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Heavy Rail to Metrolink conversion - former Old Trafford station to Deansgate

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Intercity 225

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Hi,

I’ve been travelling a lot on the Altrincham Metrolink line recently and know that it was originally converted from heavy rail in 1992, however I wasn’t local to Manchester at the time. As such there’s a bit about the infrastructure I don’t understand and was hoping that someone could help me out?

Between the Trafford Bar Metrolink stop (formerly the British Rail station named Old Trafford) and the following Metrolink stop at Cornbrook, the tram goes up quite a steep gradient - much steeper than I imagine is in place anywhere on the heavy rail network. It also appears (from a passenger standpoint at least) that a steep gradient would still be required to connect to the Manchester-Liverpool heavy rail line that leads to Deansgate.

My main questions are, how did heavy rail services travel between Deansgate and the station formerly known as Old Trafford? And did the journey involve traversing over a significant gradient?

Many Thanks
 
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yoyothehobo

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I suspect that before it heads under Trafford way (or whatever the large road is called) it would have gone up a shallower gradient and joined the Eastern side of the Manchester-Liverpool Line. The underpass which the metrolink uses looks relatively new also.
 

LNW-GW Joint

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The MSJ&A route was the first in the area by 20 years or so, and took a gently curving and level route from the tunnel north of Old Trafford station over the lower viaduct towards Deansgate.
The 1500V DC route was converted to 25kv AC around 1980 to allow through running from Crewe to Altrincham via Manchester Piccadilly.
The Metrolink conversion built a burrowing junction under the CLC main line which formerly led into Central station over the higher viaducts.
That destroyed the old MSJ&A route, with banks of spoil from the cutting left on the former line.
When the CLC route was rationalised around 1970, the Central approach was abandoned and Cornbrook Jn used to get Liverpool-route trains into Deansgate.
This was in fact the original route, with Central station opening later with CLC trains diverted into it.
CLC trains from Chester via Altrincham and the MSJ&A also reached Central via a left hand junction at Cornbrook and up over the viaduct route.
This junction is roughly where the Metrolink diveunder starts.

For a while after Metrolink opened, BR EMUs terminating at Deansgate used to reverse in the remaining MSJ&A headshunt south of Cornbrook.
When the wires were extended a mile or so to Trafford Park freight terminal, these EMUs reversed in sidings near the Man United platform instead.
Most of those terminating EMUs now run through to Liverpool and elsewhere using the new wires via Ordsall Lane.
I'm not sure the old headshunt remains.
 
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Rail Ranger

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The MSJ&A was converted to 25kv in 1971 (over a single weekend!). Manchester Central closed in May 1969. The headshunt at Cornbrook had a very short life and was removed to enable the construction of the new road Bridgewater Way in the 1990s. The siding at Trafford Park East was a replacement for the Cornbrook headshunt. The original plan had been to electrify from Castlefield Junction to Salford Crescent to replace the Cornbrook headshunt but the costs for this doubled due to rail privatisation.
 

route101

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Done this tram branch few days ago and interesting to hear its history. Old cantenary remains
 

markem41

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The steep Metrolink gradient you mention also incorporates a sharp curve as well. The trams have to slow significantly to crawl around at this point. I'm sure it was all carefully worked out but feels like a bodge.
Does anyone recall the name of the flat junction that was replaced by the current Metrolink arrangement as mentioned in the original post?
 

Ianno87

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I suspect that before it heads under Trafford way (or whatever the large road is called) it would have gone up a shallower gradient and joined the Eastern side of the Manchester-Liverpool Line. The underpass which the metrolink uses looks relatively new also.

Correct - instead of twisting under the (built for Metrolink) underpass, the line carried straight on, rising to merge with the CLC tracks from the eastern side on a flat junction.

The road has virtually obliterated any trace of the old alignment (which survived for a few years post-Metrolink as a truncated turnback stub for EMUs terminating at Deansgate). However the point at which the old route started to deviate can be identified where the 'old' BR overhead line masts end and the 'new' Metrolink masts start.
 

Ianno87

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The steep Metrolink gradient you mention also incorporates a sharp curve as well. The trams have to slow significantly to crawl around at this point. I'm sure it was all carefully worked out but feels like a bodge.
Does anyone recall the name of the flat junction that was replaced by the current Metrolink arrangement as mentioned in the original post?

Cornbrook Junction.
 

thenorthern

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The old line to East Disdbury and the Airport ran under the MSJ&A railway and joined what is now the Mancehster to Liverpool via Warrington line. Now of course it joins onto the line to Altrincham at Trafford Bar which was previously Old Trafford station. The current Old Trafford stop was Warwick Road station.
 

edwin_m

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The old line to East Disdbury and the Airport ran under the MSJ&A railway and joined what is now the Mancehster to Liverpool via Warrington line.
If I remember correctly that was Throstle Nest Junction mentioned above (and a throstle is just another word for a thrush).
 
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