masmodels1

I was really interested to read about your layout based on the MSLR and CL railways out of Chester Northgate. I have long been fascinated by these lines, probably this is as a result of my Nain's house at 18, Moss Bank which overlooked the line by the old Liverpool Road Station. My early recollections of hearing the roar of trains approaching and racing to the upstairs window of the front bedroom to view class 40s and later double coupled class 20's pulling freight trains to and from Shotton. I was lucky in that my Aunt and Uncle also lived in a house adjoining Croes Newydd Depot in Wrexham, there I got to see lots of blue diesels there, this being the 1970s and very early 1980s. Until I saw books such as that by Paul Bolger and the North West Rail Centre's by Rex Christiansen I only had one family photo taken by my Dad of the view from the window minus train! I depended on the descriptions of my Nain and Dad to conjour up an image of the buildings! It was only today seeing your picture of the station concourse - if we can call it that- on Liverpool Road that I now know what it looked like. My Dad had said it was nondescript! I wonder why it wasn't of a similar standard to that at Blacon and Sealand? I have searched far and wide for plans or images of buildings on this line. The NRM has nothing and National Archives claim to have nothing. Do you know if perhaps other images exist of the other elevations of this building? As an aside the National Library of Wales has a number of Railway plans some of which relate to the old GCR lines both in Wales and England. Here is one example: [Plan showing the central line of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway, Chester to Connah's Quay branch, from Chester to Little Saughall] [cartographic material]. 1st ed. Scale 1:2,500. ca. 1873 Available at NLW South MAP (PIERCY (COOK) Piercy (Cook) 316 035/5 ) They are often in the Piercy Cook or Piercy Fraser collections of archives and drawings. Again thank you for posting such interesting information and images.