MIDDLEWICH DIVERSIONS MARCH 16th 2014

Virgin diversion near Croxton Lane, August 2013

Andrew Macfarlane of our parent organisation MCRUA writes:

I've just received my latest copy of Branch Line News, the journal of the Branch Line Society and it mentions that Virgin Trains are diverting passenger trains via Middlewich on Sunday 16th March. The trains involved are the 11.54, 12.40, 13.50 and 14.35 from Chester and the 10.02 from Crewe.

Andrew    

Here are the train timings (courtesy of Railforum):

Train no 1A27

Holyhead 10.08, Middlewich 12.31 (from Northwich)

Train no 1A35

Holyhead 11.00, Middlewich 13.20 (from Northwich)

Train no 1A43

Holyhead 12 noon, Middlewich  14.32 (from Northwich)

Train no 1A 51

Holyhead 13.00, Middlewich 15.14 (from Northwich)

Train no 1D83

Crewe 10.02, Middlewich 10.21 (from Sandbach)

Full details of all timings from Railforum:

RAILFORUM LINK

PHOTOS BY DAVID HAWKES AND GLEN LEIGH

BANNER MAKES ITS DEBUT

Photo: CLIFF ASTLES

MAJOR UPDATE TO THE DISUSED STATIONS SITE MIDDLEWICH ENTRY

Middlewich Station in 1963, three years after closure to passengers  Photo: H B Priestley

Subterranea Britannica's excellent site on disused British railway stations has updated its section on the old 1867/8 LNWR station in Middlewich and now provides many more photographs (including one of ours!) of the station  and its environs both in the past and in the present day, together with examples of tickets for journeys on the line, maps and timetables and a lot more information.

There's also a very valuable link back to this site for those wanting to read more about the re-opening campaign.

If we can get permission to 'borrow' some of these photographs, it will give us the opportunity to explain more about how the railway scene in Middlewich used to be and how the station was built and adapted over the years to cater for the town's needs including the carriage of livestock and, of course, salt.

Middlewich Station  in 2005 during construction of housing on the site of the station yard. Photo: Paul Wright

It's remarkable that in the second decade of the 21st Century the site of Middlewich Station is still so easily recognisable. This is partly because of the continuing existence of the Middlewich loop (hence the two tracks seen here) and the huge amount of infrastructure needed for the new signalling system which had been installed not long before Paul Wright took this picture.

DISUSED STATIONS: MIDDLEWICH

Other updates to the disused stations site mean that we can, for the first time, take a look at the Sandbach-Middlewich-Northwich line's only other 'stations' - Billinge Green Halt (near Davenham) and Cledford Bridge Halt (adjacent to the road bridge in Cledford Lane),

BILLINGE GREEN HALT

CLEDFORD BRIDGE HALT

UNUSUAL VISITORS TO THE MIDDLEWICH BRANCH 1998

Seen entering the Middlewich passing loop on Saturday February 28th 1998 is this Pathfinder Railtour headed by  unusual motive power. The Type 73 electro-diesel is a kind of hybrid loco which can operate over electrified lines but also has its own diesel engine for use on other lines.

Most Type 73's are to be found on what was once BR's Southern Region, where they can take advantage of the electrified lines in that area, as the on-board diesel engine is  less powerful than the loco's electric traction motors.
This makes it quite rare for them to be seen in this area.
There are a few examples, however, not too far away on Merseyrail, which runs trains in the Merseyside and Wirral area and has been operated by several different companies over the years.
The leading loco appears to be in a former Merseyrail livery (although, at first glance, it looks strikingly similar to the notorious Middlewich UDC 'tangerine and delft blue' livery of the early 70s which our sister site, the Middlewich Diary showed us here.)
The second loco is in plain old BR Blue.
There's a bit of a mystery about the name of the train itself, as displayed on the green headboard on the front of the leading loco.
We've enlarged it as best we can, but still can't make a guess at a name for the train which sounds likely.

It appears to say something like 'THE HEN HAM'.

Does anyone know what this might mean? Or are we reading it wrongly? If so, what does it actually say? All information gratefully received.

If you've followed the Middlewich Campaign saga to any extent you'll know already that the train in our picture is passing the proposed site for the new Middlewich station.

The scene has changed somewhat over the years, with many track and signalling improvements on the branch, but this view, at the southern end of the Middlewich loop, remains a favourite for photographers of movements between Sandbach, Middlewich and Northwich.

MIDDLEWICH STATION 1965

Photo courtesy of Frank Smith and Bill Eaton

This photograph and article also appear on our sister site, The Middlewich Diary

by Dave Roberts
This photograph recently found its way back to the Middlewich Station site by way of Bill Eaton, who was given a lot of material written and collected by the late Frank Smith of Ravenscroft, an early contributor to the Middlewich Heritage Society and its Newsletter.
Bill has been passing on various bits of material for publication on the Middlewich Diary and MRLC websites, rightly thinking that it would be of interest to readers of both.
I was intrigued when he emailed this photo to me, with my own handwriting on the bottom giving details of its origin.
Obviously, in the early years of the Heritage Society, when I was editing the MHS Newsletter, I must, at some point, have given Frank this photo for his records.
This would have been sometime in the mid-late1980s.
The somewhat dubious quality of the picture betrays its origins as a photocopy of an original photograph by Alan Wilkinson, who lived in Middlewich in the 1960s and is well known as a railway photographer and author.
It came originally from a book called The Stanier 8F 2-8-0 published by D Bradford Barton and the Stanier 8F Loco Society, and the original caption for the photo reads:

'Saturday afternoon bustle on a Cheshire by-way.

