Liverpool Exchange station, fronting on Tithebarn St was the hub of the Lancashire & Yorkshire routes radiating north and west until closure on 29 April 1977. We are looking from Moorfields on 19 April 1977 at the smoke blackened frontage of the 1886-1888 station. Dr Preston Hendry was born in Liverpool and assumed the grey-black stone was natural not just dirt! On the central pillar of the main entrance was a memorial to John Pearson, Chairman of the LYR who died in 1887 when the station was build completed. We look from platform 5 under the magnificent train shed to the stops. An LMS electric set in in platform 6. Liverpool Exchange A cabin later renamed as ‘Liverpool Ex No 2’ survived until 1977. It was provided with a 168 lever frame which in its heyday had but seven white spare levers but was sadly reduced by 1977. As we look at the diagram we can see why as the station had been reduced from 11 to 4 platforms. ‘Switch diamonds’ are used where the angle lines cross at is very shallow and such rare track existed at Exchange as we see from the information back plate. We look from the box towards ‘the country’ on 19-4-77 with a DMU on the ‘turntable siding’ as it was associated with the turntable between platforms 3 and 4,one of two turntables provided at Exchange. No 24 was a setting back signal on the Up Fast and even in 1977 applied to five routes so the pull plate is one of the longest I hae ever seen listing the levers it works with. We look from the box to platforms 4,5, 6 and 7 in 1977. This was the electrified side of the station electric services to Southport commencing in 1904 and to Aintree in 1906. A copy of these notes accompanies the set. These views are copyright; Reproduction by any means is prohibited without our prior written permission.
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We look from Tithebarn St at the frontage of Liverpool Exchange station in 1977. The road was too busy to stand in, so my father drove up and down several times till I got a view from the window with less than usual traffic! Booking offices and wooden kiosks for inspectors were at the stops of each pair of platform. This was the office at the end of platform 6. We look under the train shed at platform 6 on the right, road 7 and what was originally platform 8 to avoid a road 7 and platform 7, but which later became platform 7. Road 7 once provided run round facilities but these were not needed after electrification. We look from the county end of platform 4 towards the stops on 19-4-77. The running in board is in LM Region maroon. Driving trailer composite M29880M is the last vehicle on a 3 coach LMS set of 1939-1941 arriving in platform 5. Becoming class 502, they last survived until 1980. We take a look from platform 6 to the country in 1977 with a 1939-41 set in platform 7, and see one of the intermediate cars in what were standard 3 car sets. The elevated LYR Liverpool Exchange B box was replaced by a BR LM region cabin which became Liverpool Exchange No 1, which we see on 19-4-1977. This was fitted with an 85 lever LMS standard frame, compared to the 136 levers of its predecessor. We have a further glimpse of the quite different LYR 168 lever frame in No 2 box and conclude with a are shot of a driver training train, headed by Driving Trailer Composite M29881M descending the newly completed line to the underground Moorfields station which replaced Exchange in the end of the month. This is the only part of the railway that still survives of what we see in Sets A and B! A copy of these notes accompanies the set. These views are copyright; Reproduction by any means is prohibited without our prior written permission.
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Sets A and B concentrated on Liverpool Exchange, but we will cover the line to Southport in Set C, commencing with LMS 1939 Motor Open Brake Second M28355M within inches of the stops at the end of platform 5! Driving trailer open composite M29874M is the rear coach of a 3-car set arriving in platform 7 on 19 April 1977. In set B we saw M29881M dropping down the grade to Moorfields. Here it is the last car on a 6-car training set climbing back from below ground level to daylight on the new section of the Merseyrail electrics in 1977. Bootle Oriel Road was on the Southport line and until 1977 periodic non-electric services ran from Southport to Liverpool Lime St via Edge Hill, a service my father sometimes used in steam days. We look north at the HT overhead lines in 1977.Waterloo station was an island platform with old buildings on the road and modern BR structures on the platform. Mt father used it when the family lived nearby and revisited it in 1977 and is seen with tripod and 16mm cine camera as Driving trailer composite M29882M heads for Southport in 1977. Ainsdale, near the northern end of the Southport line was one of many stations with mechanical signal boxes an level crossings as we see here. Motor Open Brake Second M28339M is the last car on a set heading for Southport in April 1977. We look nrth towards Southport and can contrast the differing architectural styles as the station developed piecemeal over the years. One of the last projects of LNWR later LMS chief engineer E C Trench, before he retired in 1927 was Hillside station just outside Southport. Within a few years reinforced concrete was to replace brick as the usual medium, giving it a period charm. When my father built a model railway it was the Greenlane & Hillside Railway both locations being stations on Merseyside but his Hillside station had 6 platforms and over 80 sidings! A copy of these notes accompanies the set. These views are copyright; Reproduction by any means is prohibited without our prior written permission.
