RMweb Gold beast66606 Posted January 17, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 17, 2013 Liverpool Central closed when the last Gateacre trains ran on 15 April 1972 although it lingered on in a closed form until 10 December that year when it closed completely. The site was redeveloped as part of the Liverpool loop and so the station vanished from the landscape, but until the 1980s the signal box was left at the platform ends and one Saturday in 1978 I visited it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold john dew Posted January 17, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 17, 2013 Thanks for posting.........sure makes me feel my age. The Liverpool Central to Harwich trip was part of the journey to and from Germany when I was in the Army there.....over 50 years ago! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Debs. Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Liverpool Central`s platforms were used as a car park for several years following closure. I liked it as it was just a short walk to Lewis`s dept. store.........I was fascinated by the derelict overall-roof, disused platforms, tunnel-mouth and turntable-pit which all seemed so poignant. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkC Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Thanks for posting this. I remember wandering across to it just a few days before closure, whilst waiting for the Gateacre train to arrive, & being shown round it by the 'bobby' on duty - just a few levers left in a box that once held a big frame. I was only a youngster, but such things do stick in the memory. The general desolation all around was very depressing. Oh for a camera in those days... Mark Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Barry O Posted January 17, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 17, 2013 Would look good as an extension to Herculaneum Dock! Need to get the drawings out again! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold TheSignalEngineer Posted January 17, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 17, 2013 Visited there around 1971 when we were working on the Cheshire Lines. Sad sight even then. Reminded me of my previous visit to the station 10 years earlier when we thought it would never end, in the days when we could get the 0920Sun Birmingham - Birkenhead as far as Rock Ferry then on to Central LL. Public transport was good back then. On 28 May 1961 we went shed hopping by bus to Bank Hall, Aintree, Walton-on-the-Hill, Edge Hill, Allerton, Speke and Brunswick before getting back to Rock Ferry in time for the Birkenhead - Paddington late train, which got us back to Birmingham for the last bus home. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Delamar Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 one of our clubmembers Les Pierce was a signalman here in its last days Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingsignalman Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 one of our clubmembers Les Pierce was a signalman here in its last days Another Signalman who worked there around the time it closed was Eric "Bill" Williams AKA The Parbold Nark; I don't know why, because he was a decent bloke Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Delamar Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Les went on to work in lighthouses, so his nickname in our club has always been the lighthouse keeper Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Delamar Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Liverpool Central by Kerry Parker (KP), on Flickr Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Delamar Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Liverpool Central by Kerry Parker (KP), on Flickr Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingsignalman Posted January 18, 2013 Share Posted January 18, 2013 A rough sketch of the signalling layout, taken from a drawing I obtained from a friend in the SRS. I'd drawn it out prior to doing a neat copy - that's still on the "to do" list! It's undated but definitely before rationalisation set in. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkC Posted January 18, 2013 Share Posted January 18, 2013 The photos & the signal drawing are great to see - thanks for posting them. Were there ever any loco release arrangements in the platforms, or did everything have to be done by a station pilot? Mark Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingsignalman Posted January 18, 2013 Share Posted January 18, 2013 An early plan I have (drawn by Mike Back) taken from drawing MT6/361/6: S&F plan of 12.2.1874 does not show any release crossovers in any of the platform roads. It's also appears to be lacking a few FPLs on the departure roads and carries the comment "Station not to be fully opened until defects in platforms 3 -6 put right". The signal box is shown on the up side of the line so the one in Dave's pics must be a replacement. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 65179 Posted January 18, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 18, 2013 The photos & the signal drawing are great to see - thanks for posting them. Were there ever any loco release arrangements in the platforms, or did everything have to be done by a station pilot? Mark There don't appear to be any in the photos on the Disused Stations site: http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/l/liverpool_central_hl/index.shtml There certainly was a station pilot (before it was all DMUs!) In late LNER days the station pilot was an ex-GCR 2-4-2T and N5 0-6-2Ts were used in early BR days. Simon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkC Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 Thanks for that, Simon. I did wonder if there'd been arrangements in the early days of the station's life, but it appears not. I'm surprised about that; I'd have thought that at least one platform might have been so equipped. Cheers Mark Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Enterprisingwestern Posted January 19, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 19, 2013 Perhaps, in it's early days of conception and when built, it was only intended to use pull push motor trains as it was a suburban terminus? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold TheSignalEngineer Posted January 19, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 19, 2013 Looking at old maps of the site I think that most of the platforms would only take a loco and about 5 or 6 bogie carriages, less for Mk1s. Positioning the train to release the incoming loco through a crossover would have completely locked up the station throat for several minutes each time, so it would be easier to put on another loco to go out or to use a station pilot to move the stock and release the train loco. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted January 19, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 19, 2013 Looking at old maps of the site I think that most of the platforms would only take a loco and about 5 or 6 bogie carriages, less for Mk1s. Positioning the train to release the incoming loco through a crossover would have completely locked up the station throat for several minutes each time, so it would be easier to put on another loco to go out or to use a station pilot to move the stock and release the train loco. Most likely using turnover engines I would think - notwithstanding short platforms - although the layout with that middle road is quite well suited to using an engine to shunt release incoming train engines, especially on Platforms 1- 3. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 65179 Posted January 21, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 21, 2013 Looking at old maps of the site I think that most of the platforms would only take a loco and about 5 or 6 bogie carriages, less for Mk1s. Positioning the train to release the incoming loco through a crossover would have completely locked up the station throat for several minutes each time, so it would be easier to put on another loco to go out or to use a station pilot to move the stock and release the train loco. Platform 1 could take at least 8 Gresleys plus loco. There are a couple of c.1950 shots of the station in LMS Journal no.4. The Harwich boat train is in platform 1 (not all Gresley stock in this view), the N5 station pilot is on platform 2 with assorted parcel stock at the end of the middle road and LMS corridor stock is in pl 3. The last is possibly to form a Nottingham service (not sure offhand how long these were). Simon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold TheSignalEngineer Posted January 21, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 21, 2013 Platforms 1 and 2 were quite a bit longer than the rest. From a quick glance at the 1939 CLC Carriage Workings listed on Robert Carroll's site, most of the regular trains were between 3 and 6 coaches except for some peak time services running 8-10. Some of the strengthenings shown would probably have needed local special instructions to get them in and out. Generally the length on Harwich trains seems to have been 5 plus strengthenings. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 65179 Posted January 21, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 21, 2013 Platforms 1 and 2 were quite a bit longer than the rest. From a quick glance at the 1939 CLC Carriage Workings listed on Robert Carroll's site, most of the regular trains were between 3 and 6 coaches except for some peak time services running 8-10. Some of the strengthenings shown would probably have needed local special instructions to get them in and out. Generally the length on Harwich trains seems to have been 5 plus strengthenings. Apologies, I wasn't trying to suggest that your assessment was wrong. I just happened to have the photos to hand and noted what they showed. The Harwich train shown in the photo I referred to was it's booked length as this train seems to have tended to be longer (on this stretch) after the war than it had been pre-war. I've never seen a photo of a train of CLC Gresley non-corridor twins at Liverpool Central. It would be interesting to know how many of the platforms could accommodate the 4 pairs used at one time on some of the Liverpool-Manchester trains. Simon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
class"66" Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 Another interesting thread!! and more super pictures!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Delamar Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 4 car class 115 DMU's where a regular site here at one time. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium New Haven Neil Posted January 29, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 29, 2013 Crikey - three years in Liverpool in the mid to late 70's and I didn't even realise it was there....remains of. I see Lewis's in the photo, Debs! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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