To add to previous post here is a photo of Birkenhead Mollington Street's Class 9F 92160 leaving Morpeth Dock with a freight for Warrington on 9th Sept 1966. Note the cattle wagons behind the loco, which will have been shunted round into Morpeth Dock from Shore Road.
To add to previous post here is a photo of Birkenhead Mollington Street's Class 9F 92160 leaving Morpeth Dock with a freight for Warrington on 9th Sept 1966. Note the cattle wagons behind the loco, which will have been shunted round into Morpeth Dock from Shore Road.
Bob
Great Picture...! Don't forget there was also a large lairage on the North Quay of Wallasey Dock and beyond called 'Wallasey Lairage' which was physically separate from the lairage next to Woodside...... so the cattle trucks could be from there also..
To add to previous post here is a photo of Birkenhead Mollington Street's Class 9F 92160 leaving Morpeth Dock with a freight for Warrington on 9th Sept 1966. Note the cattle wagons behind the loco, which will have been shunted round into Morpeth Dock from Shore Road.
I reckon that it's Egerton Bridge at the end of Shore Road. The main Line locos such as the two in the film didn't go over Duke Street or the Four Bridges route due to the curves, but did go over Egerton Bridge ,as this was the access to Morpeth Dock yards from the main line from Chester.If you look carefully you will see that one of the railway wagons carries an advert for the Great Western Railway. Having been over this bridge once or twice on the footplate of steam locos I can assure you that there were 2 tracks on this bridge.
Bob.
Still think this looks like Duke Street as there are buildings where near Egerton there is dock water.
I think the 2 locos bit is a bridge test to show the strength of the bridge to the assembled crowd.
You're righ about the neare loco being a GWR type - the cab is the identifying feature, BUT the other loco looks like a London and North Eastern (LNER - ex Great Central) J11 - which fits in with the fact that on the north side of the Great Float there were warehouses and goods yards worked by LNER locos.
I know GWR locos shunted on the far side and continued to until the 1950's as my Great Uncle was an ex-GWR locoman who used to crew a old GWR Pannier tank from Mollington Street, which was used to shunt wagons on the north side of the float - they used to go via the Duke Street bridge to get there...
I reckon that it's Egerton Bridge at the end of Shore Road. The main Line locos such as the two in the film didn't go over Duke Street or the Four Bridges route due to the curves, but did go over Egerton Bridge ,as this was the access to Morpeth Dock yards from the main line from Chester.If you look carefully you will see that one of the railway wagons carries an advert for the Great Western Railway. Having been over this bridge once or twice on the footplate of steam locos I can assure you that there were 2 tracks on this bridge.
Bob.
Still think this looks like Duke Street as there are buildings where near Egerton there is dock water.
I think the 2 locos bit is a bridge test to show the strength of the bridge to the assembled crowd.
You're righ about the neare loco being a GWR type - the cab is the identifying feature, BUT the other loco looks like a London and North Eastern (LNER - ex Great Central) J11 - which fits in with the fact that on the north side of the Great Float there were warehouses and goods yards worked by LNER locos.
I know GWR locos shunted on the far side and continued to until the 1950's as my Great Uncle was an ex-GWR locoman who used to crew a old GWR Pannier tank from Mollington Street, which was used to shunt wagons on the north side of the float - they used to go via the Duke Street bridge to get there...
Correction - the locos are a GWR 56xx 0-6-2T tank engine and a LMS (ex-LNWR) 0-8-0 - both heavy freight locos - so Egerton Bridge is back on the list - or is it 'A' bridge of the 4 bridges ??? DOH!!!
Excuse me for my ignorance. Does 'four bridges' refer to the rd by the irish ferry? Coz theres only 2! 3 if you the count the one up by the old train track, near the business park where the parking attendants hide?
I reckon that it's Egerton Bridge at the end of Shore Road. The main Line locos such as the two in the film didn't go over Duke Street or the Four Bridges route due to the curves, but did go over Egerton Bridge ,as this was the access to Morpeth Dock yards from the main line from Chester.If you look carefully you will see that one of the railway wagons carries an advert for the Great Western Railway. Having been over this bridge once or twice on the footplate of steam locos I can assure you that there were 2 tracks on this bridge.
Bob.
The expertise that bubbles up on this site is fantastic. You can't beat personal knowledge I guess.
Here's the best I can find. Date, about 1913. It only shows 1 of the Alfred dock bridges unfortunately. However, it shows that not only Egerton but the other bridges carried twin rail tracks.
Chris, thanks for the map. If you look at the Alfred and i just checked with google maps, it appears to be on your map also. An island, if i can put it this way, maybe 1 bridge from mainland to island and a bridge from island to mainland. If that makes sense.
God help us, Come yourself, Don't send Jesus, This is no place for children.
Yes, Bert; because of infilling there's only 1 bridge now at Alfred dock & the other that's disappeared is the first one on the Birkenhead side, by Egerton dock. I'm thinking of coming up tomorrow so I'll drive round there. It'll bring back memories of me & my dad walking round there. He loved the docks & knew all the funnels of the different shipping lines.
My dads the same!! He was a ship version of a train-spotter! Ex merchant seaman. Many a saturday afternoon me+ me sister would be running amok whilst he sat there with his binocs+ his log noting down 'stuff' about ships-country, name, type of etc. Other stuff probably bv thats the stuff i remember being 'taught' to look for thru the binocs! Used to bore me silly, now i kinda get it
Going from the Wallasey side of Tower Road, the bridges over Alfred Dock were "A" "B" Wallasey Dock was "C" and Edgerton Dock was "D" I am 99% sure 2 sets of rail tracks on "A" bridge cos I well remember getting my bike wheel stuck in the tracks!!!
They were hydraulic swing bridges from about 1866, then rebuilt about 1931 to bascule type. (Swing br. pictures from Birkenhead - Pictorial History, I.Boumphrey, 1995) The Duke St., the Four Bridges and Morpeth Br. are all shown with double tracks on the OS 1909 maps (Godfrey 1988).
Sad that it's no longer such a big and important UK port when we had decent-sized industries dealing with all parts of the world. That's progress!
