beyond the bunker of the loco one can just see the trainshed of the station. 

Yes I do remember the cafe in St Anne's Street a real greasy spoon in the true meaning of the term which was always full of smoke from the cooking and the number of ciggies that were smoked in there. Black Diamond Street ..... now there's a name to put the fear of God into any young lad...... run down terrace houses's down one side of the street and a stark blackened brick wall down the other side punctuated with gate ways into coal merchants, scrap dealers and places of dodgy dealings ........ not a area to linger for long if you cared for you life ......   :scared:

As you rightly say Happy Days.  

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  • 3 months later...
  • 2 months later...

Finally having completed the new 'man cave' and sorted out the workshop I am finally able to turn my attentions to some modelling after nearly three years of frustration that a move to a new home can involve. The Northgate loco shed layout has come out of storage from the lounge and once I had unpacked it from it's protective 'coffin' and set it up I was faced with the task of trying to remember which part of the wiring I had completed and what was still to be completed. It's surprising even though I had made wiring notes how one forgets over time what wire goes where. Once that had been sorted I was faced with the job of remembering which of my locomotives I had converted to DCC and and which ones were still DC operation, at least I did remember that I had not set individual loco numbers for the DCC converted ones which were all still on factory settings. I must make a log of each loco when this has been completed. 

As I have mentioned earlier on in this thread the construction of this shed layout was just as a test bed for what was to come and I wasn't sure if I should spend any more time with the completion of this project as I was going to re-use to buildings on the Northgate layout and had designed the baseboards to be re-used for an 0 gauge shunting layout in the future. Now I had put the layout up after all this time I feel that It's worth keeping as it will make a good test track for the locomotives as I detail and weather them as well as the stock. So here's a few pictures from this weeks running sessions.  

 

post-5136-0-71048100-1453077652_thumb.jpg

 

N5 Locomotive on its home shed

 

post-5136-0-14487400-1453077736_thumb.jpg

 

C13  N5 on shed while the 84000 tank waits to be turned.

 

post-5136-0-47850900-1453077794_thumb.jpg

 

N5 over one of the Ash pits dropping it's fire 

 

post-5136-0-12279400-1453077866_thumb.jpg

 

A Birkenhead 9F dropping it's fire prior to urgent attention in the shed. 

 

Some of you might have noticed a slight flicker of light beneath the loco's over the ash pit which is some of the effects that I intend to put into the layout. It was an idea that crossed my mind while I was building the canopy over the main Ash Pit which was constructed during the world years so that the glowing ashes could not be seen by German aircraft .

 

One job that I will have to completed is the fiddle yard for this layout which is only a small job due to the fact that it's mainly only light engine movements that will take place apart from the flow of traffic into small Northgate Brewery which I have added just as a scenic break for the end of the layout ... well it's different and it's better than a bridge  :senile: Steam & Beer what an excellent combination.

 

post-5136-0-36872000-1453079613_thumb.jpg

 

Another shot of the 9F but this time you can see the firebox flicker function beneath the canopy. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Hi just found this. A great layout and lots of progress. Really like the ash pit flicker, cracking idea and really adds an element to the layout. You can almost smell it!

 

Cheers,

 

John

Thanks for your kind comments John I do like the grim and run down parts of the railway in the late fifties / early sixties, unloved and uncared for but still functioning ...... 

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Looking very good Martin, Glad its up and ALMOST running, its far to good a project to scrap. All the best and looking forward to a PLAY on it next time I'm in Wales.

Thanks Andy. Its part of the' Bigger' :declare: picture as it were and it does make a good test track mainly because it gives me some idea of how a particular loco is going to operate on SMP track and hand built point work and as to if my modelling ability is up to building a large layout  :senile:

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One thing that I have realised with this new shed is that because I made the decision to build the work shop separate from the main layout area there is a lot of backwards and forwards between the two for tools and bits and pieces. It did go through my mind whilst I was building the shed and I considered putting an internal door between the two areas, but I was wanting a clear run around the room for the layout. I have been searching around the internet for a portable work bench for a couple of weeks now and have seen some rather useful items which would do the job but at a price and I'm talking not having much change out of a grand. So the other day I starting thinking about making my own custom built workbench and today I have be a busy bee and am glad to report it's completed and ready for action  :declare:

 

post-5136-0-62352700-1453229828.jpgpost-5136-0-96988900-1453229859.jpg

                                                 post-5136-0-37674600-1453229884.jpg

 

Well its probably not as swish and designer as some of the ones that I saw on the internet but is strong, will fit underneath the layout and do the job required but big plus it cost the massive sum of £12   :sungum: and that was for some bolts to fix the wheel castors on which I did not have in stock. 

The main frame is made of 4x2 timber off cuts from the shed build , the top is an off cut from a kitchen I build years ago, and the rest came from my pile of

' I might need that one day' (come on we've all got one)

 

 

 

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