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A quick cache and grab near to Stockport Railway Station
This is intended as a quick cache and dash side-track for Stockport station.
About SideTracked
We have Motorway Mayhem. We have A-Road Anarchy
(cos there aren’t many Motorways in Wales!). But what about public
transport users? SideTracked Caches are intended to provide quick
Cache-and-dashes at Train Stations. SideTracked started at Evesham
station on August 10th 2007, placed by schnarff & bikermel76.
It took a while to get started, but is now spreading across the
country! It is hoped this idea will spread across the country in
the same way as the MMs….but if hiding one PLEASE BE SENSIBLE and
remember that in this day and age, public transport is under
greater scrutiny than ever before, so, although these caches should
be quick and easy grabs,
PLEASE don’t place a Cache where it could
cause alarm!!! (Particularly, please ensure that you aware of the
new rules of 04/09/08 before hiding your Cache!) .
Please replace where found
Stockport railway station (also known as Stockport Edgeley and Edgeley) serves the town of Stockport in Greater Manchester, England, 8 miles south-east of Manchester Piccadilly station on the West Coast Main Line from Manchester Piccadilly to London Euston. It was opened on 15 February 1843 by the Manchester and Birmingham Railway, following completion of the large railway viaduct just to its north. After operation by the London & North Western Railway, it became part of the London Midland and Scottish Railway in 1923, who renamed it Stockport Edgeley, to differentiate it from Stockport Tiviot Dale, which closed in 1967. It is high above the valley of the river Mersey in which Stockport lies, and is linked to both central Stockport and Edgeley by a pedestrian underpass. In 2009 the station was identified as one of the ten worst category B interchange stations for mystery shopper assessment of fabric and environment, and is set to receive a share of £50m funding for improvements. Some improvements to the station have begun, with changes to the signs to make them clearer.Trains running north-west all serve Manchester Piccadilly, with some continuing to Manchester Oxford Road and beyond to Liverpool, Preston, Blackpool, Wigan, Southport and Barrow-in-Furness.
South-east from Stockport, express services run to Sheffield and onwards to Cleethorpes, Nottingham and Norwich with local services running to Hazel Grove and Buxton.
The two southern (West Coast Main Line) routes are via Cheadle Hulme. The first continues via Macclesfield and Stoke-on-Trent to London and Birmingham and the second via Wilmslow and Crewe also with through services to London and Birmingham as well as via Shrewsbury and the Welsh Marches Line to Cardiff, Carmarthen, Pembroke Dock and Milford Haven. Many trains to Birmingham continue to destinations in the south of England such as Reading.
The Mid-Cheshire Line runs westerly to Altrincham, Knutsford, Northwich and Chester.
The line running north-east from Stockport via Guide Bridge to Stalybridge no longer has a regular passenger service, being reduced in the early 1990s from an hourly shuttle service to a once a week, one direction only skeleton service. (See Stockport to Stalybridge Line).
The main concourse was opened in September 2004, as part of a development including a new platform (platform 0). This platform had been dubbed by many as "The white elephant" because it was hardly ever used and the new track which was installed was rusting. However, at the beginning of March 2008 platform 0 came into operation mid-timetable. A pedestrian subway leads to the two older island platforms, which include a buffet and newsagent.
Adjacent is Stockport Viaduct is a large brick-built bridge which carries a main railway line across the valley of the River Mersey, in Stockport, Greater Manchester . Designed by George Watson Buck and completed in 1840, the viaduct is 33.85 metres (111.1 ft) high. At the time of its construction it was the largest viaduct in the world, and it represents a major feat of Victorian engineering and a key pioneering structure of the railway age. It is currently a Grade II* listed structure, and remains one of western Europe's biggest brick structures. The 27 arch viaduct took 21 months to build and cost £70,000; 11,000,000 bricks were used in its construction. It was officially opened on 4 June 1840.In common with Stockport railway station, the viaduct was also historically referred to as Edgeley Viaduct. At the peak of the work, 600 workers were employed in shifts – working day and night – to complete the structure. It was entirely built of layer upon layer of common brick. The engine house of the 1831 Wear Mill lay on the path of the viaduct- so the viaduct was built over it. The viaduct opened in 1842 with services running to Crewe, allowing passengers from Stockport to reach London.
It has made a brief contribution to literature, being mentioned in the introduction to the Northern Mill Towns in Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South.
The first section of the Manchester & Birmingham line to be completed ran from a temporary station in Manchester, at Travis Street, to a temporary station at Heaton Norris, on the Lancashire side of the Stockport viaduct. Opened for traffic on 4 June 1840, this short line was an immediate success, carrying nearly 2,000 passengers a day during the second half of 1840. Two years later, on 10 May 1842, train services were extended from Heaton Norris to Sandbach and the permanent Manchester station in Store Street was opened.
In around 1890 it was decided the viaduct should be expanded. This was because London and North Western Railway, formed in 1846, wanted to have several tracks on one route so that slower trains could be overtaken. To add more tracks to the viaduct would mean the need for expansion. The viaduct was expanded to accommodate four tracks instead of two. The viaduct has appeared in several of L.S. Lowry's works.
The overhead power cables were added during the 1960s when this part of the West Coast Main Line was electrified.
The viaduct underwent a programme of restoration in 1989, costing £3 million. The process included adding floodlights to the structure. The viaduct is now part of a main line service carrying passengers to destinations across the UK.
In 2007 Stockport council complained about plans by the train operator Arriva Cross Country to reduce by 50% the number of Manchester to Birmingham trains stopping at Stockport. Councillor David White claimed that an 1840 Act of Parliament guaranteed that all trains passing over the viaduct had to stop at Stockport station.
Congratulations to RigbyClan for FTF
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Zntargvp