SJ4949 : Cheshire Rambler Railtour – Malpas Station
taken 63 years ago, near to Hampton Heath, Cheshire West And Chester, England

The station was some 2km distant from the town of Malpas, at Hampton Heath, so would never have been an attractive proposition to inhabitants.
This was a rail enthusiast railtour organised by the Railway Correspondence and Travel Society which ran on 27th April 1963.
It covered a number of lines no longer used by passenger services, or in some cases always freight only. The route was as follows:
Warrington Central - Glazebrook - Northenden (<>) - Lymm - Warrington Bank Quay Low Level - Ditton Jn(<>) - Runcorn(<>) - Folly Lane(<>) - Halton Jn - Frodsham Jn - Chester General(<>) - Malpas - Whitchurch(<>) - Crewe(<>) - Kidsgrove Central(<>) - Lawton Jn - Sandbach - Middlewich -Northwich(<>) - Hartford & Greenbank - Hartford CLC Jn - Hartford LNW Jn - Warrington Arpley(<>) - Warrington Bank Quay Low Level
(<>) indicates places where the train reversed direction.
The motive power was former LNER B1 class 4-6-0 61039 'Steinbok' from Warrington to Crewe, with ex-LMS 4F class 0-6-0 44548 for the second half.
The modern generation will probably be astounded by the extent to which participants were allowed to leave the train to take photographs at a variety of locations, even where there were no platforms available, including wandering across tracks without any particular restraint. This seemed to be entirely accepted by the rail authorities.