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Sets D of Merseyside Electrics commenced with the entrance to Sandhills station, which was the first station out of Liverpool Exchange and prior to the divergence of the Southport and other routes. Marsh Lane Junction controlled the divergence of the North Mersey branch ran from the Southport line to the Preston and Wigan lines and was ultra busy during Grand National days at Aintree. Electric car sheds were established by the LYR at Hall Rd and Dr Hendry is on the far platform waiting for a Liverpool train on 19-4-1977. In the distance can be seen the facing lead to the car shed head shunt of the let, the Southport line and the centre turnback road between the running lines. In 1905 soon after electric services began a signal failure caused a signalman to flag a Liverpool-Southport express through although the points were set for the turn back siding and an electric train in there. In the head on collision 21 lives were lost, the worst accident in LYR history. The building to the far left is the LMS car shed and next to it is the LYR battery house. A youthful train spotter peers over the wall at the stock sidings next to the offices at Hall Road depot on 19-4-77. Hightown box once controlled a level crossing but the road was closed off, as we see here. M28311M, the first of the Motor Open Brake Seconds enters Hightown station on a Liverpool service on 19-4-77. Motor Open Brake Second M28323M is the rear car as a 3-car until leaves Hightown for Southport. Birkdale on the outskirts of Southport had a wooden oversailing signal box with some of its cockscomb ridge tiles intact in April 1977. Motor Open Brake Second enters Birkdale with a Liverpool service. The unusual width of the Liverpool-Southport stock is apparent from this view. A copy of these notes accompanies the set. These views are copyright; Reproduction by any means is prohibited without our prior written permission.
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Merseyrail Wirral Railway electric trains Set J of 10 6x4 Colour Photo Prints
The Wirral Railway was a small independent line on the west bank of the Mersey and ran between Birkenhead Park station and New Brighton and West Kirby. It was taken into the LMS in 1923. New Brighton is a dormitory town and holiday resort and we see the station frontage on Atherton St in August 1990. With the electrification of the Wirral lines in 1938, the LMS modernised many stations with a reinforced concrete canopy at New Brighton. To cope with steam era local trains a 2-lever ground frame of LNWR origins was provided at the inner end of the platform and still survived on 9-10-65. In the evening, as we see in August 1990, the sidings were used to stable spare sets in this case 508118 and 508127. The signal box was beyond Portland St roadbridge, and 508126 heads for storage as the shadows lengthen in July 1995. Wallasey Grove Road station has a WRCo station building with the Wirral Railway horn of plenty on the gable end and looked smart in 1990. Wallasey Village station opened in 1907 and was extensively modernised by the LMS with typical 1930s architecture as we see in August 1990. 508139 enters the up main platform en route for Liverpool in July 1995 with Birkenhead North No 1 SB on the left. We look from the up side to the main buildings on the Down platform on 9-10-1965. Once again the Wirral Railway horn of plenty is on the gable ends.The LMS electrified the Wirral Section in 1938, commencing throught running with the Mersey Railway which had electrified in 1903. Motor open brake second M28391M leaves Birkenhead North for Liverpool. It is a 1956 built car to the original LMS design and became class 503 under TOPs. It has Merseyrail branding with the Merseyside PTE logo. A copy of these notes accompanies the set. These views are copyright and may not be reproduced without prior written permission.
