Ancoats Goods Station
in Ancoats, Manchester
1870 'THE MIDLAND COMPANY'S NEW GOODS STATION IN MANCHESTER.
The Midland Railway Company, which until the present time has been at a great disadvantage with respect to its goods traffic, owing to the want of proper station accommodation, on Monday opened its new goods station in Ancoats, Manchester.
The station has been about two years in course of construction, and in fitting it with every modern convenience required for the development of a large and increasing traffic no expense has been spared. Architecturally, the building is exceedingly plain. There is a long shed, 300 feet by 328 feet, with arrival and departure platforms each 30 feet wide, and each fitted with 12 cranes worked by hydraulic power (Sir W. Armstrong's patent) for the accommodation of general traffic. A centre platform, 15 feet wide, is fitted with four hydraulic cranes for vegetable and perishable traffic. The whole area covered by the shed is cellared, and admirably adapted for the storage of beer, wines, &c. The cellars are reached by flights of steps, and provision has been made externally for the lifting of barrels, or commodities of any description which may be warehoused there, by means of hydraulic wall cranes ; whilst, within the shed, hydraulic cranes lift from the waggons, and lower through trap doors into the cellars beneath.
There are within the shed twelve lines of rails ; and traversers are so arranged that waggons can he moved from one line to another, or, if necessary, from one side of the shed to the other with great facility. Two long traversers, and two shorter ones, have been laid down, and, outside the shed, is one connecting the whole of the lines. These traversers quite do away with the use of turntables ; in fact, there is not one of those contrivances about the station. Above the station is a spacious room 300 ft. by 200 ft., which is to be used for warehousing goods. It is fitted with six powerful hydraulic cranes for lifting goods from beneath. Ihere is on the departure platform also a hydraulic lift, which is used for the same purpose. Spacious offices are provided on the several platforms for the invoicing and delivery clerks. Waggons are moved in and out of the shed by means of hydraulic capstans and snatch-heads, which obviate the use of horses for shunting. The hydraulic power is obtained by a 40-horse engine pumping the water into two upright cylinders fitted with solid plungers, or, as they are also called, "accumulators." These plungers, or pistons, are acted upon by two circular vessels loaded with a weight of 70 tons each, a pressure being thus obtained of 700lbs on the square inch. Water is admitted to the machinery that works the cranes by means of hand levers ; and the operation is so simple that a boy 14 years of age may work any crane without the slightest difficulty. The total number of cranes about the station is 44, of which 20 are made so as to be capable of being worked by hand alone, in case of necessity. Eight are able to lift two tons each, and the remainder one ton.
Facing Watson Street is a large building containing the offices. These are large, lofty, and well lighted ; and ample and healthy accommodation is provided for a large staff of clerks. The other buildings on the ground are guards' and porters' mess-rooms, lamp-room, and gate-houses. Cart-weighing machines, each capable of weighing 20 tons, have been laid down. These, with the platform weighing-machines, have been made by Messrs. Kitchin and Co., of Warrington, and embrace all the latest improvements. The station is provided with three entrances, one near St. Andrew's Church, the second in Watson street, and the third in Great Ancoats street, whilst within the shed there are lurry roads alongside each platform 32 feet wide, six doors being provided on each side of the shed for ingress and egress.
Twelve lines of rails, fitted with points and crossings for the marshalling and arranging of waggons, have been laid down in the yard and there is room for many more, which will be laid down as the increase of traffic may require. The twelve lines run into four at Palmerston street bridge, passing over the river Medlock by a lofty iron viaduct; thence under the Ashton road, which is carried overhead upon an iron girder bridge ; under the Miles Platting branch of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway ; through the extensive plot of land stretching from that branch to the junction with the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire Company's line at Ashbury's and so on to the Midland Company's main line. A piece of ground, about 20 acres in extent, adjoining the Ashton road, has been laid out for stone, mineral, and station-to-station traffic, and fitted with the necessary cranes, cart roads, cattle dock, weigh bridges, &c. It is capable of accommodating an immense amount of traffic. There is ample room for ten miles of railway in this piece of ground.
Old Ancoats Hall and the adjacent grounds have been acquired by the Midland Railway Company, and the site will be used for the development of their traffic, as occasion may require. The plans in relation to it are as yet incomplete. The works above described have been carried out under the superintendence of Mr. J. S. Crossley, of Derby, the Company's engineer ; the architect has been Mr. I. W. Sanders, of Derby ; and the building contractor, Mr. E. Johnson, of Manchester. The amount of capital expended by the Midland Railway Company upon their new station and lines, in Manchester, was stated by the late chairman (Mr. Hutchinson) at the meeting of shareholders in February to be £486,000.'[1]
Note: The old Ancoats Hall, purchased by the Midland Railway, was used as an employees' social club, and remained so under B.R. ownership. See 1960 photo here [2]