As some of you will know, I'm interested in the layout of Green Lane station, in particular, what the huge girders over the tracks are for. I'm pretty well convinced, looking at the 1909 map, that there was never a rail track over those girders, so maybe they were just to support the wall of the main line tracks. It's all overgrown there now, so impossible to see from the road. If I were younger & fitter, I'd find a way of getting up there to explore. Does anybody know what the situation is there?

Cheers, Chris.

The victorians were into enginering and fancy overhead structures it was most likely a building or sumthing that they had put up there and it no longer exists due to falling down or it not being maintaind and being in disrepair

Thanks for the idea. If there was any structure there, it had disappeared by 1909. The site is so narrow that I don't honestly think anything was ever there. It really needs someone to go & take a look.
Cheers, Chris.

there may have still been a victorian structure over it just maybe a roof or sumthing small and narrow ... id go and take a nose with a few people but dont think my ickle body could handle it, you would need a few of the boys to go and have a nose

That's what I'm hoping for.

ask scott ... scott dus anything .. hes always finding mad mishons to fill up his time

i used to climb all over that station think the beams are jus part of the structure cos the old line to the goods yard and woodside staion run behind the wall at the far side of the beams(lookin from the car park)

Yes, that's what I think; would like some pictures though.

I might have a look for you tomorrow Chris if the weathers not too bad.

I'm sure Whelan would be up for it.

As already mentioned, I'm thinking they provide some sort of support for the main lines.

when i were a lad one of my mates actually "flumped" off the beams down to the platform!think they put a grill over it after.

That would be great. You can't see anything from ground level because of the growth of trees & shrubs.
Also, what's with that strange triangular brick building near Green Lane bridge? Looking at it on Live Search it seems to be hollow.
http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v...hx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&encType=1

An update. I think I've solved the question. If you look at the attached extract from the 1909 OS map, you can see a line leaving the main line at the South end of the Chamberlain St. bridge. This then travels over the Green Lane bridge & leads to the Mollington St. sheds. If you then look at the Live Search link in my previous post, you can see there's space for an extra track at both bridges. This track would have run right above & next to the platform of the station below. I'm now pretty certain the girders are to support that track. It would be interesting to know if there's any evidence left, such as old rails or sleepers. Even if not, it's often possible to see the impression of where the sleepers were.
This still leaves the question of the triangular brick construction, which has no apparent purpose.
Over to you young explorers.

Cheers, Chris

Sorry Chris, I didn't get around to doing it today, maybe tomorrow though.

triangle bit prob a lift shaft, the girders are there to hold the land apart, if they had to carry a track, they would have to be supported from much deeper down. if they dig a hole in the street 6 foot deep they use acro props to keep the sides in check

green lane was originally a terminus during steam days and was left uncovered for comfort. said girders also supported station roof via suspension

i mentioned it bein a roof was i rite then :S...

Being of.. erm.. mmm. mature years (Chris is still leading the field), can someone tell me what "flumped" (as in flumped off the beams) means ? Bungy jumping, abseiling ? Surely too much of a drop to just drop down. I think you would only do it once ... and you wouldn't bounce!!

corsa_dave - my education obviously isn't up to scratch !

I'm doubtful about the lift shaft idea. It's a very odd shape & it's immediately over the tracks. I'll try to contact Railtrack; whichever department deals with building maintenance should know. You're right, the girders don't support a track; the track to Mollington St. ran just about over the retaining wall on the Rock Ferry platform.

That makes sense about leaving it open for comfort. Don't understand quite what you mean by the last sentence though, about the roof being supported by suspension. Incidentally, the roofing isn't parallel with the tracks. At the Rock Ferry end, the vaulted roofing barely covers the platform; at the other end, it covers most of the tracks too.

Another interesting (well, to me) bit of information. On the 1909 map which I posted, the only station building was the square 3 storey bit. What is now the booking office, & everything else down to Green Lane was added later.

there were platform canopies probably fixed at the wall and suspended from the girders to the front

Thanks; now I understand. Is that a fact, or supposition?

Cheers, Chris.

my old man told me about canopies and some form of suspension, so it makes sense to me to fix at wall and hang the front otherwise you need to have deep-set girders to carry the weight of a canopy

if not a lift shaft could it be some sort of vent. seems daft when staion has no roof, but if you have an old chuffer waiting to go to liverpool it would spew a fair bit of smoke

Thanks for the info. on canopies; makes sense.

As far as the strange triangular construction is concerned (& there's a couple of shots of it in my Green Lane photo gallery), I thought it might be a vent for, as you say, a standing loco waiting to depart. The only problem with that idea is that it's not shown on the map of 1909 & steam finished in 1903.

Cheers, Chris.

Well, I've been up and had a nose and can definately say that the girders did not support a track.

I have no idea what the triangular building is for and it was far too high to climb, so that will need some contacting of Railtrack or whoever.

Will upload pictures soon

Thanks for that, Joe. Look forward to the pics. I'm making some progress on the matter of the triangular bit.

Tried the easy approach at first - ground level.

Saw this, might have previously been a tunnel underneath?



Tried looking all around the station and the bridge and couldn't find any access behind the fences.









So I walked past and had a look at the triangular building





I noticed the blocked up entrance/exit had writing above it but couldn't make it out



After giving up on the easy way, I went around to the Rock Retail and tried to get access from there, walking along the bridges to the station.














Then spotted this - any idea what it is?








