Eastham Oil - Ellesmere Port + Helsby, any info please?

[merseyrail508124]

Strictly speaking, this isnt about railworks hence why its in this section of the forums, its just some stuff i could do with knowing, any info would be helpful!
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Hi all,

Some of you may, or may not know, that this is one of my little railworks projects. Ive restarted the project as the upgrade to railworks 3 deleted my route (for some reason), but i hadnt done too much to it at that point anyway.

At the moment im just sorting out the decals using RWdecal.

For more info on the route im working on- http://merseysidebve.web.officelive.com/railworks.aspx
I havnt updated the site recently, its going to be a freeware route, not donationware as the site says!

Anyways.. Thats the reasoning behind this topic, but its not in the railworks section, as its about the actual line itself!

This is pretty much a request for some info, any info that you may have about the line between Eastham Oil and Helsby, basicly the map ive put on my website, on the link above!

As far as im aware, it was/still is part of the MSCR or Manchester Ship Canal Railway, or at least part of it is.., ive walked the full length from Eastham Oil refinery to Ellesmere Port / Manisty Wharf to give me a bit of an idea what it should look like, quite handy having a line thats closed yet accessible as its not behind a fence, its roadside! I know the line well, know a fair bit about its background and the types of train which used it.

The signalling seems rather odd, im guessing its a private type of signalling, ill upload pics of the signals when i get a chance although theres only 4 of them on the whole line it would seem. A friend of mine got some smashing pics of the old train loading station at Eastham Oil when we where last there, ill upload them if i can!

All i really need to know, are the speed limits! if anybody has any ideas of what the limits where, or even what they are likely to be, that would be interesting, and helpful! Aswell, if anybody has the line maps/diagrams for between Ellesmere Port and Helsby, once again would be a great help.

Any info welcome.. photos, maps, diagrams, gradient profiles, stories, memories.... anything related to this line! The more the better!

Thanks,

Luke Birch

[Kromaatikse]

The line appears in my copy of Quail, so that's a good reference for track layout. It also shows some other yards along the line.

The Ellesmere Port to Helsby section has passenger service, so you should be able to estimate the speed limit from the public timetable. Diesel railbuses don't accelerate very well, and the distances between stops are not very long (2, 1, 2 miles), so you might want to play with a 150 or 158 on the trackwork until you get a good feel for it. Note that the freight limits will probably be lower than for passenger trains, so for the last word, see a cabride video.

Currently, the Merseyrail Electric network extends right up to Ellesmere Port station, of which one platform is electrified - coincidentally this means that a reversing electric train will block the branch entrance - but not any further towards Helsby. In past eras this was not the case - I remember having to change at Hooton, and I'm not *that* old. The 507/508 can be reasonably well emulated using either the 455 without trailer or the freeware 31x sets without pantograph car.

The branch is clearly primarily an industrial complex, so the speed limits are likely to be very low. My first guess would be 15mph. Even if it used to have a through line, later ownership will have wanted to minimise maintenance costs while still allowing maximum axle loads.

The signals sound intriguing, but they might turn out to be a standard if unusual type.

[merseyrail508124]

Ok thanks for that, it will prove very helpful indeed!

Luke

[davidaward]

Dont know about the private lines at Ellesmere Port, but I do know about Helsby-Ellesmere Port services, because i sign that route and work it as a guard in real life (sometimes). The timetable for the services can be found on http://www.northernrail.org.uk and by viewing the Liverpool to manchester Airport and warrington bank Quay via Earlestown timetable, No. 15. Basically its 2 trips early morning and 2 late afternoon and are very quiet.

Traction on these shuttles can be a 142, 150/1 or 2 or 156 (the only traction we sign from Lime Street for Northern), and the morning job runs as a passenger service from Bank Quay non stop to Helsby, then 2 trips to Port, returning to Warrington non stop from helsby. The afternoon job, a unit leaves Lime St Plat 9 at 13:36 runs non stop ecs to Chester. The crew swaps to another unit, then runs ecs to Helbsy. 2 trip to the Port. Then it runs back all stations to bank Quay before heading ECS to Lime Street. They always depart/arrive from Platform 4 at helsby and the non-electrified platform at Ellesmere Port. Freight traffic is regularly seen heading to the docks at Ellesmere Port and quite often a Class 70 with coal waggons has passed me on this line. Line speed once off the curves at Helsby (20mph) is 50mph up to Ince and Elton station then 60mph right through to Port. Helbsy Jct signalbox and ellesmere Port Boxes control the line and the signalling system is absolute block throughout and mainly semaphores.

[GerardFiennes]

4 signals is an awful lot,many lines I drove over have no signals at all!!!