Just
over the border into England, Class 142 Pacer No.142054 passes the
closed
station at Burton Point heading for Wales on 11 March 1993. Burton
Point
is
a remote and windswept spot overlooking the Dee estuary.
The now demolished buildings at Neston are seen in this 1995 photo of a Class 142 on a Wrexham service. The photo below shows the modern day Wrexham bound platform with 153320 leaving on October 13th 2005
Neston once had two stations, this was Neston North. The other station was situated on the now closed Hooton - West Kirby line which is now a footpath and cycleway. Neston is the only station on the line in Cheshire.
In the above photo, by Warren Desmond, 67028 is seen nearing Neston on a Birkenhead North to Eastleigh service conveying a Merseyrail electric unit for refurbishment. The train is passing the site of Neston signalbox. 6th September 2004
Single
car unit No. 153353 is seen at Heswall on 13th October 2005 on a Wrexham
service. The station was once known as Heswall Hills, a sure clue
to its distance from the town! Heswall is the first station
in the Merseytravel area.
Upton
station is the penultimate station on the line and only a mile from Bidston.
A
Class 142 is seen here on a Bidston service in 1995. Under Merseytravel
plans
this
section of the line could be electrified in the future.
20302
and 37602 are seen near Upton on October 15th 2005. The train is
the
railhead treatment train which sprays the rails to remove leaf debris.
Thanks to Warren
Desmond
for use of the photo.
The junction at Bidston
is extremely sharp, as seen in this view of 153320 arriving from Wrexham
in October 2005. In the foreground is the electrified Liverpool to
West Kirby line. Trains normally arrive at the West Kirby side of
the station. The other platform can be used but it means that trains
have to run forward to a layby siding and then reverse onto the other platform.
Merseyrail operate four trains an hour each way through Bidston to West
Kirby and Liverpool.
A
Class 153 is seen leaving the Liverpool platform at Bidston on a Wrexham
train. Resignalling of the Merseyrail system has resulted in the
disappearance of Bidston Dee Junction signalbox behind the train.
All signals are now controlled from a signalling centre across the Mersey
at Sandhills.
Passengers boarding a
Wrexham service in October 2005. Bidston
was once
the
site of a large marshalling yard and locomotive depot which served
the
nearby Birkenhead docks.
Another view of the railhead
treatment train by Warren Desmond.
Here, 37602 and
608 are reversing at Bidston on 8th October 2005.
Warren was also on hand
at Bidston on the 4th August 2004 when 45112
paid a visit on a Network
Rail inspection saloon.
Merseyrail trains pass
at Bidston, West Kirby service on the left and
Liverpool on the right.
The junction for Wrexham is behind the signal on the left.