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Merseyrail Wirral Railway Set K of 10 6x4 Colour Photo Prints
The Wirral Railway also ran to West Kirby and we see the frontage of the Mock Tudor replacement Wirral Railway bulding of 1898-99. During electrification in 1939 the LMS added an art deco concrete canopy with glazing panels to add light. We see M29148M and M29156M, which are 1956 LMS designed Driving Trailer seconds, the latter car being a replacement for one destroyed in the blitz. The LMS signal box opened in 1932 and closed on 17-9-1994 and was demolished. The Up buildings at Hoylake were by William Henry Hamlyn, chief architect of the LMS in 1938 and are in classic 1930s Art Deco style with a circular clerestory roof as we see in our view, which also shows the replacement LMS crossing gates and concrete footbridge. The canopies were supported from ABOVE by reinforced concrete beams as per our next view. As with West Kirby, Moreton received a replacement signal box in 1932 but was an LNWR type 5 box rather than an LMS standard box, so may have been assembled from parts left in signal stores. We see the box on 9-10-65. It was closed in September 1994. Bidston Junction had a 1930s LMS box with a 65 lever frame which closed in 1994. It controlled the junction with the GC line from Wrexham Central and WRCo connections. We take a look at the 40 lever frame at Birkenhead North No 1 box. The yellow lever No 6 controls the Inner Up distant, a most unusual arrangement. Our final view is from the down platform looking at the canopy on the up side island platform. A copy of these notes accompanies the set. These views are copyright and may not be reproduced without prior written permission.
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Merseyrail Wirral Railway Set L of 10 6x4 Colour Photo Prints
Set L provides another look at the Wirral Railway. LMS built M28685, a 1938 Driving Motor Brake Second is in the down platform as 1956 Driving Trailer Second M29148M arrives at Birkenhead North on a 3-car service for Liverpool. We see the 1888 WRCo Birkenhead North No 1 SB on 9-10-65. It was closed on 9-09-1994. The box housed a 40 lever frame with, most unusually, four yellow distant levers as we see. The diagram shows the three platforms, the back road and the connection to the electric train car sheds. 507005 in Regional Railway yellow with black gey and white banding is seen shortly before the signal box was demolished. A 2-car DMU has the signal off for the Wrexham Central service at Bidston Junction on 9-10-65. We see the 1938 art deco buildings at Leasome station on 9-10-65 with the reinforced concrete canopies supported from above and the classic 1930s metal framed windows. We look at the frontage of Hoylake station with its curved projecting canopy, which is some of the most outstanding art deco work to have survived for eighty years. There is a ‘full house’ of 1938 LMS-type stock at West Kirby with M29156M, which was the last of the 1956 cars to LMS design. Some stock is in all over rail blue but other sets are in blue/grey. We look at the mock-Tudor frontage of West Kirby station with the gates to the right of the building facilitating passenger flow at peak times. Our final view is from the down platform looking at the canopy on the up side island platform. A copy of these notes accompanies the set. These views are copyright and may not be reproduced without prior written permission.
