Blog- Meadow Lane, MSC Railway in P4 - Sunday supplement...

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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.

 

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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?

 

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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.

 

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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.

 

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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.

 

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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.

 

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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!

 

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