Found these in a book at the librarie the other day, can anyone date them,i know there early 1900s, i took the pics with my mobile but never took note of the dates.
Last edited by Mark; 27th May 20129:30am. Reason: renamed
1st one is heading towards hamilton square station, 2nd is tha booking hall hamilton square, 3rd is B,head central, 4th outside B,head central and the 5th is B,head central, maybe someone recognises the man??
No.3 is definitely Birkenhead Central; apart from anything else, the platforms at Park have no curve and you can see the workshops on the right. As far as date goes, the last pic. is pre electrification in 1903, (assuming the loco is still in service). No.4 is between the date of the erection of the memorial clock in 1910 and its moving in 1929.
No.3 is B'head Central. No bout adoubt it. Park has straight track through, not on a curve. BC car stabling sheds on right of pic. Argyle Street baths chimney just visible on top left of picture. The unequal length of the platform canopies are another giveaway.
Sorry. Post overlap with Chris's. My slow typing !!!
The loco pictured at Birkenhead Central, no. 6 'Fox' was named after Charles Douglas Fox, the engineer for the railway. The loco was sold in January 1905 to Alexandra Docks & Railway Co. at Newport , South Wales & ran until January 1923. Prior to withdrawal the company had been absorbed into the Great Western Railway, the loco being allocated no.1344 but never actually carrying the plates. The locos. bought by the company had their condensing gear removed & proper cabs fitted. They were used for bringing heavy coal trains from the valleys to Newport docks.
The train driver used to wear a bowler hat and were quite well respected in their day, a bit like an airline pilot of today, according to my Dad they they also used to carry a little box as shown in this photo, I think it was the drivers butty box.
Behind the loco you can see one of the electric cars that worked from Birkenhead Central and Birkenhead Park through to Liverpool James Street and later Liverpool Central while the trains from Birkenhead Central to Rock Ferry and Birkenhead Park to West Kirby; New Brighton and to Seacombe were operated using steam locomotives like the Fox. Other electric cars can be seen to the right in picture 3. The track under the Mersey was the first electrified track in Britain and was electrified by power produced at Hamilton Square from about the 1860's
The rail tunnel from Green Lane to James St openned in 1886. The Company electrified its system, now extending from Liverpool Central to Birkenhead Park and also to Rock Ferry stations, in 1903.
The track under the Mersey was the first electrified track in Britain and was electrified by power produced at Hamilton Square from about the 1860's
Actually, the City and South London Railway, 1890, and the Liverpool Overhead, 1893, preceded the Mersey Railway with electric traction. The chimney of the Shore Road generating station can be seen in the first picture of this thread.
Quite right chriskay - according to Wikipedia (so it must be right) it was actually "the first underground railway in the world to change over completely from steam to electric power".
Sitting on a cornflake, waiting for the van to come.
Behind the loco you can see one of the electric cars that worked from Birkenhead Central and Birkenhead Park through to Liverpool James Street and later Liverpool Central while the trains from Birkenhead Central to Rock Ferry and Birkenhead Park to West Kirby; New Brighton and to Seacombe were operated using steam locomotives like the Fox. Other electric cars can be seen to the right in picture 3. The track under the Mersey was the first electrified track in Britain and was electrified by power produced at Hamilton Square from about the 1860's
The coach visible behind 'Fox' is a steam hauled coach , the end windows being part of the guard's compartment. all of the stock was 4-wheeled & if you look at the roof you can see the tops of the gas lights (not the street lamp !) The Mersey Railway locos. worked between Rock Ferry, Birkenhead Park & Liverpool Central. Trains for West Kirby & New Brighton were worked by Wirral Railway locomotives from Birkenhead Park onwards.
No 3 is Birkenhead Park Station, I would say. Thanks for posting the pictures.
NO its deffo Birkenhead central as electrified useing the four rail system originally Birkenhead Park was never four rails as was electrified as recently as 1938 by the wirral railway later to become LMS
No 3 is Birkenhead Park Station, I would say. Thanks for posting the pictures.
NO its deffo Birkenhead central as electrified useing the four rail system originally Birkenhead Park was never four rails as was electrified as recently as 1938 by the wirral railway later to become LMS
The 4 rail system did extend as far as the platform ends at Park. It was then the 3 rail to NB & WK. From 1938 to the end of the original Mersey stock in 1956, the driver had to operate an earthing contactor before leaving Park outbound to earth the car, thus the negative current returned via the running rails and not the centre rail. There was an automatic changeover switch too, but the Motormen used the manual switch - from what I've gleaned from various tomes.
Back to topic - yes, the picture IS of B'head Central.
Last edited by Pinzgauer; 9th Jun 20123:11pm. Reason: Veering off-topic again!
