STUART JORDAN looks at the history of the first ever goods station.
Wapping Station was located at Wapping Dock on the Mersey and was the first station in the world dedicated specifically for handling goods.
It opened in 1830, having been constructed by the Liverpool and Manchester Railway which opened the same year. These were the pioneer years of steam railways the UK, with the L&M of course being the first inter-city steam railway.
The station was built to serve Wapping Dock at the southern end of the Port of Liverpool. Goods and raw materials were to be transported from the dock to and from the factories around Manchester and east Lancashire. Liverpool was fast becoming the busiest port in the world. A price war erupted between the new railway and canal companies, who reduced their prices to compete with the new service.
Wapping Goods Station in 1831, with the tunnel entrance in the background.
In order to connect the dock with the existing passenger station at Crown Street (and later Lime Street), a 1 mile 49 chain long tunnel was required. Nothing on this scale had been attempted before, but George Stephenson rose to the design challenge. The original engineer, Charles Vignoles, resigned during construction when it was found that serious errors were made in the original survey. Joseph Locke took over and the tunnel was completed in 1829.
Trains through the tunnel were originally worked by gravity, rolling down the steep gradient to the dock before being hauled back up by winding engines. By the 1890s, locomotives were powerful enough to be used in the tunnel, so ventilation shafts were added. They were only used to pull up the gradient; gravity and brake vans were still sufficient to get down!
The Edge Hill end of the tunnel. Built in a deep cutting, the double track in the centre leads to Wapping Dock. The right portal heads to the passenger station at Crown Street and the left portal was just a store - the portal was built for symmetry.
The L&M became part of the London North Western and in 1923 the LNWR became part of the London Midland Scottish Railway. They introduced 0-6-0 diesel shunters into the tunnel, much to the relief of the crews who were now in enclosed cabs. In 1842 the station was renamed 'Park Lane'.
Detail of a 1909 map showing the tunnel from Edge Hill to Wapping (now renamed Park Lane).
The station was heavily damaged by an air raid during the Second World War. It was rebuilt and the signal box had to undergo repairs. After the war, the station and tunnel fell into obsolescence as from the 1840s the docks had been expanding northwards. These new docks were being built larger and larger to accommodate the increasing size of freight ships and the majority of traffic was passing through them.
This, coupled with the rise in road haulage as an alternative to the railways, meant that the British Railways had to consider which freight yards to keep open. Park Lane and the Wapping Tunnel didn’t make the cut and they were closed in 1965 after 136 years of service.
The station was demolished, but the tunnel remains. Although there have been many proposals to revive it, including an alternative access road to the Albert Docks area, nothing has come from it. Hopefully this forgotten piece of railway heritage can be put to good use again soon.