CHESTER TO SHREWSBURY

Journey with us in the cab of a Transport for Wales class 158 from Chester to Shrewsbury. It’s a spectacularly beautiful day with bright blue skies, and we’re treated to a view of the landscape we pass through at its best.

We begin from platform 4 at Chester as a Merseyrail service from Liverpool Central arrives at platform 7. Initially, we travel on a section of the Chester & Holyhead Railway’s tracks to cross the River Dee close to Chester Racecourse. The bridge was the scene of a fatal accident less than a year after its opening when one of the cast iron girders failed.

At Saltney Junction we diverge south to cross the Welsh border at Pulford, and then there’s a single track section which takes us to the first stop at Wrexham.

From there, we’ve further stops at Ruabon, Cefn, Chirk and Gobowen, and cross the Vale of Llangollen on what was the biggest viaduct in Britain on completion.

There’s a lot of history to see, from disused branch lines and a private railway to long-lost stations whose surviving buildings celebrate the architecture of the Chester & Shrewsbury Railway and the GWR. At Gobowen there’s a view of a pair of class 144 sets planned for use on a hoped-for future re-opening of the branch to Oswestry,

Our arrival at Shrewsbury coincides with the departure of an opposing service back to Chester, and we’ve a view of the smaller of Shrewsbury’s signal boxes at Crewe Junction.

There’s full, knowledgable commentary to guide and inform as we head south.