Liverpool to Chester via Frodsham Return

Join us in the cab of a class 150/2 of Transport for Wales for a trip from Liverpool Lime Street to Chester and back. Our journey begins at platform 7 of what was the London & North Western Railway’s statement of its presence in the north. The climb out of the station towards Edge Hill is steep, peaking at 1:83, and the early trains were banned from the section without the assistance of a rope and stationary engine. We’ll see evidence during the climb of tunnels created under the city by an eccentric tobacco trader, Joseph Williamson.

At Edge Hill Junction we diverge from the Chat Moss route to head towards Weaver Junction on the Liverpool branch of the West Coast Main Line. The first major obstacle is the River Mersey, and we cross it on the iconic Runcorn Railway Bridge with its attendant viaducts, to arrive at Runcorn Station.

Our route beyond there would not have been possible for 40 years up to 2019, when the Halton curve was brought back into use at a cost of nearly £20 million. It allows us access to the Chester to Warrington line at Frodsham junction, where we cross the Frodsham bridges and viaduct over the River Weaver and the Weaver Navigation.

From there, it’s an easier run south-west through the architecturally notable Helsby Station  to meet with the mid-Cheshire line at Mickle Trafford Junction, before the last few miles into Chester.

The return trip allows us to see more clearly what was obscured or unclear on the way south, and takes us down to steep slope – in modern times unaided – to arrive back at platform 7 at Liverpool Lime Street.

There’s full, knowledgeable commentary throughout, with the option to turn it off and concentrate on the sounds of the journey. On-screen graphics provide constant information about line speed and signal aspect, along with the names of stations that we visit or pass through.