For a light rail line, the track carried some heavy loads through to Bromborough Dock - my father remembered very well the USATC 2-8-0 locomotives hauling frieght on the route c1944 approaching D-Day time.
My grandparents lived at Magazine Village (where McTays shed is now), and I well remember the little green diesels (there always seemed to be one parked on the embankment at Spital Dam too) and the Signal Box at Port Rainbow on Stadium Road. I'd love to see photos of the railway as it was in this area - most of them seem to be of the Port Sunlight end. Incidently, I've just found out that 'Princess Margaret' of the fleet has survived, and is currently on the Spa Valley Railway - see Spa Valley - Princess Margaret
As 8HBob says, the line was relaid (in the event, temporarily) in the late 80's. I had thoughts of a new model railway based on the line at the time, so I took a few photos showing some of the details I wanted to model (the model never happened). The timing of the photographs coincided with the relaying operations, and I thought they may be of interest, if just to illustrate how much the area has changed. There are 10 of them, so I'll put them up in blocks of 3 or 4:
Sitting on a cornflake, waiting for the van to come.
Thanks for putting up those photo's Billy,great as I can only find a handfull on the net,Still had the old telegraph poles there aswell, how railways used to look to me as a child in the 70S/80s,thanks again.
You're welcome Eruption - glad you found them interesting. Agree about Town being a good bet for a model too - I've thought that myself a few times. There are some great threads on here about the areas you mention - just got to have a trawl though them - here are two links to pictures full of atmosphere around the Green Lane Junc/Mollington St area to start with: Blackpool St Box 1 and
Brilliant,only ever seen two or three trains in my life on the dock branch,as a kid I always thought it was disused, the green lane end anyway, wish i had gotten to see more of these areas, especially green lane/mollington street depot. Always remember going to woodside station when it was in use as a car park and you could still see remains of the platform tiles on the surface, my dad walked us over to the tunnel mouth which was still unblocked at the time and we had a quick look in, wish i had photos of all that. Also used to go to mfi in bidston alot with my parents and used to watch the class 25 etc coming from bidston dock.Thanks again, I'll stop rambling on now ha.
As a kid I lived on Bromborough Road, towards Lower Beb village, and spent quite a lot of time, '40s and '50s, up this bank opposite the Goods Office, watching the Barclay saddle tanks shunting a few feet away. It was quite impressive, being down at wheel level and hanging on to the railings. Alas, no camera in those days! Bri
Funny how you can bump into reasons for things years after observing it, even if the observation didn’t seem particularly significant in the first place!
Back in December 2011, there was a discussion regarding Eastham here on WikiWirral (see Eastham Thread ) In the reply at post #641654, the following quotes can be found:
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The map is interesting too, in that it shows a definate 'path' for the electricity pylons (the dotted lines) away from any buildings (well, apart from Carlett Farm, that is) - not like now, when they'll build anything underneath them, as PaulTaters mentioned in his 9th Dec post on the Eastham topic:
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but did notice a 132kV distribution pylon very conspicuous by its presence sandwiched between two semi-detached houses.
I think I may have stumbled across the answer as to why there is a 'path' for these pylons (i.e. no houses around them) from an RCTS book on ‘The Birkenhead Railway’ (T.B.Maund 2001 - ISBN : 090 1115 878)- there is a passage in the book which states:
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In 1928-29, the Lever organisation spent £58,000 on 200 acres of land in the Eastham area with a view to extending the Bromborough Port line for over two miles, crossing the A41 trunk road just north of Eastham village and running alongside the main line for about a third of a mile before joining it at Hooton Station. The final parcel of land was bought in 1932 and the scheme was under serious consideration throughout the 1930s. It was also agreed that pylons from the proposed Bromborough Power Station should run alongside it, and this, in fact, was the only part of the plan which came to pass, as the outbreak of war resulted in it being shelved. After the war, the proposed railway was included in the Development Plan for Cheshire and it was not until 1960 the scheme was abandoned and the land sold for housing
Despite being brought up in Eastham, I never heard anything about this proposal, and it certainly would have been an interesting addition to Wirral’s railway scene! I wonder how the railway was supposed to cross the A41 – a bridge over/or under? Hopefully not a level crossing!
Does anyone have the continuation maps at the scale of that which I've attached below so we can see the rest of the pylon route to Hooton, or is anyone able to share more detail on the scheme itself?
Sitting on a cornflake, waiting for the van to come.
I notified Wirral Council about this cycle path being flooded for the past few months, at the section that goes under Thermal Rd / Stadium road at the end of Magazine Road.
Not holding my breath as have reported it in the past and nothing has been done, although i am admittedly assuming it is council owned.
