English: A view of the Intersection Bridge where the St Helens and Runcorn Gap Railway crossed over the Liverpool and Manchester Railway near Sutton, St Helens, the first bridge of one railway over another in the world.
The St Helens and Runcorn Gap railway was primarily a freight line, designed to take coal traffic from near St Helens south to the River Mersey. It opened in 1833, engineered by Charles Blacker Vignoles who had previously worked on the Liverpool and Manchester line. There was also an east/north junction just to the east between the two lines, called St Helens Junction. Here a coal train on the St Helens line passes above a locomotive on the Liverpool to Manchester line which would appear to be Stephenson's Northumbrian or one of its sisters. The engine drawing the coal wagons may be intended as a representation of Ericsson and Braithwaite's Novelty, with its distinctive upright boiler.
This plate was included as an extra by Ackermann & Co in bound editions of Bury's Coloured Views on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway from 1832 onwards; it was also available separately, priced at 4s 6d.
The St Helens line closed in the mid 1980s, and the track was lifted. The final remains of the bridge deck were removed in February 2012 [1], pending electrification of the Liverpool and Manchester line.