The closure of Norton Bridge station took effect on 10 December 2017. This cache was renamed 'really' Sidetracked after 8 years.
Until the 1960s Norton Bridge was a 4-platform station being served by both mainline (Birmingham-Crewe) and branchline (Stoke & Manchester) trains of the West Coast Mainline. During electrification in the 1960s the mainline platforms were removed, and then in 2004 the passenger bridge to the branchline 'island' platforms was also removed - leaving it somewhat tricky to get to or from trains at Norton Bridge. Nevertheless this is still an active station and appears in timetables and on the platform indicator board at Stafford Station, via permenent bus-replacement services.
Our Kieran is only four years old (at the moment) but he loves two things with a passion - trains, and tiny magnetic nano caches - they just set him off giggling and you can't get him to give it up when you've signed the log sheet! He acquired the original cache container - a large iron spring - during our 50-caches-in-a-day challenge while looking for The Crussifiction cache - when he found it wasn't that cache, he said "Well it should be, Daddy". So it became a cache in his favourite train spotting location, and that's three reasons why this is Kieran's cache. Unfortunately when he was seven years old someone found and took his spring, and he was sad... the cache became a simple nano for a while.
When Kieran was ten, Norton Bridge junction underwent massive changes and the north-bound trains no longer pass here. It's not so good for train spotting any more, but since it's still "officially" a railway station please do come here and find this disguised nano - and hope to see a south-bound train!
When Kieran was 12 years old, the station finally 'closed' - cease to be listed as an active station.
In honour of Kieran, if you like his cache please do hang around long enough for a train to go by and feel encouraged to upload any photos of trains for Kieran to look at. Pretending to be a trainspotter may actually help disguise you from muggles!