Battlefield Line 1940s Weekend (June 2013)

The DMU waiting for 'Sir Gomer' to clear the single line.

The Battlefield Line ran a '1940s weekend' on the weekend of 15th/16th June 2013. 'Sir Gomer' operated the 4-coach service train, providing five round trips between Shackerstone and Shenton, stopping at Market Bosworth each way. Departures from Shackerstone were timed for 10.30 a.m., 12.00 noon, 1.30 p.m., 3.00 p.m. and 4.30 p.m. During the 35 minutes allowed at Shackerstone to run round and take water the single line section was available, allowing the DMU to make a trip to Market Bosworth and back. The DMU was scheduled to depart Shackerstone at 10.00 a.m., 11.30 a.m., 1.00 p.m. 2.30 p.m. and 4.00 p.m. This was the second year that the Battlefield Line arranged a '1940s weekend' - my report on the 2012 event is here.

On Saturday 15th June 2013 I was booked to drive the diesel railcar. I'm afraid a 1960s DMU (particularly in blue and grey livery) is the wrong period for a 1940s Weekend but it seemed to offend me more than anyone else. The plan was to use the single-unit DMU 55005 (at the north end) coupled to half of the 2-car DMU (at the south end). I found the set, as expected, on the railcar siding.

The Technical Stuff

I completed my 'Daily Exam' and successfully started all four engines. There was a slight delay while I allowed the compressors to build up control air pressure in the air receivers - ideally 75 p.s.i. is required for correct operation of the Electro-Pneumatic (E.P.) valves controlling gear change on the epicyclic gearboxes and selecting direction on the final drives.

I 'opened' the southern cab with the master key and engaged the final drive, correctly obtaining six blue lights on the engine monitoring panel (left hand engine, air and axle, right hand engine lit for both power cars). With the "Dead Man's Handle" depressed, I 'blew-up' the vacuum brake (having ensured the handbrake was applied in the north end cab), then released the "Dead Man's Handle" and waited for the vacuum to collapse and automatically re-apply the brakes. This, of course, is the original method of ensuring that a train with only one person in the cab will be brought to a stand if that person becomes incapacitated.

I also tested the running lights at that end. There are two lamp clusters which can each show white or red.

Detail of a Red/White lamp cluster on a Diesel Multiple Unit.

Satisfied, I 'closed' the cab and repeated these checks from the cab at the northern end.

There was still some time before our first booked departure at 10.00 a.m. but John, the Signalman, "gave us the road" and I moved the 2-car train down to platform 1. A little later, I was standing in the south end cab when there was a loud 'bang' under the cab floor, followed by a loud hissing. The control air gauge was 'heading south' rapidly. I quickly dropped down onto the track to look at the various air connections under the cab and found a white-painted air main just venting the last of our control air. A little later, I confirmed that the connection between a reinforced plastic pipe and the metallic air main (secured by a jubilee clip) had become detached. We quickly concluded that we'd not be able to work our first train but the flexibility of the design of these multiple units offered the possibility of 'ditching' the failed vehicle and operating with just the single car. Of course, if I'd been confident we could repair the failed connection in a reasonable time, we might have been able to run with both vehicles but we agreed that the more certain solution was to operate with the single car. We judged that we'd have sufficient passenger capacity with the single car and so it proved. Later in the day, I attempted a repair on the reinforced plastic pipe and satisfied myself we'd made the correct decision in not trying to fix the problem earlier.

The control air main is continuous along the train, passing through flexible couplings provided with isolation cocks between vehicles, so we had no control air in the single car DMU at the northern end, either. We closed the isolation cock between the vehicles and I restarted the engines in the single car DMU at the north end (I'd shut down all engines whilst we agreed what to do). Control air was restored in the single car DMU. I opened the south end cab (with the 'failed' car in front of me) and created the vacuum brake, which still controlled both vehicles. With the Guard in the leading cab of the failed vehicle and Martin 'on the ground', I slowly drove back to the DMU siding, propelling the failed vehicle. The Guard applied the handbrake on the failed vehicle and I 'eased up' so as to slacken the coupling before applying the brakes on the 'good' car. Martin then uncoupled the 'dead' vehicle.

Click for larger image
Details of the interconnections between vehicles.

