The First Station
The first station opened on 15 September 1830 as part of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. It was located in a deep sandstone cutting, with three tunnels at the west end. The largest bore, in the centre, was the 2,250-yard Wapping Tunnel, a long incline leading to Wapping Dock and the world's first tunnel to be bored under a metropolis. The goods wagons descended by gravity, but were hauled up by a winding engine. When first opened, it was whitewashed, lit by gas, and used as a promenade by visitors.
The tunnel to the north of the central bore was much shorter and inclined upwards, leading to the passenger terminal at Crown Street. Here the trains descended by gravity to Edge Hill station and were wound up into Crown Street. The southern tunnel was originally a short length leading nowhere and used as a storage shed: its chief purpose was to create a symmetrical appearance. It was later extended on a curving incline so that it could pass over the Wapping tunnel and enter the goods yard created after the abandonment of the Crown Street station.
At the opposite end of the station area were the boilers of a stationary steam engine. These were used for the rope-winding mechanism. Each formed the base of a fine Moorish Arch. The smoke was channelled down rock cut flues to tall chimneys – known as the 'Pillars of Hercules' – on either side of the tunnel facing.
There were engine sheds and workshops cut into the rock either side of the station area, entered by transverse tracks accessed by turnplates.
The station area was rarely used for passengers, being so close to Crown Street station, but was used for the marshalling of trains and the coupling and uncoupling of locomotives.
Read more about this topic: Edge Hill Railway Station
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