'The Borderlands line'
The view from the train - Wrexham to Bidston
A service to Bidston at Wrexham Central.
The new WREXHAM CENTRAL station opened for business on October 23rd 1998 and is located at the edge of the busy Island Green Retail Park. There is also easy access from the station into Wrexham town centre. As Wrexham Central is an unstaffed station, tickets must be purchased from the conductor on the train. Leaving Central station on the single line, the redeveloped site of the Wrexham Lager Brewery is passed on the right hand side. Wrexham had a long tradition of brewing and this was the final brewery to remain in operation. The closure of Border Breweries in the town some years ago is still remembered with sadness. The train now passes under the bridge carrying the former Great Western Railway line from Shrewsbury to Chester.
The line now curves sharply to the right to arrive at WREXHAM GENERAL . When it was a separate station it was known as Wrexham Exchange. The single platform is operated as part of the adjacent General station which has recently been attractively refurbished. The booking office at General station is able to supply the full range of rail travel facilities. Services today are run by Arriva Trains Wales. Trains run from General station to destinations including Shrewsbury, Birmingham, Cardiff, Chester and Holyhead.
150251
at Platform 4 of Wrexham General station on a Bidston service.
Until 1966
there was a regular through service from Birkenhead Woodside to London
Paddington on this route. Wrexham & Shropshire Railway introduced
a new five times a day service from Wrexham General to London Marylebone
from 28th April 2008, sadly this service ended on January 28th 2011. Leaving General station there is a single track
connection to the Shrewsbury - Chester line on the right. This is
the only link the Wrexham - Bidston line has with the rest of the rail
network apart from using the Mersey rail tunnel.
The Borderlands line now becomes double track and on the left hand side Rhosddu locomotive depot used to stand. The line parallels the ex GWR route to Chester for about a mile and then curves to the left under the Wrexham By Pass. After about another mile it is just possible to make out, on the left, where the triangular junction of the WM&CQR line to Brymbo once was.
Gwersyllt looking towards Wrexham. The dip in the track is where the North Wales Mineral Railway formerly crossed over.
Another relic of the past can be seen shortly before we arrive at GWERSYLLT. This is the bridge which formerly carried the North Wales Mineral Railway to Brymbo via the Wheatsheaf incline over the line. Gwersyllt is typical of most stations on the line being unstaffed but recently refurbished.
A Pacer unit on the Cegidog
Viaduct near Cefn y Bedd in 1993. The train is in Greater Manchester
livery.
After leaving
Gwersyllt the train passes under the Mold - Wrexham main road and head
towards the first summit on the line near what was once the site of Ffrwrd
Junction, now hidden in trees on the left. From here a branch
line rose steeply to what was once an extensive complex of collieries,
brickworks and an iron works. There are very few traces left of this
today. The line now heads down through Sydallt and crosses over the
viaduct carrying the line over the River Cegidog. The viaduct is
of five stone arches and is one of the route's most impressive architectural
features. CEFN-Y-BEDD
follows almost immediately. This station still retains most of its
original buildings although those on the Bidston platform are in private
ownership. This station also serves the village of Abermorddu.
150251 at Cefn y Bedd on a Wrexham
service, access between the platforms is via a foot crossing.
Between Cefn-y-bedd and Caergwrle, our next station stop, there was formerly a branch line on the right serving the large Llay Main colliery and Llay Hall brickworks. Little trace remains of this once important junction nowadays. CAERGWRLE was once known as Caergwrle Castle and Wells and was a popular day trip destination particularly from Merseyside. The ruined Caergwrle Castle is on top of the hill on the left. The castle was built in 1277. The original waiting shelter still exists on the Wrexham platform and is of a design unique to this line.
The
Wrexham side shelter at Caergwrle is seen in 'LNER livery' in April 2008.
Immediately
after leaving Caergwrle station there was once a private siding to a brewery
on the left. The train now crosses over the River Alyn on a girder
bridge and after a short run arrives at HOPE.