The picture above shows that it's a bit more involved than on ordinary coaching stock and, of course, there's not much room to work. Referring to the picture above, starting nearest the camera, you have:-

1. Jumper cable on left vehicle ('black') attached to multipole connector on right vehicle.
2. Jumper cable on left vehicle ('white')attached to multipole connector on right vehicle.
3. Control air hoses, joined with 'palm' coupling.
4. Vacuum brake train pipe corrugated hoses, joined with standard vacuum connection ('red').
5. Vacuum brake 'quick release' corrugated hoses, joined with 'reversed' vacuum connection ('blue').
6. Standard screw coupling on left vehicle, attached to right vehicle and tightened.
7. Standard screw coupling on right vehicle, not used and suspended from hook on underframe.
8. Jumper cable on right vehicle ('white') attached to multipole connector on left vehicle.
9. Jumper cable on right vehicle ('black') attached to multipole connector on left vehicle.
10. The round buffer heads nearer the camera are visible at the top of the picture.

Jumper cables not in use are 'stowed' in a receptacle adjacent to the jumper cable. 'Palm' couplings are standard on railways for air lines and they are mated and de-mated with an action similar to rubbing your hands together, hence the name. To avoid confusion between the two vacuum brake hoses, the fittings on the 'quick release' hoses are the mirror image of the standard coupling. 'Quick release' relates to the speed at which the driver can create vacuum compared with a traditional one-pipe vacuum brake - desirable on some suburban workings with frequent stops.

. I've gone into a little detail in order to highlight what I think are some of the design strengths of the 'Modernisation' DMUs. The technology used was well-proven and fairly simple, making it easier for "dyed-in-the-wool" steam drivers to make the transition from steam to diesel. Not all accepted the new traction - the lack of a 'mate' in the cab made the job too solitary for some but, in general, the equipment was well-received. A certain amount of fault-finding was within the scope of a driver (without the use of now-universal computers to monitor and identify problems).The 'Multiple Unit' concept with Electro Pneumatic control meant that trains could readily be made longer or shorter to cater for different duties. I think the design of these DMUs stands up well, particularly compared with the later abyssmal 'Pacers' (which still plague some areas of our railways).

For more information, see my post Diesel Multiple Units which has links to 'Lecture Notes and Drawings' by the British Railways Diesel Training School and four black and white sound films on YouTube.

In Traffic

Having dealt with the failure of one vehicle described above, we were "back in business" with a one car unit, ready for our 11.30 a.m. departure. The weather wasn't too good - intermittent rain and a cold wind. The sun would start to appear, only to be covered by cloud. Passenger numbers weren't brilliant - a great pity after the efforts made organising the event but I enjoyed meeting the re-enactors travelling with us.

Re-enacters on the train. The Australian Sergeant on the left really is from Sydney

In addition to the normal attractions at Shackerstone - the Victorian Tea Room, Shops on both Platform 1 and Platform and the Museum, an old radio in the Waiting Room was playing wartime programmes.

Although the Main Train hauled by 'Sir Gomer' went to Shenton, the diesel railcar only went as far as the intermediate station at Market Bosworth. This was where the main displays were held but the DMU had a very quick turn-around each time it was at Market Bosworth so I didn't get to see them.

Re-enacters on Market Bosworth Station.

We completed our 'diagram' without further incident and I stabled our single car unit on the railcar siding, ready for the following day.

My Pictures

Saturday 15th June 2013.
Shackerstone DMU Group.
Bubble Car.

Railway Group Session at Brewood

Another in the series of 'occasional sessions' was held on Wednesday, 12th June 2013. In addition to the 'regulars' Phil, Keith, Ian, Mike and the writer, David (Mike's father) joined us.

Clockwise from front: Keith, Phil, Mike, David, Ian.

Ian showed us some of his recent research on Norton Junction and the South Stafford Line - he has built up very comprehensive information including photographs, maps, old drawings, old documents together with drawings and documents Ian has produced.

Mike had been busy scanning David's photographs from the steam era and 'Photoshopping' them for best results. They were displayed using a laptop, computer projector and projection screen. There's only limited information on dates and locations so the team tried to assist. We didn't see all the pictures this time, so we look forward to meeting again before too long.

