The Muck
Hole was the avoiding line for freight at Crewe which burrowed beneath the main
line junction north of the station. It was legendary amongst spotters and the
cry would go up, “Muck Hole,” whenever smoke suddenly appeared from southbound traffic
as it left the tunnel. Seen from the platforms, the tops of northbound trains
had no sooner arrived into view before they, too, dropped down into the abyss.
Muck Hole was a very suitable name for it. Smoke continued to drift out of the
tunnel portals for some minutes after a train had gone through.
This is the
only photograph I ever took of a train near the entrance to the Muck Hole. It’s
of poor quality but it actually sums up the location quite appropriately. It just
about shows an unidentified Stanier 8F 2-8-0 on a wretched day, weather-wise.
For
spotters, a decent view could only be gained by trespassing at the bottom of
the footbridge provided for railwaymen accessing Crewe North sheds. It was supposedly
out of bounds to us. However, we generally stayed put on the station platforms,
so Muck Hole-bound locomotives frequently passed us by without divulging their
identities.
Consequently,
and because there was usually something more interesting happening on the
station itself, the Muck Hole was more or less ignored a lot of the time. That
was, apart from the cursory – indeed, almost obligatory – shout of “Muck Hole,”
that periodically went up to acknowledge another number that we had just missed
noting. Occasionally, spotters who happened to be by the footbridge would relay
the identity of the latest Muck Hole candidate to those assembled on the
platforms.
The good
news is that it’s still there and in use today – it’s just not quite so mucky
as it used to be.
ReplyDeleteAs a child in the '60s I lived in Station Street, backing onto the North Sheds complex, and we felt vibrations through the floor every day from the freight trains on the avoiding line. Sometimes the crockery would rattle faintly.
Locals believed during wartime that troop trains travelled through the Muck Hole. When they'd feel the rumble of a heavy train through the ground they'd say a prayer in case there were soldiers on it.