The main point of interest in Hope is its attractive church.
A long straight stretch follows and on the left may soon be seen the extensive
lagoons created by gravel quarrying. Towards the end of this straight
stretch of track the line steepens and begins the climb to the summit of
the line at Buckley.
PENYFFORDD is the next station stop. The station here is given added importance because it also possesses a signal box, the only one between Wrexham and Dee Marsh. The signal box is at the end of the Bidston platform. Just beyond the signal box on the left can be seen the now weed infested connection to the Chester - Mold - Denbigh line. The passenger service from Chester was withdrawn in 1962 but this connection was retained to provide access to Mold. The freight service to the Synthite Company, the last user of the line, finished in 1981 and the track has now been removed. The sidings now terminate after a couple of hundred yards.
Winter
at Penyffordd. 142049 on a Wrexham service in 1998.
After Penyffordd
the gradient steepens as the line heads towards the summit at Buckley.
A short level section of track and ruined platforms indicate the site of
Hope Exchange station where passengers formerly changed for the Chester
- Mold - Denbigh line. Shortly after, the extensive works of Castle
Cement are seen on the left. The sidings here receive trainloads
of imported coal although cement is no longer sent out by rail. Just
before BUCKLEY,
formerly known as Buckley Junction, is reached the original line
to Connahs Quay climbed away on the left. This line served the Buckley
brick and tile industry and numerous collieries. In the earliest
days there was a considerable traffic in bricks to Connahs Quay for export
by ship. Much of this was carried in specially adapted tramway wagons
known as shipping boxes. These were run onto the standard gauge wagons
at the brickworks and then loaded by crane at Connahs Quay directly onto
the ships. This process avoided transhipment and consequent damage
to the fragile cargo. As the brick industry declined so did
the railway and final closure came in the early sixties. A coal merchants
yard survived at Buckley Junction for some years after. Parts of
the original Buckley railway line can be followed by footpath but much
of the trackbed has vanished beyond trace. Buckley station
still retains its original buildings on the Bidston side although these
are now in industrial use.
A
Wrexham service calls at Buckley.
A pleasant
stretch of track through fields and woodlands follows as the line descends
steeply to HAWARDEN .
Hawarden was once a popular day trip destination for Merseyside and a large
waiting shelter formerly existed on the Bidston side. The attraction
of Hawarden in those days was its association with the Gladstone family
who lived nearby in Hawarden Castle. No trace remains today of the
signal box and water tower which formerly stood at the Wrexham end of the
station.
An ex Strathclyde unit, 101694, calls at Hawarden August 2000.
Leaving Hawarden an extensive view opens up on the right. Chester, Beeston Castle, much of Wirral and, on clear days, the Pennines can be seen. A steep connection to what was the Aston Hall tramway is passed on the left and the line then passes beneath the A494 trunk road. The final stretch into Shotton station is straight and steeply graded.
SHOTTON is one of the most important stations on the line and has now been rebuilt with new station buildings. The booking office is open from 07.30 to 10.30 Monday to Friday and on Saturdays from 08.45 to 13.45. There is also the important connection to the North Wales coast line. The station is situated right in the centre of the town and the Ice Rink at Queensferry is easily accessible. Leaving Shotton the train passes over the North Wales coast main line, shortly beyond there was once a connection on the left leading to extensive sidings and the docks at Connahs Quay.
At Shotton the line crosses over the North Wales coast main line. On the lower level 47525 is heading for Holyhead on an Inter City train, March 1990.
A Virgin class 57 is seen hauling a Pendolino set on a Euston service in
February 2009.
The train
is now approaching the major engineering structure on the line - Hawarden
Bridge. This carries the railway over the tidal River Dee and consists
of two fixed bowstring girders and a 287 foot swing span. When the
bridge was built the river was quite busy with shipping making its way
up as far as Saltney Ferry. This is no longer the case and it is
many years since the bridge was opened to river traffic. However shipping
has recommenced - see below. The hydraulic
tower on the north bank was demolished in 1980 after years of disuse.