Keith had brought his presentation 'Black Country Railways from the Air' and took us through it. The photographs are taken from The English Heritage Archive and the quality of some of these shots - the earlier ones taken hand-held from biplanes - is remarkable. The archive is now based at Swindon and forms a significant resource for historians and modellers.

A screenshot from Keith's presentation 'Black Country Railways from the Air', showing Walsall station.

Previous meetings have been held:

Sunday, 14 February 2010
Tuesday, 27 September 2011
Monday, 6 February 2012

A few pictures from these meetings are here.

Edge Hill, Liverpool

Introduction

The Liverpool and Manchester Railway opened in 1830 with the original passenger terminus at Crown Street, Edge Hill. First Class passengers were provided with a horse-drawn carriage service between Crown Street and Dale Street, near the commercial centre of the city. From Edge Hill, there was also an inclined tunnel just over 2 km long cut through sandstone, shale and clay to Park Lane Depot near Wapping Dock. Locomotives were initially prohibited from this tunnel so passenger and goods trains descended to Park Lane by gravity, controlled by Brakemen on the train. Trains were hauled back up to Edge Hill by rope, using stationary steam winding engines.

The success of the railway meant that the initial arrangements proved inadequate and in 1837 another tunnel was cut from Edge Hill to a new station in Lime Street. Crown Street was retained as a goods depot. The tunnel to Lime Street was just over 2 km long, inclined at a gradient of around 1 in 93 and principally through sandstone. Further winding engines were provided at Edge Hill (together with a new station) and the approach to Lime Street was rope worked from 1837 until 1879 when locomotives started working through to Lime Street.

After a short period of locomotive working, the tunnel was opened-out into a deep rock cutting, spanned by numerous bridges to carry the various roads - see my post here.

Edge Hill Station

When the original Liverpool and Manchester line was extended from Edge Hill to Lime Street station in 1837 a new station was built at Edge Hill, initially with two platform faces, later with four. The buildings survive to the present and are discussed in book reference [9]. Oddly enough, the modern Edge Hill Power Signal Box is also covered in this architectural book.

A modern view of Edge Hill station, looking towards Liverpool Lime Street,

Edge Hill Grid Iron

By 1873, the volume of freight being dealt with was becoming embarrassing. 'Outwards' traffic passing through Edge Hill had risen from a quarter of a million tons in 1850 to over a million tons in 1873 but, in the same period, siding capacity had only increased from 1,782 wagons to 3,215 wagons leading to severe congestion. Mr. H. Footner of the L.N.W.R. prepared an ambitious scheme for marshalling freight trains using gravitation which was implemented and brought into use in 1882. In 1889 Sir George Finlay described the arrangements in his book 'The Working and Management of an English Railway' (this interesting book is available to read online here). His description reads:-

"In addition to the want of room, the main passenger lines had to be crossed every time wagons were moved from one group of sidings to another (and there were a great many groups), so that there were serious obstacles to be encountered in carrying on the working, and as the safety of passenger trains always had to be the first consideration, the goods traffic often had to suffer delay. The company had, at that time, about 70 acres of spare land on the north side of the railway, and available for extension, but to reduce this to the level of the main lines would have involved a stupendous amount of excavation, and the fact that the surface of the land rose from West to East, and that, for a comparatively reasonable outlay, sidings could be laid upon it on an uniform which would enable them to pass over the branch line running round to the docks, which branch line intersected the land, suggested to Mr. Footner a scheme for marshalling by gravitation. In considering a scheme of this kind two things appeared to be essential - first, that in the passage of the trucks from the top to the bottom of the incline, all the necessary changes in their relative positions should be effected, so that when they reached the bottom they should be ready to go away as properly marshalled; and secondly, that there should be some means of stopping, without injury to them or their loads, any trucks which might get beyond the control of the shunters. The mere principle of shunting by gravitation was no new thing, as it had already been successfully adopted for coaling ships on the Tyne and for sorting mineral trains at Darlington on the North-Eastern Railway; but Mr. Footner claims as his own the idea of an inclined plane specially constructed in such a way as to sort and marshal a mixed goods train by gravitation alone, without any assistance from locomotive or horse power. The sidings consist of, the six upper reception lines at the summit of the incline, holding 294 wagons; secondly, the sorting sidings, 24 in number, capable of holding 1,065 wagons, into which the wagons, when separated, first run, each siding receiving the wagons for a particular train; thirdly, two groups of marshalling sidings, which, owing to their peculiar formation, have been christened 'grid-irons', through which the trucks are filtered so as to make them take their proper order of precedence in the train; and fourthly, the lower reception and departure lines, which receive the trains in their complete state, and where the engines are attached to take them away. The modus operandi is as follows:- On the arrival of a set of wagons in the upper reception lines, the rear brakes are put on, the engine is detached, and then on each wagon is chalked the number of the sorting siding it has to enter. One man carefully inspects the brakes of each wagon, and calls out the chalked number to the second man standing below him, who has to regulate the speed of the descending wagons; this second man passes the number on by hand signal to the shunter lower down who has charge of the points, and who, by moving a lever, turns the wagon into its proper siding. The shunters are provided with brake sticks, which they insert between between the wheel and the wagon frame to steady the wagons in going down, and they also use these implements for letting down the brake levers when required. By the process thus described, each sorting siding now holds a separate train, although the wagons composing it are in indiscriminate order, but by a repetition of the operation the wagons of each train are separated in the gridirons and are lowered, one by one, in to the departure lines, in the precise order in which they are required to be sent away."

