Basford Hall tunnel

[Bevan Price]

There was a SE - S curve dropping down under the mainline but appears to be through a skew bridge, rather than a tunnel:

http://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/maps/...EMap&zoom=8&layer=3&markers=53.07930,-2.42690,

Did the line on a railtour once. A long time ago, but I don't remember a tunnel, just a long bridge under the WCML.

 

[ole man]

So you have solved the mystery for me, i just need a picture now, thank you

 

[The 39 Steps]

As you travel south along the UF past the LNWR Carriage Shed (the one with the large signs telling you how far it is to Liverpool and also to Glasgow) you have the Up Through Siding between you and the carriage shed. At the south end of the shed the seven tracks within the said shed join up with the Up Through Siding. Before they all join, and on the Alsager side of the line, you will see a black pipe about 18 inches in diameter and about a chain long. The middle 16 or so yards of this pipe is level with the ground and is about 18 inches high. On either side of the level pipework is are black girder-like steel beams and the beams have black plating joining their tops and therefore covering the pipe. For about three yards at either end the pipe slopes into the ground. This structure was on top of the opening for the line where it passed under the WCML. On the downside I am told that the formation is still largely identifiable amongst the trees. At present I do not know if there is any other brickwork/metalwork etc identifiable at the opening on the downside.

 

[ole man]

Can you see it form the road access into LNWR?

 

[The 39 Steps]

Unfortunately not, the structure I described lies some eight to ten yards from the WCML's UF.

 

[iandelg]

There is a photo, not of the bridge/tunnel entrance unfortunately, but taken from the top of it looking back towards Basford Hall in "Rail Centres: Crewe" by Rex Christiansen (pub. Ian Allan / Booklaw).

Ian

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

If you click on this http://maps.cheshire.gov.uk/tithemaps/TwinMaps.aspx?township=EDT_129-2
you get the OS maps at various dates.
The underpass we are discussing is on the 1910 map and the 1970s aerial photo.
It seems to originate at "Flying Junction Bridge" in 1910.
You can switch between maps and zoom in and out.

This Cheshire Archives site is for the old tithe maps c1840, but it's great for comparing infrastructure changes over the years.

 

[paulb1973]

If you click on this http://maps.cheshire.gov.uk/tithemaps/TwinMaps.aspx?township=EDT_129-2
you get the OS maps at various dates.
The underpass we are discussing is on the 1910 map and the 1970s aerial photo.
It seems to originate at "Flying Junction Bridge" in 1910.
You can switch between maps and zoom in and out.

This Cheshire Archives site is for the old tithe maps c1840, but it's great for comparing infrastructure changes over the years.

I'm switching between the 'Aerial 2000' and 'Aerial 1970s' photographs - albeit from a great height [1:9600] the line seems to have disappeared completely between those time periods (though it ties in with 1984 closure date). The curve appears to leave in a north-westerly direction but then heads in a south-westerly direction and dives under the WCML, forming a sort of triangle of lines. It connects in with the Basford Hall Yard running lines, though not sure exactly which one.

I keep looking at the WCML in the 1970s images - there are three, four or more sidings alongside and immediately to the right of the main lines (just as the curve dives under the WCML). They are clearly electrified and an end 'portal mast' can be seen - do these sidings remain in-situ today?