Lots of scrap metal up there






Finally got to the station
























































Spotted this - any ideas??

good photos bud

great pics joe, what height was the broken bracket type thingy? could it have held an old semaphore signal?

just above the height of a train

seen somethink like it in amsterdam on all the Building's got told when there that they put rope round it and pull cargo up in to the Building so me thinks its to put the cargo in to the trans

Thanks for the pics, Joe. In the first one, the brick arch you see is the tunnel arch over the Mersey Railway lines. If you look from the platform, you can see the roadway cutting into it. There's a pic. of this in my Green Lane picture gallery. I agree with Rentaclown, the broken cast iron bracket could have carried a signal. So, we're no further forward on the triangular building, but it's good to have some pics. from a different angle. I'm pursuing another approach. With regard to the other pic. you asked us to identify; this is a toilet for bears, which, as we all know, s**t in the woods.

Cheers, Chris.

this train is about to cross over green lane and continue to woodside via the tunnel in the lower to mid left of the pic

if you look at sattelite images on google, the triangle is directly over the tracks, but is far away enough from the open roof to justify it being a vent

I'd agree, except that it's not shown on the 1909 OS map (neither is the present booking hall). There's a link to the map in one of my previous posts. Since steam hauled ceased in 1903, I can't see why they would have built a vent after 1909.

ah, needs investigating a bit then, an abseil down the triangle would tell

or send a vid cam and light down on a rope

Just an idea... does anyone here have access to a "Cherry Picker" ? The piece of kit they use to service street lamps, high or awkward to get to places. Usually mounted on a flatbed wagon or big tranny van. Noticed that there is a street lamp adjacent to the triangular structure. Hard hat, hi-vis vest, quick trip up & pan round over the top, look/photograph down, pack up and away !

Merely a suggestion !

Well done BMW Joe on the pics. Excellent stuff indeed!

Either idea would work; only problem is how to get to the top. Anybody know what it would cost to hire a helicopter?
It's still possible you're right about it being a vent & the Ordnance Survey map has not shown it, but usually the maps are pretty accurate. I've made contact with someone in Railtrack who might be able to help.

Cheers, Chris.

Morning, Pinzgauer; you posted while I was writing. Cherry picker; good idea.

The geriatrics, myself & Pinzgauer, still want to know what "flumping" is.

Cheers, Chris.

I don't know about FLUMPING either Chris but a google search came up with this

flump

As well as quite a few that are not repeatable. (everyone rush off to google FLUMPING)

what he means is, his mate hung off it, then let go! brave or stupid?!

flumping is the wimpy way to jump i.e.hang off to reduce the height!

I learn something new every day! Even to reduce the drop by say.. a little over 7 feet, it's still a fair drop. I think I'll stick to the conventional (maybe boring) route to the platform ie. via Booking hall and stairs !!

me too!i never did it myself

My best guess is, from feet to platform, 8ft. Still enough to break an ankle, let alone the risk of landing awkwardly & falling over the edge of the platform onto the live rail. No thanks, but thanks for the explanation.

Update, update; my apologies for doubting those who thought the triangular structure was a vent shaft. From the end of the platform at the Liverpool end you can just see the hole under the shaft.
Another question has been resolved; the matter of the canopy on the Liverpool bound platform. Here's a picture from the book "Railway Stations of Wirral" which just shows the edge of the canopy. There's no evidence of any supports from the girders, but the place where the brackets supporting the canopy have been removed can be seen clearly in the last picture.
BTW, having looked at the heights involved, I have serious doubts about anyone "flumping" from the girders.

"Then spotted this - any idea what it is?"

A really rubbish Superlambanana?

me too, i think alan will have to get his friend to do it again for us all to see

Could the vent be put in to reduce the draft from the "new" high speed trains as they arrived/departed from the station? Just trying to think of another station at the end of a tunnel for comparison.

i said in a previous post about green lane being a terminus during steam days, on arrival i suppose they would run round their train staight away, but while they wait to make the return to liverpool they would have to stand so a vent would be ideal at this end of the station

I think Rentaclown is right here. If you look at the picture, you can see that the vent is just before the end of the later platform extension, so would be about where a loco would be standing. Incidentally, on the same picture you can just see where the Green Lane crossing intrudes into the tunnel.
@diggingdeeper; It's really too near the open air of the station to need that. Also, unlike the London Underground, where the trains fit the tube closely, here, there's plenty of space around a train.

Found this a while ago (well, I think it was Pinzgauer who spotted it). On the attached map,(1909)at the South end of The station just by Chamberlain St. & over the tracks is a rectangle with the letters Tk in, which we think stands for Tank. You need to enlarge the pic. to see it clearly. Maybe this was to re-fill the water tanks of the steam locos.

wasnt my mates! They were corsadaves mates, idiots stick together dont you know?!

Looks like a very public toilet...

Its probably a daft idea, but could that triangular structure have at one time supported a water tank? Someone has suggested that it is at the right end for a steam engine to vent it's steam, is that not also the end where they put the water in? Has anyone tried looking at later map of area? I am off to central library next week, I could poke around in the reference bit - looking for ordnance of my area anyway.

Don't think it would have supported a water tank. It's immediately above the hole in the tunnel, so surely a vent. Also, if it was for a tank, it's much taller than necessary. I think the water tank was at the other end (see my previous post).

Its odd that it has the brick detail at the top - the lip. Then again it would seem designers in the past were eager to embellish even the most mundanely functioning building (e.g. Mersey tunnel ventilation buildings).

Yes, the three rows of corbelled brickwork; nicely done. I guess the date would be in the 1890's, before the line was electrified. As for the ventilation buildings, I think they're beautiful. The architect, Herbert Rowse, specified a most unusual brick size; 10"x 2 1/2" and all the designs are done using that brick in various ways. They are absolutely of their period; Art Deco, early 1930's. He also designed the sculptures over the tunnel entrances, all different, the original toll booths ( one remains preserved at the Georges Dock building)& all the other marvellous tunnel features.

bloody hell thats all grown since i waslast up there!