There is a 1:1800 scale model of the Edge Hill Gridiron in the National Railway Museum (NRM object 1975 8107). The model is mounted in a glazed oak desk case and originally formed part of the LNWR exhibition collection.


The model of the Edge Hill Gridiron. The line from Liverpool to Manchester runs (l-r) across the middle of the photograph, with the blue-roofed Edge Hill Engine Shed on the left and the rock cutting at Olive Mount on the right (Photo: Roger Henry).

By the 1890s, the complex of lines around Edge Hill had more-or-less reached their zenith and they survived, remarkably intact, until the wholesale destruction of the facilities in the 1960s, for which we can largely thank the cargo-handling revolution brought about by the containerisation of ships' cargoes.

Book reference [7] includes various maps of Liverpool's railways and a diagram showing the layout of the Grid Iron. There's also a diagram of the Grid Iron (including gradient information) in book reference [4].

Edge Hill around 1890

Here's an incomplete, simplified, not-to-scale sketch of the lines around Edge Hill below. An explanation of the letter references on the sketch is given in the table below the sketch.

Click for larger image..
Simplified sketch of Edge Hill and the Grid Iron around 1890.

Ref	Description
A	Wapping Up and Down Goods (the original route to the Docks, initially cable worked. Bank Head Signal Box [not shown] stood adjacent to the Edge Hill tunnel entrance).
B	Crown Street Up and Down Goods (this later double-track route replaced the original single-track approach).
C	Lime Street Down Slow, Down Fast, Up Fast, Up Slow.
D	Waterloo Up and Down Goods (this second route gave access to the 'downstream' docks as the port expanded).
E	Spekeland Road Coal Wharf.
F	Down Sidings.
G	Carriage Shed.
H	Edge Hill Station.
J	Waterloo Tunnel Mouth Signal Box.
K	Edge Hill Goods Depot.
L	Warehouse.
M	Edge Hill No. 2 Signal Box (Edge Hill No. 1 [not shown] stood on a bridge structure over the Up Slow at the Lime Street end of Edge Hill station until 1947).
N	Edge Hill No. 16 (Picton Road) Signal Box.
P	Edge Hill No. 14 Signal Box.
Q	Edge Hill No. 10 Signal Box.
S	Park Sidings (No. 20) Frame.
T	Exhibition Junction (No. 13) Signal Box.
U	Lower North Grid Sidings.
V	Upper North Grid Sidings.
W	North Grid.
X	Lower South Grid Sidings.
Y	Upper South Grid Sidings.
Z	South Grid.
AA	Wagon Shop.
AB	Edge Hill No. 3 Signal Box.
AC	Edge Hill No. 4 Signal Box.
AD	Edge Hill No. 12 Signal Box.
AE	Edge Hill No. 11 Signal Box (Engine Shed Junction).
AF	60-foot Turntable.
AG	40-foot Turntable.
AH	Tuebrook Sidings.
AJ	Edge Hill No. 5 Signal Box.
AK	Edge Hill Engine Shed.
AL	Rathbone Road Yard.
AM	Up and Down Circular Goods.
AN	Up and Down North Lines (to Manchester).
AP	Up and Down South Lines (to Manchester).
AQ	Olive Mount Junction Signal Box.
AR	Up and Down Bootle Lines.
AS	Gridiron Feed Lines.
AT	Top of Grid Frame (No. 19).
AU	Pighue Lane Signal Box.
AV	Edge Lane Junction Signal Box (to Bootle, serving the most downstream docks).
AW	Upper Reception Sidings.
AX	Tunnel Road.
AY	Picton Road overbridge.
AZ	Wavertree Junction Signal Box (to Ditton, Runcorn and Crewe).

