02/Dec/2019. Walk: St Helens Junction - St Helens Central.

I wanted to see how long it would take to walk between the two St Helens stations. It took forty minutes and was over miles, so not a convenient connection!

I also had a look at the former railway linking the two stations. There’s very little left of that indeed!

[majorpygge-phartt]

The best time to film trains using overhead lines is in the depth of winter when the contact wires are all covered in ice, then they arc like fury!

[BrasherFox]

Where I grew up, St Helens Junction, went to school, etc etc. know it well.

[francisraffle]

The c barrier and lights are for when the bridge floods it floods badly

[majorpygge-phartt]

St.Helens "central" used to be called shaw street, the original central was a terminus at what is now birchley street car park where there's nothing much left to suggest there was once a train station there, but there was cos I've got a picture of it. And shortly after the closed line leaves the current central there's an old rusty bridge branching off in a north westerly direction, does anyone know where that line led to? Was it an entry point for the old glass works lines? I know the glass works once had an extensive internal rail network of it's own and I'm a bit confused as there's another video on here where the presenter suggests the rusty bridge led to an avoiding line towards Wigan, but I've got a rail map in a "then and now" book from 2003 which shows the avoiding line on the other side, to the east, so is that map wrong? Any ideas anyone?

[Prodigy_Fan]

If you'd have turned left at where you were at 3.53 and walked up the slope on your left, you'd have got up to were the bridge is and were the track used to be. The line closed in mid-1989 and the track was ripped up within 6 months, although it was kept intact from St Helens Central all the way to Hays Chemicals were it's still intact despite Hays closing in 2002. I live in the area and rumours have gone around for years about the Central to Junction link being re-instated. Not sure if it'll ever happen though.

[francisraffle]

I live a 3 minute walk from st Helen's junction station

[nigelkthomas]

Damn! I forgot to add the audio at the end! Sorry folks!