MoSI track torn up - ‘it’s vandalism’
To the dismay of watching volunteers, contractors were busy on January 19 reducing the length of running line for steam demonstration trains from about a mile to 300 yards, and one of them told Steam Railway: “It’s been described as state-sponsored cultural vandalism. They’ve ripped the heart out of the place… we’ve been sold down the river by London-based bureaucrats.” The final operating day was Tuesday January 5, when use was made of all available stock, and volunteers not seen for years turned up to bid their farewells. Other regulars booked off for the last time. They had been hanging on to the hope of a lastminute reprieve for the alignment into the 1830 Manchester Museum of Science & Industry (MoSI), which is in the way of a new 350-yard, £132 million Ordsall Chord bridge and embankment that the Government insists is needed to improve capacity into the city and the airport. There is still a legal challenge to be considered from former Institute of Civil Engineers President Mark Whitby, although he has been refused permission to appeal by the High Court. There is local dismay that MoSI withdrew its objections when it was offered £3m compensation by Network Rail. Meanwhile, membership of the volunteer group, many members of which have served for three decades or more, has shrunk to a small hardcore of people, and advertisements have had to be placed for paid staff to look after replica 1830 Planet and RSH Agecroft No. 1. Other engines and rolling stock have been stored ‘out of ticket’, or moved off-site. The museum’s running line began as a short run to Water Street, then on to the main line connection at Ordsall Lane Junction, and was later extended to include the ‘Pineapple Branch’, named after a longlost pub beneath the arches, giving a ride of about a mile. A revival of MoSI management interest in 2008 and restoration of the newly acquired Agecroft No. 1 attracted new interest and pride, and there followed the acclaimed ‘Great Garratt Gathering’, and the arrival of Prince Charles behind ‘A1’ No. 60163 Tornado. Management changes since 2011 have led to illfeeling with the volunteer force who objected to the use of outside contractors for small engineering tasks, Government spending cuts, and now the Ordsall Chord. Says a volunteer group spokesman: “Our initial thoughts were that this proposal would not be taken seriously, and the bad news had been kept from us for some time. “Financial compensation for the severance of the running line was mentioned, so we saw where things were heading. A proposal was drawn up by several members and the railway officer to re-design the railway within the existing site, but it was dismissed by the director. “Holding back information provoked emotional responses from those who had been there so long, and a bad feeling and lack of trust set in. “Another proposal to draw a new running line alongside the alignment of the proposed ‘chord’ was sketched out, but was immediately dismissed by Network Rail as an inefficient use of taxpayers’ money. This was a bitter pill for us to swallow.”
NETWORK RAIL has wasted little time in tearing up track at Manchester Liverpool Road Museum to make way for a new high-capacity line. It leaves the world’s oldest station without a main line link after over 170 years.