Edge Hill Engine Shed

Whilst much of the freight infrastructure around Edge Hill remained tantalisingly inaccessible, the locomotive depot at Edge Hill, squeezed into the angle between the Manchester and Crewe Lines, was clearly visible from passenger trains passing on either route. The book 'LMS Engine Sheds: Vol 1 The L&NWR' [reference 6] has detailed information on the shed and its allocation of locomotives. A new coaling plant was built in 1914, with three 40-ton bunkers, using the 'Hennibrique System' of ferro-concrete construction.


The coaling plant at Edge Hill. The inclined line on the extreme left goes to Engine Shed Junction and formed one of two ways on and off shed (Photo: Edge Hill Archive).

Signalling

My earlier post Liverpool Lime Street Station discusses the power box introduced at Lime Street with colour light signalling. Around Edge Hill manual signal boxes remained, as indicated on the sketch above. Edge Hill No. 1 (at the Lime Street end of Edge Hill station, on a bridge structure over the Up Slow) was abolished in 1947. The signal boxes were London and North Western pattern (although Exhibition Junction appears to have been an L.M.S. composite pattern with a hipped roof). There were some upper-quadrant L.M.S. signals but an amazing number of London and North Western lower-quadrants survived into the 1960s. The section 'Track Diagrams' below has details of the Signalling Record Society publication including these signal boxes. The 'NX' signalling panel at Edge Hill, introduced in the 1960s, abolished a number of the Edge Hill manual boxes, but some lasted until the 1970s.

The Power Signal Box at Edge Hill.

External links

Liverpool and Manchester Railway (Wikipedia).
London and North Western Railway (Wikipedia).
London, Midland and Scottish Railway (Wikipedia).
Pictures of Exhibition Junction by edgehillsignalman.
Edge Hill Archive

Book References

[1] 'The Style L Power Frame' written and published by J. D. Francis 1989 (ISBN 0 9514636 0 8).
[2] 'Liverpool & Manchester Railway 1830-1980' by Frank Ferneyhough published by Book Club Associates.
[3] 'A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain': Volume 10 The North West by G. O. Holt, Second Edition published by David & Charles (ISBN 0946537 34 8).
[4] 'North Western: A Saga of the Premier Line of Great Britain: 1846-1922' by O.S. Nock published by Ian Allen in 1968 (SBN 7110 0016 6).
[5] 'The History of the London and North Western Railway' by Wilfred L. Steel published by "The Railway and Travel Monthly" in 1914.
[6] 'LMS Engine Sheds: Vol 1 The L&NWR' by Hawkins and Reeve published by Wild Swan Publications (ISBN 0 906867 02 9).
[7] 'An Illustrated History of Liverpool's Railways' by Paul Anderson, published Irwell Press (ISBN 1-871608-68-6).
[8] 'Pre-Grouping Railway Junction Diagrams 1914', published by Ian Allen (ISBN 0 7110 1256 3).
[9] 'The Buildings of England - Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West' by Richard Pollard and Nikolaus Pevsner, published by Yale University Press (ISBN 0 300 10910 5). This book may be previewed here.

Track Diagrams

You can find detailed signal box diagrams for the numerous signal boxes around Edge Hill in the excellent series of publications from the Signalling Record Society 'British Railways Layout Plans of the 1950's'.

Edge Hill area is included in 'Volume 9: LNW Lines Crewe to Euxton Junction, Liverpool to Manchester (and associated branches)' (ISBN: 1 873228 11 2).

For details of what remained around Edge Hill in 2005, refer to 'Railway Track Diagrams Book 4: Midlands & North West', Second Edition, published by Trackmaps (ISBN: 0-9549866-0-1).