The bridge carries a public footpath and a cycle way. The cycle way
continues to Chester following the trackbed of the closed route
to Mickle Trafford.
The wings for the new European jumbo jet, the Airbus A380, travel by a specially constructed barge between Broughton and Mostyn which passes under the bridge. The wings are destined for France and are loaded on a deep sea ship in Mostyn for Bordeaux. The barge 'Afon Dyfrdwy' is seen here on the River Dee with the steel works in the background.
HAWARDEN BRIDGE is reached almost immediately after crossing the river. Very few trains now call here. The halt opened in 1924 when the adjacent John Summers & Sons steelworks was undergoing rapid expansion. Steel making at Shotton steelworks ended in 1980 and the works now concentrates on the coating of steel coils. The works is now part of the Tata group. Leaving the station, Dee Marsh junction signal box is passed on the left and the embankment which formerly carried the line to Chester Northgate and beyond is seen on the right. The large marshalling yard is now passed on the left and behind it are seen various lines heading off towards the coatings complex. The junction at Dee Marsh was formerly triangular and the other arm of the triangle, with track now removed, joins on the right.
The Class 108's were the DMU's that replaced steam in 1958 and they remained in use on the line until withdrawal in 1993. Here Longsight set No. LO615 comes off the bridge and into Hawarden Bridge station on the 13th of November 1992.
The
large expanse of reclaimed land now on the left was formerly the John Summers
blast furnaces. On the right hand side can be seen the massive Deeside
Industrial Estate which is still expanding. Shotton Paper mill with
its permanent cloud of steam is on the left just before the train passes
under the new road bridge. The site of Shotwick sidings, which formerly
fed the north of the steelworks complex, is now occupied by just a solitary
track leading to the paper mill. Beyond that are Shotwick firing
ranges and the Dee estuary marshlands. The line beyond here to Bidston
no longer sees any freight traffic apart from occasional engineering and
ballast trains. In previous times this section was busy with trains
of iron ore from Bidston Dock to Shotwick sidings.
A short sandstone
cutting indicates that the train has now crossed the border into England
and shortly the train rattles past the closed station of Burton Point.
The next stretch onward to Neston is most attractive with the Dee estuary
on the left with the Clwydian range rising up beyond. There are tentative
plans to open a new station in the vicinity to be known as Ness.
This would serve the Gardens of the same name. Neston is now very
much a dormitory town for Chester and Liverpool and the train passes numerous
new housing estates. Just before reaching NESTON
(at one time Neston North) the line crosses over the remains of the Hooton
- West Kirby line. The trackbed of this line has been converted into
a footpath and cycle way known as the Wirral Way. Neston station has
been modernised and all traces of the original station buildings have now
been swept away.
After leaving Neston the train passes through a long wooded cutting as it makes its way across the Wirral peninsula. The next station is HESWALL, at one time known as Heswall Hills. Heswall is the first station in the Merseytravel area.
Another stretch of pleasant countryside follows and the remains of Storeton station are passed. Storeton, Hope Exchange and Burton Point are the only stations on the line to have closed in its long history. The onset of the Birkenhead conurbation is marked as the line passes over the M53 motorway and descends into the Wheeler valley. Merseytravel intend to electrify this part of the line and operate it as part of the Merseyrail system. The plans are to open a new station in the vicinity to be known as Prenton and another station - Beechwood - between here and Upton. If this happens trains from Wrexham will terminate at Prenton rather than at Bidston.
A
Merseyrail train at Bidston. The Wrexham line can
be
seen diverging to the left above the rear of the train.
As the line
passes down the valley, with the M53 motorway on one side and housing on
the other, we soon arrive at UPTON.
It is then only a short trip before BIDSTON
is reached around a notoriously sharp curve. All change at Bidston
for services to Liverpool in one direction and West Kirby in the other.
Next page: A photographic guide to the line