Stunning pictures revealed the rarely glimpsed inside of the railway cutting between Liverpool Lime Street and Edge Hill.
They show the different sections of the deep gorge, including its expertly cut sandstone walls and sections of the original tunnel.
There is also the old track workers' cabin, a small building within the dark section of tunnel. The cabin would have been a former mess facility for the workers who would have maintained the track and signals into Lime Street station.
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It seems time has stood still in here, with the kettle still on the table as if ready to make a cuppa.
Another main feature within the railway cutting is the bricked-up Williamson’s Tunnel - this is an area of large sandstone blocks on either side of the cutting, which blend into the sandstone of the wall.
This clearly shows where Joseph Williamson's amazing "Triple Decker Tunnel" - three tunnels built one on top of each other, reaching a combined height of 80ft - had been bricked up during the railway’s construction.
Also visible is the original Ramsbottom's Chimney Vent tunnel, designed to vent the steam from the original railway tunnel. Within this short tunnel was a steam driven fan, to expel smoke up and out of the main tunnel through a very tall chimney that once stood on Smithdown Lane, Edge Hill. The large chimney known as Ramsbottom's chimney was demolished in the 1970s.
The images were captured in July 2018 during the Liverpool Lime Street blockade - a series of closures that went on for weeks, to allow for major upgrading work to be carried out.
The remodelling of Liverpool’s main terminus station, said to be the largest renovation and engineering upgrade of Lime Street station since its opening in 1836, saw the relaying of track, new signalling, and a new platform arrangement.
The pictures were taken with the permission of Network Rail by train driver Chris Iles, who is based at Lime Street and is familiar with every inch of the railway cutting.
He said: "The cutting is fascinating. I never tire of driving through this incredible piece of engineering and Liverpool history."
You can find out more about Williamson's Tunnels, along with Ramsbottom’s Chimney and the Triple Decker Tunnel, at the Friends of Williamson's Tunnels website here.
All pictures are copyright Chris Iles.
