Skip to content

SideTracked - Rochdale Traditional Geocache

This cache has been archived.

FleetwoodPhil: Due to health reasons I'm stopping and archiving all my caches I am leaving them in position, but when they go missing I will not be replacing them

More
Hidden : 8/5/2014
Difficulty:
1.5 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size:   micro (micro)

Join now to view geocache location details. It's free!

Watch

How Geocaching Works

Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions in our disclaimer.

Geocache Description:

SideTracked Rochdale


You are looking for a small green Bison

 

 

Castleton railway station serves Castleton in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England. It is 8¾ miles (14 km) north of Manchester Victoria on the Caldervale Line . The original station opened in 1839 at Blue Pits on the other side of the Rochdale-Manchester Road bridge. It was originally called Blue Pits for Heywood. The current station opened on 1 November 1875. The Liverpool and Bury Railway from Bolton (extended through from Bolton and beyond in 1848 to join the earlier M&L Heywood branch previously opened in 1841) used to join the main line at a triangular junction a short distance south of the station. This was at one time a busy passenger & freight route often used by trains avoiding the busy Manchester area, but was closed to passengers on 5 October 1970.

East Lancashire Railway Future
Rochdale railway station is a multi-modal transport hub in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England. It consists of a Northern Rail-operated heavy rail station on the Caldervale Line, and an adjoining light rail stop which is the terminus of Metrolink's Oldham and Rochdale Line. The original heavy rail element of the station was opened by the Manchester and Leeds Railway in 1839 (for economical reasons) 0.5 miles (0.80 km) to the south of Rochdale town centre. The Metrolink element opened in February 2013. Further changes to the station are planned as part of the Northern Hub rail-enhancement scheme.
The town's first station, which opened in 1839, was adjacent to Moss Lane and located around 300 yards (270 m) east of the present one The single storey structure was replaced by the current depot in April 1889, being too small to handle the increasing traffic levels on the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway's main line between Leeds & Manchester and the associated branch lines to Bury (1848), Oldham (1863) and Bacup (1881) that had subsequently been opened.

The present station previously served lines to Bolton (via Bury, closed in October 1970) and Bacup (closed June 1947) as well as the lines still in existence. It had eight platforms (four through platforms and four bays) and two entrances, one on Maclure Road and another on Miall Street. In 1979 the station was reduced to three platforms (with the closure and abandonment of the eastern island platform and its bays), and the Miall Street entrance was closed. Passengers now walk through a subway from the Maclure Road entrance and climb stairs to the main concourse, which includes a ticket office and snack bar.

Currently, only the two through platforms are regularly used: the former Oldham bay platform is still available but is normally only for stabling empty stock or turning back late-running trains from the Todmorden direction. Terminating trains from Manchester and beyond use the stub of the former Oldham branch (which has been converted into a turnback siding) to reverse clear of the main line. Signalling at the station has also been modernised, with colour lights controlled from Castleton replacing the semaphores previously in use (the old signal box at Rochdale had to be demolished in 2011 as it stood in the alignment of the planned Metrolink flyover).

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Ner lbh onexvat hc gur jebat gerr

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)