The Midland Railway obtained permission to build a goods station on a 70-acre (28 ha) site there in 1865 after offering the Corporation £5000 in compensation for the 10,000 square yards (8,400 m2) of streets that would be subsumed by the development.
It was linked to the existing rail network by a track running from Ashburys railway station that crossed a viaduct on Great Ancoats Street.
There were both cellars and above-track rooms for storage as well as large sheds and yards at ground level and at least three platforms.
Eight two-ton cranes and 36 one-ton variants were available, of which 20 were capable of being used in manual mode as well as hydraulically.
The hydraulic power was generated with a 40-horsepower engine and operated at 700 pounds per square inch.