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Merseyrail Mersey Railway Set BW-1 of 10 6x4 Black+White Photo Prints
With fog disrupting ferries across the river, the Mersey Railway was built between Liverpool Central (Low Level) and Birkenhead Park and Rock Ferry in the Wirral. It was steam worked and opened in 1886. Although the Metropolitan Railway had run steam underground since the 1860s it did not have the 1 in 27 or 1 in 30 grades of the Mersey Railway. The most powerful tank engines in the British Isles were buit, including eight 0-6-4Ts. We open with an 1885 engraving of Mersey Railway No 1 which became The Major and was displaced on electrification in 1903. We see No 6 Fox, (named after the engineer-in-chief). As well as the 064Ts, the Mersey Railway acquired open cab 262Ts. No 13 Brunlees of 1887, named after the other engineer, James Brunlees, came from Beyer Peacock. No’s 18 Banstead came from Kitson in 1892. Compared to the Beyer engines the water equalisation pipes were larger, but the big change was an ugly extended smoke box drum. On electrification many engines went to the Alexandra Docks Railway in South Wales for Valleys coal traffic, including No 11 which became ADR 6 and GWR 1207. It is at Newport (Pill) shed, and was withdrawn IN 1932. The ADR paid the Mersey Railway a tribute by ordering two new 262Ts to the same design which became GWR 1205 and 1206. In the distance is a genuine Mersey 262T, GWR 1199, Mersey Railway No 16, After electrification, the steam engines were too big for engineering trains so the Mersey Railway obtained a Metropolitan Railway 440T, this one being Met No 7 which ran until 1939 as Mersey Railway No 2. Birkenhead Central Station was the head offices of the Mersey Railway and where the car sheds were. Mersey boxes were given an identity letter so Central was controlled by Cabin E, seen in July 1990. We conclude with the face and rear of a signalman’s qualification certificate A copy of these notes accompanies the set. These views are copyright and may not be reproduced without prior written permission.
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Merseyrail Mersey Railway Set BW-2 of 10 6x4 Black+White Photo Prints
After steam services ended, a Metropolitan Railway 440T was obtained for engineering duties and was replaced by a second engine in 1921. This was Met No 7 of 1864 which was kept between the arches on the Up side at Birkenhead Central station from 1925 to 1939. We see the engine in its Mersey Indian Red livery with two detailed views of the locomotive and a view of Mersey Electric Railway (hence the MER lettering) Engineers Ballast Brake van No 1 at Central station. This had been built on a former carriage chassis and survived until c1956. The new cars for the 1903 electric working came from G F Milnes and included twelve drivoing motoe forsts, No’s 1-12 which were powered by 4 x 100 hp motors. Driving first motor No 2 leads a six coach train at Birkenhead North after the introduction of joint Mersey-LMS through electric working in 1936-39.We see the interior of ‘D’ box at Hamilton Square before the installation of Westinghouse automatic and semi automatic signalling in 1921. We see one of the Alexandra Docks ‘clones’ of the Mersey 262Ts, No 1205 at Llantrisant on 20-6-1949 Like all railways the company issued free passes and we illustrate the free pass from the Mersey Railway ‘appendix’ of 1930. We conclude with two items of railwayana, a memo form of 1933 and a note from the rolling stock engineer re provision of staff to assist the Post Office. A copy of these notes accompanies the set. These views are copyright and may not be reproduced without prior written permission.
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Merseyrail Mersey Railway Set P of 11 6x4 Colour Photo Prints
The Appendix to the WTT provided staff instructions and was issued by Joshua Shaw who came to supervise electrification and remained for decades as manager. We look to Birkenhead Central station with the car shed on the right in July 1990. My father had known the line from his childhood during the Great War. In the 1930s he called at Central and was taken to see an elderly man, who when he found an Isle of Man link, took him round, as Joshua Shaw had been engineer to what became the Manx Electric Railway. Almost 60 years later BR staff were equally solicitious! Class 508112 peeps out of the car shed in July 1990 and we see the same set further out of the shed, Hamilton Square station Birkenhead had a 120 foot tall hydraulic tower to provide water power for the 100 person lifts until they were electrified in the 1930s.The Mersey Railway station at James St was destroyed in the blitz and a modern block put up in place, seen in June 1994. 508108 enters the new platform at James St when the Mersey Railway was rebuilt from a dead end to a one way loop in the 1970s. We are at the end of the platform and see the tracks extending into the gloom at Liverpool Central (Low Level) on 30-10-71. Rock Ferry on the southern outskirts of Birkenhead was the terminus of one route and passengers could change to trains on the Birkenhead Joint Railway (LNWR-GWR) to continue to Chester. Like signalmen, guards were also tested and given a certificate, which has the Mersey Railway Liver Bird device in a double circle. Mersey electrics terminated at Rock Ferry, but in 1985 the thirs rail was extended to Hooton Junction on the Birkenhead Joint line and to Chester in 1993. We see 508104 at Hooton en route for Liverpool on 25-6-94. A copy of these notes accompanies the set. These views are copyright; Reproduction by any means is prohibited without our prior written permission.
