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A Visit to Mollington Street HS


flyingsignalman

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I hope these photos are of interest, they were taken during a look around the depot on 25/8/1980.
The depot was the ex LMS and GW joint railways shed at Birkenhead.
It had an allocation of 5 or 6 class 08 shunt engines but these were usually out stationed at Dee Marsh, Ellesmere Port, Birkehead North and at Duke St in the docks. The shunt engines usually only returned to the depot at the weekends.
BR classed the depot as Holding Sidings.
Several of the class 40s had been given unofficial names, neatly applied, using a stencil; I have put these names in brackets after the number.
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40 132 (Hurricane), 40131, 25111

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40 104 (Warrior) in the ex GW side of the depot. The name can just be seen to the right of the 2nd support the loco is behind.

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25 111, 25 106

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25 106

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40 069 front, 40 126 rear (Andromeda)

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40 069, the holder for the drivers name plate, I believe.

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40 126 works plate

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47 188, 40 118

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47 365, 40 046

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40 145 (Panther)

(Edit: number corrected on photo showing 47188, the 40 with it is 40118 not 046 as first posted)

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I recall the handbrakes on the 40`s were purely 'decorative'........`seemed to be forever handling scotches out and in on shed turns........the upper shed roads and the fueling point (in particular) were on quite a slope; to my knowledge a 40 and a 25 both ended up wedged in the shed`s end walls at various points.......Relentless-ribbing for those concerned! :rolleyes:

 

Everything`s long-gone; the history, the characters and 'the job'.......it`s all very sad! :cry:

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I recall the handbrakes on the 40`s were purely 'decorative'........`seemed to be forever handling scotches out and in on shed turns........the upper shed roads and the fueling point (in particular) were on quite a slope; to my knowledge a 40 and a 25 both ended up wedged in the shed`s end walls at various points.......Relentless-ribbing for those concerned! :rolleyes:

 

Everything`s long-gone; the history, the characters and 'the job'.......it`s all very sad! :cry:

 

40 054, I think, was one loco that ended up in the end wall of the diesel depot. The Driver was shunting it and had climbed down to change a set of hand points when it ran away.

 

(Edit, Beast just beat me to it)

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If anyone is wondering what we're all posting about, here's a view of 31208 (a VERY rare visitor to the Wirral, at the time) on shed late 1979 that shows, in the background, the gradient from the running lines.

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The loco had worked in with a Whitemoor to Ince UKF train and then come light to the shed. It was there from a friday to about the following Wednesday waiting for a Driver with route and traction knowledge.

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Thanks for posting these, I cant remember too many visits to Mollington St, our little group mainly spent time spotting at Chester/Crewe or Liverpool Lime Street.

 

Any further photos from the early eighties of the Ellesmere Port Area / Wirral / Chester would be greatly appreciated. If only I had had a decent camera / more film (and pocket money) in those days!

 

Good Times

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  • 1 month later...

Whilst looking for another photo, I found these two of Mollington Street depot taken the same day as the others in this topic.

Taken from near the exit they show a general view of it.

The first shows the ex LMS side with the BR built diesel shed in the left background.

In the foreground is the remains of the siding that used to form the entrance to Hinderton Field sidings, a large coal depot, closed about 1970. This one siding was left for fuel tanks to be unloaded at the fuelling point (the canopy of which can just be seen to the left of the diesel depot).

The siding was in the process of being lifted and this may account for the sleeper wagon on the right which was standing in the area of the coaling tower and ash plant.

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The second view is taken from the other side of the coaling tower area and shows the ex GWR side of the shed.

The locos are (L-R) 25106, 40 069, 40 126.

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Bu gger. Had I known what might have been lurking in Birkenhead in those days I would have gone there rather than just festering at Crewe or Preston.

 

Thanks for those photos; at least I now know where some of the 40s I had difficulty seeing, actually were.

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  • 1 month later...

 

I`ve first hand knowledge on this. :blush:

24089 was damaged at Bidston ore-dock sidings after a mix-up about (an unusual) single-line working in/out of Bidston dock and BOTH traincrews involved in the collision being told they would be the 'O.E.I.S'.

.....nobody hurt in the incident; but lots of paperwork and my driver recvd. an undeserved (IMHO) day`s suspension. :nono:

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a fellow member of the Liverpool model railway society Alec Allen was depot supervisor in the 1980s, he told me about the 40 crashing through the wall.

 

b&r video Wirral steam has plenty of footage of the shed with black 5's and 9fs slipping on the gradient when shunting other locos.

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  • 6 months later...

Spent many a Sunday and Saturday at Mollington St after buying my 18pence Saveaway....The' Gaffer' was always friendly so were the fitters and drivers.....Remember the Oily Moggies too!!!!! Lol.

Talking about run away locomotives I seem to recall another victim being 25033 ( I think...Not certain)...I don't have any photo's only a momento ( as it was being scrapped )...I seem to remember the front end was pushed in....

Can any of the above have any further details?????

Regards

D421

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7357127870_4334e3002f_c.jpg

CLASS 25s BIRKENHEAD MOLLINGTON STREET - WINTER 1978 - ANDY SPARKS by Michaeldelz, on Flickr

 

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birkenhead mollington street in the snow -Winter 1978 - Andy Sparks by Michaeldelz, on Flickr

 

I was working at Mollington St. (as a 'Traction Trainee') during the winter of `78............we had to leave the engines running and keep the gas-oil fuel tanks brim full during the cold weather, to prevent the loco`s becoming unserviceable.

Shed-turns were not very interesting; just 'shunting for release' and movements to/from the refueling point..........I was young and wanted to be out 'learning roads' and having time in the left-hand seat.......I had training running steam-heat boilers; so went on roads and destinations not usually frequented by Birkenhead`s (mostly) freight 'men'.

Oh, how I wish I`d owned a camera back then.....it`s all gone; only memories and these scant (evocative) pictures of the shed and it`s loco allocations; nary any record of the "The Men" ........what a sadly-lost era.

 

 

The first of the old 503 electric units arrived for stabling at Mollington St. (before their ultimate disposal) right at the end of my B.R career.....I might have watched as certain brass-parts were 'liberated' by former drivers of the LMS stock; but have no recollection of any air-horns, destination-boards or power-controllers/reversers that were removed, or indeed, whom took them. :mosking:

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