WAW027385 WALES (1949) [Unlocated]. View of GWR locomotive near Hawarden. Oblique aerial photograph, 5½" cut roll film.

It is neither GWR, or Hawarden. It's actually the only known picture of Sealand Rifle Range Halt.



It is actually what was known as "Rifle Range Halt", on the Wrexham-Bidston line, and was built to serve the Army rifle ranges (still there to this day), as they had previously been on the edge of RAF Sealand, but moved out out because of airfield expansion in the late 1930's to their current location.



Rifle Range Halt is around where the current brick shooting range building is, picture taken looking towards Connahs Quay from the Puddington side of the railway.



Top left is part of Shotton Steel works. The long snaky pipeline (temporary) in the top left quadrant is disgorging sand/water, pumped from out in the estuary (I understand they used "Kop Hole", which is the Tern sanctuary at the far end of the Broken Bank. The sand was to raise the land level, from the land which was "behind" the Broken Bank, which they did as required. The Dutch were involved (not unsurprisingly!). Some film of the same era from youtube / pathe news http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vr01ptg1seM. Notice it is pumping into an area with a raised bank around it.



The three huts at top left are for the shooting ranges, the bases are still there beside the 568 cycleway as it drops down off the railway embankment towards the 1951 bridge - and are visible on Google Earth.



The Alwen water pipeline to Birkenhead is the dark line running left right across the picture, about 1/3rd from the top. The actual rifle ranges do not show, they are to the right. Top right is Connahs Quay. The other snaky pipeline, (around the T shaped hut) would be another temporary pipeline for pumping sand into the rectangular area in front of the T shaped hut, that looks like it is being prepared.



The whole railway track in that area was originally double track, but a large raised area was built up for the steelworks sidings - later used by the UPM paperworks for timber trains from Crianlarich, and now used for the 568 cycleway.

The locomotive 67430 was designed by Robinson for the Great Central Railway and was built at Gorton Works, Manchester in January 1905. It is a 4-4-2 Tank. In 1948 it was shedded at 6D Chester Northgate and it was withdrawn from 6E Wrexham (LNER) on 30/04/1956

Not GWR - ex LNER probably based at Chester in 1949.