Crewe South's recently outshopped 48505 (D44)

slows for a brisk tablet exchange at Middlewich,

heading the 12.25 Stanlow -Egginton Junction

tanks in January 1965.'

Railway enthusiasts will, of course, have little need for any explanation, but for the layman/woman, here are some explanatory notes:

The engine shown here is, as indicated, a Stanier 8F - a very common type of  engine on the Middlewich line in the 1960s and 1970s, when freight traffic was very heavy.
One very important type of traffic was oil, which came from Stanlow via the West Cheshire route from Helsby to Mouldsworth on the Mid-Cheshire line* and then via Northwich and  Middlewich  to Sandbach and (until 1971) along the Sandbach-Kidsgrove line  to the Stoke area without having to pass through Crewe.
The 'tablet exchange' is the handing over of the token which enabled the train to travel over the single line section from Northwich to Middlewich. The signalman can be seen with his arm out of the signal box window, ready to take the token from the engine driver.
Note the water tower on the left, and the familiar MIDDLEWICH sign on the signal box.
This sign is now in the possession of the MRLC Committee, having been retrieved from Uttoxeter.
Its story is told here.

* the official title of MCRUA's Middlewich sub-committee (the Middlewich Rail Link Campain), which aims to build a new Middlewich Station and introduce a new passenger service from Crewe to Manchester via Sandbach, Middlewich and Northwich, is the Middlewich & West Cheshire Committee.
The West Cheshire line has been lifted, but the trackbed is protected and we keep an eye on the route with a view to its possible re-instatement in the future

Very belated thanks to ERF Ltd for very much unauthorised photocopying facilities.

QUITE LIKE OLD TIMES

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS

Before a spade has been turned controversy is already raging over the coalition government's plans for HS2, the High Speed Route linking London and the North, the northern section of which passes very close to Middlewich indeed. MRLC member Dr Peter Hirst wrote to the Northwich, Winsford & Middlewich Guardian pointing out the advantages of the scheme and soon had the anti-HS2 protesters in full cry.
Among the replies to Dr Hirst's letter was one from a certain Mr  Alan Langley and, in the grand old Middlewich Rail Link Campaign tradition, we couldn't resist replying. - Ed

HS2 WILL BRING IN THE REVENUE (DR HIRST'S ORIGINAL LETTER)

From Alan Langley:

I NOTE in last week’s paper Dr Peter Hirst, for whom I have admiration, is airing views on the benefits of going ahead with this money gobbler, HS2.

Whilst Dr Hirst acknowledges that it is going to cost a ‘pot of gold’ to initiate this project, and says it will save us all money in saving on taxes the construction will generate with jobs etc, who does he think will be paying taxes to build it in the first place?

It is estimated it will cost up to £80 billion to build.

Even today the Institute of Directors (IOD) has questioned the monetary return.

Virgin Train taking advantage of the ballast. PHOTO: GLEN LEIGH
This photograph is copyright and cannot be used without the photographer's permission

Whilst I agree that more needs to be done to get freight on the rails, and tourist trade is all very good, but, apart from the well-heeled tourists and anyone who can claim back the cost of a ticket estimated to be in the region of #400. In the words of Lionel Bart's musical Oliver, Who Will Buy This Wonderful Morning?

Dr Hirst states the time and savings in carbon footprint are well worth saving. If you can only get on it at certain stations such as Manchester how much time and carbon footprint will that extend by people having to travel say to Manchester and grid lock in the town?

He says local network rail can be improved with an improved localised rail structure – will priority be given to the HS2 where lines converge putting local rail to the back burner?

Dr Hirst does not mention leaves on the line and other general hold-ups due to broken down trains and engineering works?

Currently the Flying Scotsman in its centenary year still holds the speed record of over 120 mph, so whether you are in favour or not of construction going ahead let’s hope the writer along with the rest of us has deep pockets.

I suspect the writer is unaware when I used to work in King Street, that the Middlewich branch line, he endeavours to reopen, had to be constantly re- ballasted just to maintain it for freight use.

Localised employment will be minimal any sensible constructor will have a national gang of rail construction workers who will just move along the country as the project if undertaken.

True there maybe some hotel type employment created close to the construction/West Coast line but even this will be short-lived and when the high speed line is operational who will want to stay in a local hotel along the line anyway?

With the IOD questioning construction – will this be a fast track to recovery?

The outstanding debt on the privatised M6 is in millions – would a full line ever be completed if costs spiral, or would it run out of steam and turn this dream into a nightmare burdening future generations to come with debt for years?

