Birkenhead - Chester

[beast66606]

Thanks, 

a great shot- any idea about the trackwork?

 

engineering work around Chester No.5

[D854_Tiger]

I'm not so sure the Westerns even reached Chester on a regular basis.

 

During the 1960s, the formations of Paddington - West Midland expresses were strengthened to fifteen coaches (to take the strain off the WCML during electrification), necessitating at first King class, then Westerns and later (as the London Midland reached ever further south) class 47s.

 

The normal routine was for those trains to shed around half their coaches at Wolverhampton and to lose the more powerful locomotive.

 

The Kings were restricted anyway and I know the Westerns normally gave way at Wolverhampton to a Black 5 or Standard 5.

 

 

 

 

Then, as if by magic, I came across this Youtube clip, not Chester, but Shrewsbury and clearly showing that by the time of the last full year (1966) of the Birkenhead - Paddington through service, when the LM region was firmly in control, the engine change and carriage split routine had been moved to Shrewsbury.

 

Also showing that, by then, the Jubilee class clearly had nothing better to do than shuttle between Chester and Shrewsbury with half a dozen carriages.

 

 

[Peter Kazmierczak]

I'm sure I've seen pictures of Westerns at Chester somewhere.

[D854_Tiger]

I'm sure I've seen pictures of Westerns at Chester somewhere.

 

I'm pretty sure they would have made it as far as Chester it's just that those fifteen coach formations had to be split for strengthening the corresponding southbound workings (loco was needed as well) and most of the Birkenhead trains were fifteen coaches.

 

Incidentally, I believe only around five or six of the hourly Paddington - West Midlands expresses worked through to Birkenhead, most terminated at Wolverhampton.

 

The longer formations were introduced well before the Westerns arrived that's why initially more Kings were drafted in.

 

Under Western region control a Hall class was the norm north of Wolverhampton then when the LM took over it became rather more unpredictable though that did ensure steam working right through to the end on those trains.

 

The long or, as in this case, the short of it is that those Restaurant Car expresses that set out from Paddingtn were a far less glamorous prospect by the time they reached Birkenhead.

 

There was one other express a Birkenhead - South Coast (Margate ????) but every picture I've ever seen of that has 2 x class 24.

 

Hydraulics were known to turn up at Crewe, via the Marches line, when expresses from the West Country to Manchester and Liverpool were routed that way, though what scope that implied for Westerns turning up at Chester ........    ????? ..... but didn't Crewe do the Western overhauls for a while.

[beast66606]

I've seen plenty of photos of Westerns at Chester - S.D.Wainright (Rails to North Wales) captured a few.