Pre Collapse | Days after the Collapse | Completed Repairs
One of my favourite tunnels in Liverpool, has to be the only underground section of the historic Liverpool Overhead Railway (LOR) or Dockers Umbrella.
The Liverpool Overhead Railway was first opened in February 1893, with the Southern Extension opening on 21st December 1896. The Southern Extension included the 1/2 mile long Dingle Tunnel with Dingle station at its South end. Sadly, the Overhead Railway closed completely on the 30th December 1956.
High up on the arch of the Dingle Railway Tunnel, one of the original old semaphore signals can still be seen in it’s original location. The signal was safely removed to be donated to Liverpool Museum’s by the Tunnel owner. The signal has undergone a full restoration and is now on display in the Museum of Liverpool at the Pier Head.
However, even after closure of the Overhead Railway, the Former Railway Tunnel would continue to have an interesting story to tell.
The first change of use came when a Rope Manufacturer purchased the station and tunnel, with the Tunnel being used to manufacture long lengths of rope. Interestingly, there are still piles of rope from this period of the tunnel’s history still inside today.
Then in the 1960’s, Dingle station was purchased by a car repair company. The street level Station building was demolished and several underground alterations were made, including the creation of the vehicle access ramp down into the station and Tunnel.
Finally in 1977 the site was purchased once again, this time by Roscoe Engineering, who also ran their car repair business from the former Dingle Station. Additionally, the Tunnel was used for the storage of many cars over the years. Brand new cars from local dealerships would be safely stored in the dry conditions of the tunnel. Whilst many cars that had failed an MOT test, were left by customers that did not want, or could not pay for repairs to be done. So these MOT failures would remain stored in the tunnel for many years, some of which would eventually become sought after restoration projects. Roscoe Engineering operated from Dingle Station and Tunnel right up to Tuesday 24 July 2012, which was the day it was announced on local TV and Radio News that a section of the Dingle Tunnel had collapsed.
Thankfully, no one was injured that day, even though the garage staff were sat within the tunnel having their tea break when the collapse occurred. A few vehicles were damaged during the collapse, with one van being completely crushed. Many local residents were forced to evacuate their homes that day and were not able to return to their homes for quite some time.
Sadly the garage never reopened for business. However, the tunnel where the collapse occurred was eventually repaired, meaning that access into the former LOR Tunnel was still possible once repairs had been completed.
Map showing the former Liverpool Overhead Railway and Docks of Liverpool
I purchased this original, ‘Liverpool Overhead Railway’, Descriptive Map and Guide of the Railway and Docks. This Map and Guide originally cost One Penny and is marked, No: 18371. This scan shows both the map and guide on either side.
Media Coverage
The amazing pictures taken down the years at Dingle Overhead Railway tunnel – Liverpool Echo
The following photographs were taken over several years
Pre Collapse
Pre Collapse, when ‘Roscoe Engineering’, used the former Dingle Station and Tunnel for the location of its car maintenance garage.
Days after the collapse
I was invited to photograph the resulting catastrophic collapse and destruction of the tunnel, soon after the collapse happened.
Following Completion of repairs to the tunnel
Once the Tunnel repairs had been completed, I was once again invited to photograph the repair, showing how the tunnel looks now.
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Chris Iles - Photography | chrisiles.co.uk 
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