Longford Trading Estate / Stretford Gas Works, Stretford, Manchester

[Mcr Warrior]

Was there ever a short goods siding branching off the CLC Liverpool Central -> Manchester Central railway line (at a point just East of Trafford Park station) into what is now the Longford Trading Estate / what was the Stretford Gas Works site?

If so, what was the branch/siding used for, and when was it taken out of use? (I recall there being gas holders in the Longford Road / Thomas Street vicinity (gas holders now demolished), maybe it did have something to do with that).

Anyone know?

 

[Bevan Price]

This map does show a siding / short branch at the suggested location. Sorry, no other info. at present. I would presume it was used to supply coal to the gasworks, and maybe remove any waste products.

View map: Ordnance Survey, 33/79 - A (includes: Carrington; Davyhulme; Eccles; Flixton; Irlam; Sale; Stretford; Urmston) - Ordn... - OS 1:25,000 Great Britain, Administrative areas series (with National Trust areas) 1945

 

[Andy R. A.]

In the book 'Rail Centres - Manchester' by Stanley Hall it shows it connecting with a series of lines for the Manchester Ship Canal Wharfs and Warehouses, not a lot of detail when it closed though.

 

[Andy R. A.]

Just out of interest I noticed that the header picture in the Facebook Group BR Maps and diagrams is a map of the connection to these lines at 'Bridgwater Junction'. https://www.facebook.com/groups/414276532364971/

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Seems that the Stretford Gas Works opened in c.1852 and that the Longford Trading Estate was built in the 1960s so in between these dates may well be when the branch/siding was in use.

Not sure when town gas was replaced by North Sea gas but presumably the gas holders (demolished c. 2018-19) were retained for possible use after the switchover.

"Bridgwater Junction" (Thanks Andy R.A.) would be a decent enough name for where the branch/siding slewed off from the CLC main line given that the location is near to where the line crosses the Bridgwater Canal.

 

[madannie77]

Map from 1934 showing Stretford Gas Works and the siding leading to it.

Two images from Britain from Above. The first shows the gas works, siding and canal, the second shows the junction with the main line.

EPW038553 ENGLAND (1932). Factories alongside the Bridgewater Canal, the Trafford Park Railway Sidings and terraced housing surrounding Taylor's Street, Trafford Park, 1932 | Britain From Above

britainfromabove.org.uk

EPW028005 ENGLAND (1929). Waters Meeting, Stretford, 1929 | Britain From Above

britainfromabove.org.uk

I have sent my other half off to see if there is any mention of the gas works in his collection of old railway paperwork. He might be gone some time!

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Good detail on the 1934 map. Take it that a "Telpher Track" towards the Southern end of the branch/siding (just out of shot on the two aerial photos) is some sort of overhead tramway for moving the coal around the gas works site?

 

[Revaulx]

Map from 1934 showing Stretford Gas Works and the siding leading to it.

Interesting. It is completely absent on the 1915 revision (published 1922), despite the gasworks being very much in place. So presumably added during or not long after the war?

 

[madannie77]

Good detail on the 1934 map. Take it that a "Telpher Track" towards the Southern end of the branch/siding (just out of shot on the two aerial photos) is some sort of overhead tramway for moving the coal around the gas works site?

According to a couple of online dictionaries, a telpher (or telfer) is a small travelling car, usually driven by electricity, suspended from or moving on an overhead rail or cable. The term was also used for a system using telpher cars, so clearly the Telpher Track was an overhead system.

Telpher is not a term I have come across before.

 

[madannie77]

Interesting. It is completely absent on the 1915 revision (published 1922), despite the gasworks being very much in place. So presumably added during or not long after the war?

