The Old Mainline Station

A Memory of Madeley.

One of my earliest memories was as a child on a Sunday morning, still in my pyjamas, being driven to Madeley by my Dad to watch the trains go by. Standing on the footbridge, which is still there, and looking along the line in the distance for the appearance of smoke, so you knew a train was coming. Being only little, it was possible (until electrification) to see through the girder bridge quite a way along the lines - the 'up' lines to London and the 'down' lines to Crewe. Sometimes it would be really exciting if the Royal Scot or The Pines Express or other named LMS trains went through, or disappointing if it was a slow goods train. Either way, if the wind was blowing in a particular way you would get covered in smoke on the bridge. Even when the station closed and was demolished the footbridge remained, and I have taken my own children to this spot on many occasions. Now the electric high speed trains reach speeds we could never have imagined, all those years ago.

---

---