Hi Vrs! Thank you. I know! And I am also still working on the fascinating subject of coal drops. I suppose there will always be some unresolved elements. Currently working on a first v of Wapping goods station (on the way in due course); with plenty of scope for the unresolved!

Thanks for your kind comment Tom

Manchester Liverpool Road station - version 4; numerous corrections and addition of roof over passenger departures (almost imperceptible) thanks Ant D and Vrs.

Showing the Li erpool History Society Journal 2026 front cover showing a reconstruction painting of Lime Street Station in 1868

Delighted to have made the front cover of the Liverpool History Society Journal 2026. Showing my reconstruction.of 1868 Lime Street (part of an illustrated journal article.). Thanks to all at LHS.

Looks like it. Its in a declivity between cuttings

Is this another field bridge after W2? Telford identifies it as such with legend 'road at Ropers Farm'

Haha! I thought the issue was that on the 1850 OS map there is - west to east - a level crossing, two wooden (foot) bridges and Whiston 2 but no Whiston 1.

Its just he seems to have the W1 roadway as 15 yards wide

Sorry Vrs, me too. Didn't realise it was in his book! I have it as a random extract.

Is the bridge list I'm referring to actually Booth's list?

which did away with the horribly tight level crossing

so today's bridge replaced it when they built the colliery branch

Two mid -eighteenth century maps side by side comparing roads and bridges in the Whiston area.

Yes, to that. I wonder if this pic is a poss?

Yes, baffling.Telford section 1830 ? Seems to have bridge (W1) in the cutting (as now) but his spec totally different (21,21 h16); bridge list has road width as 47 feet! Was it always there and demolished for today's much wider bridge to accommodate the branch line North? OS has to be wrong?

Happy Birthday to Sister Rosetta Tharpe, and a massive thank you to her for inventing rock and roll

She was born on March 20th, 1915

A painting of how Liverpool Road station would have looked in 1835, showing the railway, trains, warehouses and surrounding buildings

Re earlier post. Revision of legend correcting my regular mis-spelling of stationary, thanks for not mentioning it

A diagram showing Liverpool Road Station Manchester in the 1830s/1840s. The diagram shows various earlier proposals for a terminus station and the eventual move to Victoria station in 1844

A painting of Liverpool Road Railway station as it would have looked in 1835. With explanatory notes for the railway, warehouses, station features, roads and rivers.

Finally, in the Liverpool Road Manchester project. Two info graphics summarising the story of the Liverpool and Manchester railway terminus. Am I the last person to realise Hunts Bank station (Victoria station) was briefly a terminus of the L&MR (1844/5) prior to the GJR taking it over. So....

Paintings of 3 locomotives of the Liverpool and Manchester railway; Planet, Samson, and Patentee; showing key aspects of design.

Re; last post. Studies of three key Stephenson locomotives in that early 5 year period ( ala Bury/Shaw), establishing classes and standards for many decades to come. A remarkable journey over such a short time.

A list of locomotives of the Liverpool & Manchester railway from 1829 to 1845.

Continuing the study of L&MR locomotives, a one-pager info sheet focusing on the first 5 years, dominated somewhat by Stephenson. (post Fanny Kemble).

Thanks so.much for this kind comment Mike

Thanks so much Vrs as always!

Thanks so much Urs. I always take pleasure from your enjoying the work, it keeps the experience fresh. This stage is in some ways the best. A starting point; a landscape not seen for 200 yrs and the drawings more artsy and vibrant and collaborative knowledge is still to come.

A sketch of how Wappi g station.might have looked in 1830. Aeriel landscape showing streets, buildings etc.

Always an interesting stage in the discovery process. Roughing out the landscape around Wapping station; Liverpool dock terminus of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway; c. 1830. So few sources here, so many questions.

It is the tunnel by which slave picked American cotton was expedited through Liverpool to the textile weavers of Manchester during the industrial revolution

Amazing Eric, thanks v much! Impossible to imagine the conditions and the degree of courage and endurance shown by these men.

Thanks very much for sharing this wonderful resource P. I didnt know Telford was involved to this degree. As it happens have also just found some earlier work on this subject - I think Vrs? Is there a legible version of the route?somewhere? No worries if that's asking too much. Thanks again.

Thanks very much for sharing this wonderful resource P. I didnt know Telford was involved to this degree. As it happens have also just found some earlier work on this subject - I think Vrs? Is there a legible version of the route?somewhere? No worries if that's asking too much. Thanks again.

Thanks Vrs, indebted to Paul, for making me look at this more closely and to you more than ever.

Yes, I wondered if anybody, man or beast who stayed underground for any length of time might be located near the air vent. I am wondering if there was some rudimentary human accommodation too.

An illustration of how the Wapping Tunnel in Liverpool was built. Showing a cutaway diagram of two shafts and the interior of the tunnel under construction; men horses tramway. . A plan shows the location of all 8 construction shafts.

First draft of an illustration showing two of 8 construction shafts or 'eyes' along the Wapping tunnel in Liverpool - during its construction in 1827/8. A plan shows the location of all 8 shafts (see R H G Thomas p39).

A diagram showing speculative timeliness for construction of the Wapping tunnel in the 1820s influenced by events

Intriguing. Theres a mini series in all this...On the move and short of time, but wondering what the sequence of events was?