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Mersey Railway Birkenhead Park station Set R of 10 6x4 Colour Photo Prints Birkenhead Park station was the frontier between the Mersey Railway which was independent until 1948 and the Wirral Railway. Originally it had four platform faces but two middle platforms were converted into a turnback bay from Liverpool.as per the 1972 signal box diagram. The 60 lever LMS signal box of 1938 with an LMS pattern frame was reduced to 25 levers in 1972 as we see, and abolished in 1988. It was equipped with 1960s-70s vintage train describers as illustrated. The original station buildings were destroyed during the Blitz in 1941 and a simple brick replacement added with a plain frontage. The ticket barriers were classical LMS 1930s Art deco style. LMS 1938 Driving Motor Brake Second M28684M heads for Liverpool Central. As a Joint station some spandrels were lettered TMR for The Mersey Railway whilst others had an interleaved M and W for Mersey and Wirral Railways, Dr Hendry, who had memories of the electric/steam interchange at Birkenhead Park in the 1920s, looks at the turn back platform installed in 1972. It was fascinating to hear his memories of the station as an interchange point. The way the Down platform has been extended is apparent from how the canopy does not reach the edge of the platform. The station has now been cut back with the platform on the left closes and demolished. A copy of these notes accompanies the set. These views are copyright; Reproduction by any means is prohibited without our prior written permission. |
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Southport station and LYR 1918 Electro-pneumatic miniature frame re-signalling Set BW1 10 6x4 Black+White Prints
In 1837, Southport was an unimportant village on the Lancashire coast. The railway arrived in 1848 and by 1900 it was a major holiday resort and a fashionable dormitory town for wealthy Liverpool and Manchester businessmen. The station was massively rebuilt to 11 platforms in 1914 but a new signalling system was delayed due to the Great War until 1918. Two electro-pneumatic miniature lever frames were supplied by McKenzie, Holland& Westinghouse and installed in two new boxes in 1917/18 making it the most up-to-date signalling installation in the UK, if not in the world. Chapel St box, at the station throat contained 87 levers and would probably have needed three or more mechanical boxes and 340 levers to do the same work! Our set opens with a July 1964 view showing the carriage siding, all eleven platforms and Chapel St box. The profusion of ex-LMS non corridor stock is remarkable at this late date. 2-6-4T No 42641 has just taken No 76 points on to the ‘Up West’ running line to St Lukes so it is likely to be a Manchester train, rather than for Preston. With short runs to Preston and Manchester, 2-6-4Ts handled many turns and 42574 is outside the coal hole in July 1964. A fan of ten carriage sidings existed in the triangle off the station throat, and Chapel St box was located between No 7 and No 8 sidings. The single story extension housed air compressors and standby equipment. Two views from opposite ends depict the 87 lever miniature frame, some of the levers being push-pull, so they worked two separate connections with a middle ‘normal’ position. The 13 starting signals ex the platforms were controlled by just two levers through route selection. By 1977, the station had been reduced to six platforms as the diagram reveals, and the chorn from the Liverpool to the St Luke’s lines had gone, but it was still busy. We take a close-up look at miniature levers 55-68.In the next view we see the rotating contact drums at the back of the frame that made the electrical circuits to control the low pressure pneumatic signals and points. Our final view is looking from the box towards the Liverpool curve and the repair shop and boiler house. A copy of these notes accompanies the set. These views are copyright; Reproduction is prohibited without our prior written permission
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Merseyside Bargain Pack all 12 sets, 120 6x4 B+W and Colour Prints
A wonderful treat for anyone interested in the Liverpool railway scene, with 120 views from the 1890s to the 1980s covering the network of lines radiating out of Liverpool.