There is no railway marked on a map dated 1922-1929 on old-maps.co.uk

I wonder if the siding was built after the Stretford District gas Board took over the works in 1922.Prior to then it was operated by the Stretford Gas Company, according to a brief history at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/52fe34f8-9442-465e-8243-c19028881d4d

 

[nlogax]

Good photographic records of this too. This aerial photo from 1932 shows the spur diverging from the main line over the canal and running parallel with Thomas Street before running into the works.

https://britainfromabove.org.uk/image/epw038553

"ENGLAND (1932). Factories alongside the Bridgewater Canal, the Trafford Park Railway Sidings and terraced housing surrounding Taylor's Street, Trafford Park, 1932"

 

[Elecman]

Off topic slightly but Manchester Victoria station had a Telpher system for moving parcels around the station until it was destroyed by German bombing in 1940

 

[Bevan Price]

Industrial Locomotives of Lancashire (Birmingham Locomotive Club, 1952) shows three locos based at the Stretford Works of North Western Gas Board. These were 4 wheel shunters, one of each being powered by diesel, petrol & batteries.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Were the loco types the so-called "Tin Turtles"?

 

[Richard P]

Fascinating details and information here from all those who have posted on the subject. I can add a little more information …….

I used to use the footbridge adjacent to the Liverpool > Manchester line as a cut through when walking to football matches at Old Trafford in the 70's and 80's and then you could still see on the railway side the remnants of the bridge that was built to branch off the main line. So far as I know it's still there

Thomas Street Trading Estate was a busy hub for business in the 70's and 80's and I had several customers there. They were mostly single brick warehouses, most of which have since been demolished and replaced but at the rear of one which was built adjacent to Thomas Street near to the main railway line the old tracks were still visible

British Gas (as it was then) Thomas Street was one of their larger sites and I visited regularly as a supplier at the same time. Inside the compound there were various pieces of track still extent in the concrete near the Gas Holders but none connected together, just the remnants of the line. I assume it's all gone now like the gas holders

 

[John Webb]

Interesting. It is completely absent on the 1915 revision (published 1922), despite the gasworks being very much in place. So presumably added during or not long after the war?

I suspect the gasworks were supplied with coal by boats on the adjacent canal until the railway siding was built.

 

[billh]

I suspect the gasworks were supplied with coal by boats on the adjacent canal until the railway siding was built.

The last time I was on the canal there, about two years ago,there are remains of a loading/unloading wharf about where the gas works was. The structure looks relatively ( in canal terms!) new, being concrete with tying up bollards still in situ. Could it be that water transport was used after the siding became disused? Bearing in mind that coal from Lancashire pits was still boated into Manchester as late as 1970's. As the loading infrastructure at the collieries was still usable, maybe the economics stacked in favour of water rather than rail post WW2?

 

[John Webb]

The last time I was on the canal there, about two years ago,there are remains of a loading/unloading wharf about where the gas works was. The structure looks relatively ( in canal terms!) new, being concrete with tying up bollards still in situ. Could it be that water transport was used after the siding became disused? Bearing in mind that coal from Lancashire pits was still boated into Manchester as late as 1970's. As the loading infrastructure at the collieries was still usable, maybe the economics stacked in favour of water rather than rail post WW2?

Concrete has been around for many years. I would expect the railway line to have lasted until the gas works closed down with the introduction of North Sea gas in the 1960s.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Hi All. Thanks for the feedback on this thread. Looks like the Stretford gasworks branch/siding was only ever operational for maybe forty years at most, during the middle of the 20th century.

Were the loco types the so-called "Tin Turtles"?

Anyone able to assist here?

 

[Bevan Price]

Hi All. Thanks for the feedback on this thread. Looks like the Stretford gasworks branch/siding was only ever operational for maybe forty years at most, during the middle of the 20th century.

Mcr Warrior said:


Were the loco types the so-called "Tin Turtles"?

Anyone able to assist here?

What were "Tin Turtles" ? Never heard that name before.

I don't recall seeing any of the locos, but I suspect they were typical basic small industrial shunters - no larger than a BR Class 01 or 02 - quite possibly even smaller, and maybe even with no cab roof.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Four wheel shunters, ex World War One vintage, originally used for shifting munitions around, I believe. (So would have been available for re-use in the 1920s when the branch/siding was presumably opened).