Alan Langley,  Middlewich

MRLC's reply:

I'm a little confused by the part of Mr Langley's letter which refers to the Middlewich Branch Line. 
He 'suspects' that Dr Hirst is 'unaware' that the Branch line 'had to be constantly re-ballasted just to maintain it for freight use'.
I can tell you that Dr Hirst, like any intelligent person, is aware that the Middlewich line, like every other railway line, has to be re-ballasted from time to time. 
Mr Langley's use of the word 'constantly' is very misleading, conjuring up as it does visions of gallant teams of platelayers furiously battling to keep the line open and re-ballasting away like Trojans in a race against time.
The more prosaic truth is that, like every other railway line, the Middlewich Branch is re-ballasted as and when necessary. 
And it is not being maintained just for freight use, either. It's an integral part of the West Coast Main Line and is maintained to a very high standard for the use of diverted passenger trains.
Mr Langley's reference to the Flying Scotsman is also puzzling. 
For his information, regular steam traction ceased on the network in 1968, so what relevance this iconic loco has to the discussion of HS2 is anybody's guess.
And, far be it from me to accuse anyone of a basic 'schoolboy error', but surely any schoolboy (even today) knows that the speed record for steam traction is held by Mallard'and not the Scotsman?
I can assure Mr Langley and the other 'anti-HS2' correspondents in your pages that Dr Hirst is a very intelligent man, and very thorough in his research. 
I am not going to enter into this particular bear-pit, but I too have read all the arguments for and against HS2.
Wild horses, however, wouldn't drag my opinion from me at this stage.

 Dave Roberts, Chairman, Middlewich Rail Link Campaign.

With many thanks to the

VIRGIN PASSENGER WORKINGS IN MIDDLEWICH

Photograph Courtesy of GLEN LEIGH PHOTOGRAPHY
Please note that this image is copyright and cannot be used without the permission of the photographer

At the last meeting of the MRLC Committee in July mention was made of the fact that a Virgin ECS (empty coaching stock) train was running through Middlewich every Saturday morning until the first week of September.
We considered this an excellent opportunity to get hold of some up-to-date photos showing modern passenger stock on the line and issued an appeal to local photographers for shots of this train in and around Middlewich.

These pictures are the very satisfactory result of that appeal.

(Above) While out gathering photos on the 10th August  Glen Leigh had the brilliant idea of obtaining a shot which  includes that most potent of all Middlewich symbols, St Michael & All Angels church, with the train in the foreground.

This, to our knowledge, is the first time a train passing through the town has ever been photographed from this particular angle.

The shot would have been impossible before the late 60s/early 70s because, until that time, the view of the background, and the church, was obscured by the red-brick structure of Seddon's/Simpson's Salt Works in Brooks Lane.
The crumbling brick building to the right is one of the last remnants of that particular part of Middlewich's industrial heritage.
It's what used to be Seddon's railway wagon repair shop and to its left once stood the loading bay where block and ground salt were loaded onto railway trucks for despatch along the salt siding and onto the Middlewich branch for eventual delivery all over the railway network.
Glen's photo also gives us  a glimpse of some of the buses belonging to one of the many firms which now occupy the old salt works site.

Just visible above the roof of the old repair shop is the slender spire of the chapel in Middlewich cemetery.

More modern industry can be seen in the shape of the ubiquitous 'green sheds' in Brooks Lane - one of them housing Dutton's Aggregates.

The train has just passed signal no MS3737 (the 'MS' denoting that it is controlled from Manchester South). This is one of the signals installed on the line a few years ago as part of the Manchester South resignalling scheme.
This controversial scheme cost a fortune to introduce and engineer and caused months of delays to services on the Crewe-Manchester line before it could be made to work properly, but it is a token of the importance of the Middlewich branch that it was included in the scheme.
Like many modern signals this one is vastly over-engineered, with an elaborate ladder and safety cage for any signal technician who may need to attend to it.
A little further up the line and out of shot to the right is the proposed site for the new Middlewich Station just south of the Holmes Chapel Road (or 'station') bridge.

The week before, on August 3rd, Peter Cross ventured a little further out of town to get this classic 'train in the landscape' shot of the train heading towards Northwich and passing fields just off Croxton Lane. The parched condition of the grass on the field and the railway embankment are evidence of the heatwave which the country was experiencing at the time.

A little further down the line the train is about to cross the bridge taking the branch line over Croxton Lane, which links Chester Road with King Street and is now part of one of the main routes between Middlewich and Northwich. A simple picture of a train crossing a bridge; something which happens thousands of times a day all over the country and passes unnoticed, but, as we battle on with our campaign to bring back this most civilised form of transport to Middlewich, a picture which means a lot to our town and its hopes for the future.

And in this shot, which must have been taken only a second or so later, Peter's judicious use of spot colour in the processing highlights the train's Virgin livery - a livery which, if the privatisation process hadn't fallen to pieces when re-franchising time came around, would by now have been well on its way into history.

Many thanks to Glen and Peter for these superb and historic photographs.