Another loss in the name of progress.
During this weeks blockade, (Whit week 2009) the centre road at Stoke Station is being removed. Back in the annals of time, there were two, but electrification gantries now occupy the space of the former 'down' facility. I believe the reality of what's happening is subtly different, it's actually the up platform road, Platform 1 (the one in the foreground) which is going as the platform is being enlarged to align with what is the through road here. I hear that it should provide for longer trains, and allow a few seconds worth of time saving on Manchester London Services... (does anyone care about the latter?). Personally, I would have thought that such a 'by pass' would have been invaluable, but I suppose greater brains than mine have given the matter some consideration.
Anyway, back in the early eighties, a class 37 shakes the foundations as it trundles though on a Shelton Rolling Mill (Etruria) - Lackenby steel working. Needless to say Shelton steelworks has since closed too, and I don't suppose it will be that long before the nearby retail park encroaches onto the last remaining part of the site, as it did when the steel making facility ended.
Another loss in the name of progress.
During this weeks blockade, (Whit week 2009) the centre road at Stoke Station is being removed. Back in the annals of time, there were two, but electrification gantries now occupy the space of the former 'down' facility. I believe the reality of what's happening is subtly different, it's actually the up platform road, Platform 1 (the one in the foreground) which is going as the platform is being enlarged to align with what is the through road here. I hear that it should provide for longer trains, and allow a few seconds worth of time saving on Manchester London Services... (does anyone care about the latter?). Personally, I would have thought that such a 'by pass' would have been invaluable, but I suppose greater brains than mine have given the matter some consideration.
Anyway, back in the early eighties, a class 37 shakes the foundations as it trundles though on a Shelton Rolling Mill (Etruria) - Lackenby steel working. Needless to say Shelton steelworks has since closed too, and I don't suppose it will be that long before the nearby retail park encroaches onto the last remaining part of the site, as it did when the steel making facility ended.