THE SALT SIDING

The Salt Siding in 1969 ( the track nearest the camera). The points are for additional sidings used to store salt and chemical trucks when Middlewich Station Yard was full. The black inverted 'v' shape to the left is the canopy over the loading bay at Seddon's Salt Works (run jointly with Simpson's, the salt packing and merchandising firm which shared the premises). The connection which can just be seen beneath this went off to serve Murgatroyd's Salt Works and the old Brunner Mond/ICI alkali works. Beyond the bridge just visible in the far distance is the site of Middlewich Station.

Although the line between Sandbach and Middlewich looks as though it might, at one time, have been double-tracked, appearances are deceptive.
There is double track, electrified for part of its length, at the Sandbach end of the line which once served Murgatroyd's Chemical works at Tetton (latterly Brenntag and now largely demolished) but the 'second line' seen here is actually a long siding, installed in the early 20th century, which once ran from Middlewich Station all the way to Tetton to serve the Middlewich Salt Company's works (later to become Cerebos Salt), with connections to other works, as noted above.
British Salt Ltd, which opened in 1969 next to the Cerebos works is still served by a rail connection from the.Sandbach direction, although this is currently not being used.
The legacy left by the now lifted Salt Siding - i.e. the wide formation between Sandbach and Middlewich - gives us the tantalising possibility of a double track railway between the two towns one day, should traffic demand it.
Our sister site, the Middlewich Diary, carried a couple of articles on the Salt Siding last year:

THE SALT SIDING (1)
THE SALT SIDING (2)