Hall Royd Junction Box nameboard as preserved at the East Lancashire Raiway, Bury

Manchester Victoria Station: 11 April 2015

The Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Society organised a guided tour of Manchester Victoria Station on Saturday 11 April 2015. Our wonderful guide for the day was Northern Rail's Nicola and a sincere thank you to her and the 'management' for making the day such a success.

Manchester Victoria Railway Station 11 April 2015 on the occasion of a guided tour organised by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Society: Gentleman's lavatory door

Detail of the south eastern corner of the concourse showing how the surviving girder has been retained below the new canopy structure.

Manchester Victoria Railway Station 11 April 2015 on the occasion of a guided tour organised by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Society: photo showing last remaining girder of the suburban station, and showing how the new roof is supported above it.

'X' marks the spot. Having provided this illuminated silhouette of the old train shed, there is now some discussion as to whether it should now be a permanent feature.

Manchester Victoria Railway Station 11 April 2015 on the occasion of a guided tour organised by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Society: the location of the train shed roof is marked out by illuminated strips on the original office block

Manchester Victoria Railway Station 11 April 2015 on the occasion of a guided tour organised by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Society: the new roof virtually completed over the extended tram stop.

Manchester Victoria Railway Station 11 April 2015 on the occasion of a guided tour organised by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Society: new roof detail

Manchester Victoria Railway Station 11 April 2015 on the occasion of a guided tour organised by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Society:  entrance passageway

Manchester Victoria Railway Station 11 April 2015 on the occasion of a guided tour organised by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Society: exterior showing restored canopy over the pavement

Manchester Victoria Railway Station 11 April 2015 on the occasion of a guided tour organised by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Society: restored exterior canopy

Manchester Victoria Railway Station 11 April 2015 on the occasion of a guided tour organised by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Society: new roof seen through passageway from Hunt's Bank

Manchester Victoria Railway Station 11 April 2015 on the occasion of a guided tour organised by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Society: exterior shot of Hunt's Bank office block

No doubt as to whose station it is...

Manchester Victoria Railway Station 11 April 2015 on the occasion of a guided tour organised by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Society: original entrance from Hunt's Bank showing 'Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway' 'Victoria Station'

Manchester Victoria Railway Station 11 April 2015 on the occasion of a guided tour organised by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Society: signal MN657, now cntrolled by the Manchester Signalling Centre at Ashburys

'Where exactly did you say Exchange Station was?'. The station footbridge, which previously gave access to the signal box has gone. Looking towards Deal Street showing the Overhead gear now in place.

Manchester Victoria Railway Station 11 April 2015 on the occasion of a guided tour organised by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Society: looking westwards towards the site of Liverpool Exchange station and Deal Street. This is looking along the alignment of the one-time longest platform in the UK.

Manchester Victoria Railway Station 11 April 2015 on the occasion of a guided tour organised by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Society: looking towards platform 6 from platforms 4&5.

Manchester Victoria Railway Station 11 April 2015 on the occasion of a guided tour organised by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Society: Platform 6a

A have a fine print of a L&YR 4-4-0 waiting for the off in the old Manchester Victoria. This is the corresponding 'Now' view, with a Sprinter and Rattler combination ready for the 'off' to Southport. Where are the Coronation Scot twins now? Click here to see how this scene would have looked a hundred years ago through the eyes of pencil artist John S Gibb.

Manchester Victoria Railway Station 11 April 2015 on the occasion of a guided tour organised by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Society: Southport train on platform 6

Manchester Victoria Railway Station 11 April 2015 on the occasion of a guided tour organised by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Society: view across Platforms 1 & 2 and the extended tram stop

Manchester Victoria Railway Station 11 April 2015 on the occasion of a guided tour organised by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Society: main concourse

Manchester Victoria Railway Station 11 April 2015 on the occasion of a guided tour organised by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Society: main concourse looking toward the old refreshment room

Manchester Victoria Railway Station 11 April 2015 on the occasion of a guided tour organised by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Society: trams pass at the new tram stop. A third track is out of sight at the bottom of the picture, awaiting to be commissioned when the second cross-city line opens.

Manchester Victoria Railway Station 11 April 2015 on the occasion of a guided tour organised by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Society:  the tram stop showing all three platform roads

Manchester Victoria Railway Station 11 April 2015 on the occasion of a guided tour organised by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Society:  concourse showing new ticket barriers

These two shots show how the second City Centre crossing starts out from Manchester Victoria. Watching trams arriving on the original line to the left (it the one that crosses the middle track on a curved diamond) this arrangement - at the bottom of an incline to boot - looked a little awkward. Worth trying to avoid on your model railway if you value reliable running.

Manchester Victoria Railway Station 11 April 2015 on the occasion of a guided tour organised by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Society: tram entrance from the city centre, showing new tracks for the second crossing to the right. Note the diamond crossing in the centre of the layout, and the way if it formed with both tracks on a curve.

Manchester Victoria Railway Station 11 April 2015 on the occasion of a guided tour organised by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Society: new tram junction

Exterior view of the Booking Office

Manchester Victoria Railway Station 11 April 2015 on the occasion of a guided tour organised by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Society: Booking Office exterior and L&YR tiled system map.

And a couple of shots showing interior detail of the Booking Office. Note 'signal box' type quarter light 'up high'.

Manchester Victoria Railway Station 11 April 2015 on the occasion of a guided tour organised by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Society: small office windows inside the booking office

Manchester Victoria Railway Station 11 April 2015 on the occasion of a guided tour organised by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Society: booking office skylight detail

Three examples of surviving L&YR tiling: the famous line map...

Manchester Victoria Railway Station 11 April 2015 on the occasion of a guided tour organised by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Society: the famous Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway tiled mapshowing Fleetwood, Blackpool, Southport and Liverpool in the west, Manchester in the lower centre and York, Goole and Sheffield in the east.

and in the lavatories on the third floor of the main building. There is a fair bit of this tiling in stair wells, etc., that has been painted over.

Manchester Victoria Railway Station 11 April 2015 on the occasion of a guided tour organised by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Society: original L&YR tile detail in a second floor lavatory

Manchester Victoria Railway Station 11 April 2015 on the occasion of a guided tour organised by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Society: orginal lavatory green and cream tiling

The creation of the 'Northern Hub' is seeking a raft of developments across the city and elsewhere. Here is an artist's impression of how Oxford Road station will look..

Manchester Victoria Railway Station 11 April 2015 on the occasion of a guided tour organised by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Society: artists impression of Oxford Road station

...and how the extended platforms 15 & 16 will look like from street level at Piccadilly. The old (and abandoned) Mayfield suburban station is to the left, behind the pub.

Manchester Victoria Railway Station 11 April 2015 on the occasion of a guided tour organised by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Society:  showing artist's impression of extended platforms 15 & 16 at Manchester Piccadilly, and coicidentally, part of the wall of the old suburban Mayfield Station.

Finally, Northern Rail's guide for the afternoon, Nicola, kindly took this 'holiday snap' which places me firmly at the station!

Keith Wallace in front of the L&YR tiled line map at Manchester Victoria on Saturday 11 April 2015

All images copyright: J K Wallace c. 2015

Panels beside the 'Soldier's Gate' & Gentleman's lavatory door detail.