European Railroad Discussion > A day in and around Manchester

Yesterday I headed to Manchester for the day, catching the 07:27 from Abergavenny which arrives at Manchester Piccadilly at 10:15. From there I headed across the city centre by tram to Manchester Victoria, catching a Northern Rail DMU along the old Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway mainline to Todmorden, before retracing my steps to Manchester, more wandering around and the 18:30 train home.

1: Metrolink is Britain's biggest tram network with a number of lines, some ex-heavy rail, others brand new - both on street and reserved right of way. They have a fleet of 120 of these Bombardier / Vossloh M5000 trams, this is a pair on a Bury working at the Victoria exchange station

2: Todmorden, which is technically on the east side of the Pennines and therefore in Yorkshire, is on the River Calder and the Rochdale Canal. This is an empty biomass train heading to Liverpool from Drax Power Station for another load.

3: DMUs everywhere, including this pair of class 142 Pacer railbuses, on which I returned to Manchester later in the day.

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4: Not bio mass this time but proper coal, imported through Redcar in NE England and bound for Fiddlers Ferry power station on Merseyside

5: Back in Manchester a Southampton bound intermodal approaching Piccadilly station

6: Another shot of a Metrolink tram, bound for Eccles

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Thanks again Nick!. Great shots. Only wish there was some way to make the wires look nice.

I like the "wires" just the way they are. They are part of the story. wag216 (a real "Wichita Lineman", I worked 25 years in Wichita Kansas USA for Kansas, Gas and Electric.)

CPRR Wrote:
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> Thanks again Nick!. Great shots. Only wish there
> was some way to make the wires look nice.

TBH I don't always mind wires, I think that scene in Central Manchester is enhanced by the tunnel effect of the catenary.

A very interesting and professional grade presentation.
Thanks for posting your photos.
ALLEN

I like Manchester quite a bit and even suggested that Motor Bus Society meets there in 2019. I like picture three most though with the Pacer Railbuses. Another one of those concepts that outlived it's intended life and several others.

Jim

All great shots !!! I "really " like # 5 it's just awesome !!! Thank you for sharing . :):):)

tq-07fan Wrote:
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> I like picture three most though with the Pacer
> Railbuses. Another one of those concepts that
> outlived it's intended life and several others.

I rode back to Manchester from Smithy Bridge in that set, first time I'd been on a Pacer for almost 13 years. On the welded rail of the Calder Valley line they rode well enough but it's the spartan nature of the interior which really dates them, they do look and feel like a Leyland National bus of the 1980s.

gaspeamtrak Wrote:
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> I "really " like # 5 it's
> just awesome !!! Thank you for sharing . :):):)

Thanks, I've wanted to get that shot for a number of years. I was lucky too as that was the only intermodal train I saw.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/18/17 23:57 by 86235.

Are they different LRV cars than what was there in 1993, when I was there ? They look different.

joemvcnj Wrote:
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> Are they different LRV cars than what was there in
> 1993, when I was there ? They look different.

Yes they are. The original Ansaldo Breda built T68s were retired by 2014, the first M5000s came in to service in 2009.

Interesting picture of the import coal train. Coal from USA to Europe is up over 50%. Both metallurgical and steam.
According to Wall Street Journal, partially caused by shut down of nuclear plants.
Germany, France, Netherlands, and UK largest customers.

So the location of photo 4 is accessible without a car?

Nice series, BTW.

march_hare Wrote:
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> So the location of photo 4 is accessible without a
> car?
>
> Nice series, BTW.

Thanks, yes 3 and 4 were taken at Clegg Hall which is about 10 minutes walk along the towpath of the Rochdale Canal from Smithy Bridge station (trains too and from Manchester every 30 mins).

Amazing change at Manchester Victoria.

There is a bit of the old station interior visible behind the light rail vehicle.

In the 1960's, this part of the station was where I boarded electric multiple unit trains for Bury.
Manchester Victoria was a grimy steam era station with a complex layout.

My father was born near Bury, and my grandfather, aunts and uncles all worked in the textile industry.

eminence_grise Wrote:
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> Amazing change at Manchester Victoria.
>
> There is a bit of the old station interior visible
> behind the light rail vehicle.
>
> In the 1960's, this part of the station was where
> I boarded electric multiple unit trains for Bury.
> Manchester Victoria was a grimy steam era station
> with a complex layout.
>
> My father was born near Bury, and my grandfather,
> aunts and uncles all worked in the textile
> industry.

This is the Bury line platform in summer 1989, a few months before the end of the 1200v DC electrification in preparation for Metrolink.

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And the excellent Class 142 in the background in 1989 which are all still with us today minus 142008 and 142059.

There are mutterings some pacers may still be in use up to 2022.

Fingers crossed.

Interesting crossover status indicator in the Metrolink photo (No.1).

James R.(Jim) Baker
Whittier, CA