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The railway was
built through Longsight at the end of the 1830s. The path it follows
today is the same one that was constructed then. The line enters the
district from the north crossing Hyde Road on what is known as the
Fenian Arch. It then passes through the Longsight Rail Depot, a network
of sidings and both engine and carriage sheds. At the southern end of
the depot, where the line crosses Kirmanshulme Lane, Longsight Station
was located. (In fact, this was the second location for the station. It
was relocated to this site in 1842.) The station sat at this location
for over a hundred years.
 Below: The Depot and Station in the 1940s  Below:
Longsight Station looking south.  Below: Longsight Station looking north from the bridge crossing New Bank Street.  Below
is a view of the southbound platform of Longsight Station with the
signal box beyond the signal gantry. Pulling the train is the
Patriot
Class locomotive "Lady Godiva" 45519, built in 1933 and withdrawn from
service in 1962. (the image is shown here with the generous
permission of Graham Todd)
 Below: The location of the
station in May of 2000. A ramp ran up that bank to the station
building that was located just before the bridge.
 If you walk down New Bank
Street from Kirkmanshulme Lane you can see, on the right hand side, the
location where another ramp ran up to the station from the north (see
below). If you walked up this ramp you could access the tunnel
that went below the tracks providing access to the south-bound platform
and beyond to Belle Vue.
 As you look north along New Bank Street you can see to the right the boundary wall of the railway depot and beyond the modern shed.  After crossing Kirkmanshulme
Lane, the line continues southwards and crosses Stanley Grove. (see
below)
Below: The pedestrian tunnel
under the railway on Parry Street.  The line reaches Stockport Road near the Slade Lane junction and crosses the road at that point. It was here, in 1840, that the Birmingham and Manchester Railway built the first Longsight Station.   Once across Stockport Road the railway line continues, behind the house below, atop an embankment through land that once belonged to the Sidall family of Slade Hall.  Below
you can see the line just after it crossed Crowcroft Road and passed
behind the Bethshan Tabernacle.
 In
the
vicinty of Slade Hall the line splits with one branch going straight
south into Levenshulme and another turning to head south-west.
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