Related articles in this Blog

Edge Hill Cutting.
Liverpool Lime Street Station.
'Black 5' to Birmingham.

My Pictures

Liverpool: The City.
Liverpool Area Railways.

A Sunday in the Peak District

On Sunday 9th June 2013 I was rostered as Steam Driver at Peak Rail. The operation was the customary top-and-tail with D8 diesel-electric (brief description here) at the north end and the six-coupled 'Austerity' named 'Lord Phil' at the south end. Chris was Fireman and Dave was Cleaner. Unusually, we had no 'Driving Experience' candidates prior to the first train at 11:15, so the steam locomotive was not needed until later than normal.

A Craft Fair was being held at Rowsley and, this time, the weather was kind so the stall holders had a much better time in the marquee at Peak Park - earlier in the year, the winds were so severe, the outdoor stalls became impractical and the Fair had to be squeezed into the station buildings. On the 9th June, the Derbyshire Dales Narrow Gauge Railway was running as a further attraction.

Chris standing beside 'Lord Phil' on arrival at Matlock Town.

We had no difficulties during the day although we were running with a seven-coach train. The 'Exhibition Coach' (a converted 'BG' bogie brake) had been added to the usual rake of six. This coach has an attractive display of photographs giving information about volunteer activities at the railway in order to encourage passengers to consider becoming members.

I was told that the new signalling at Matlock Riverside had been completed and it was only a matter of completing staff training before the facilities could be commissioned.

Matlock Riverside Signal Box. The lever frame is just visible through the windows.

A professionally-built wooden Waiting Room had been installed on our platform at Matlock Town and, although as yet unpainted, everybody agreed that it was a handsome addition.

New Waiting Room at Matlock Town.

'The Usual Suspects' try out the new Waiting Room.

My pictures

New Station Building at Peak Rail.
'Lord Phil'.
Resignalling at Matlock Riverside.

A Saturday in Manchester

On Saturday 8th June 2013 I was rostered as Operating Officer on the steam railway at the Museum Of Science and Industry (MOSI) in Manchester. I took the 06:49 'Voyager' train from Wolverhampton to Manchester Piccadilly operated by Cross Country but decided to 'bail out' at Stockport to take a few pictures (I wanted a shot of the 'Platform 0' sign).

Platform 0 at Stockport with two '0' signs visible.

Then, I continued on a local service to Piccadilly, took the Metrolink tram to the Deansgate-Castlefield stop and walked to the Museum.

The 'Planet' replica was 'on its holidays', with its blue coaches), visiting Shildon (the 'Locomotion' Museum, more details here). At Manchester, we were using 'Agecroft No. 1' (described here) with the 'North London' coach and the Guard's Brake Van. This was similar to our Easter service, which I described here but with the Guard's Brake Van substituting for a blue coach.

We had four volunteers rostered to run the live steam operation - Peter (Driver), Richard (Fireman), David (Guard) with Jan as Operating Officer. We started off by retrieving the 'North London' coach from the Power Hall with with the Battery Electric Shunter (my pictures of the Battery Electric Shunter are here. We secured the coach just inside the railway 'compound' (the operating railway is fenced-off from the public areas). I then parked 'The Battery' (as its usually called) further down the running line, temporarily out of the way. 'Agecroft No. 1' had been left outside on the pit so Peter and Richard started locomotive preparation whilst I carried out a permanent way inspection. The 'North London' coach we were using was prohibited from our 'Pineapple Line' (which forms a 'Y' with our 'Main Line') so I had less track to examine. I also had to open and secure the gates adjacent to the Water Street bridge.

By the time I'd completed these inspections (and taken some photographs around the running line), 'Agecroft No. 1' was in steam. Peter picked up the 'North London' coach and set back to the platform, attaching the Guard's Brake Van which was standing at the buffer stop. I then moved 'The Battery' to the spot where the 'North London' coach had been parked and 'tied it down' for the day, clear of the running line. I secured the final set of handpoints, with the open switch scotched and the closed switch clipped and locked with a Point Clip.

For the next four hours, in glorious sunshine, we provided train rides to the public. Since we couldn't use the 'Pineapple Line', each trip comprised two runs from the station to the limit of our line, adjacent to the Network Rail Line. Part of the time, I 'rode the brake' with the Guard, part of the time I fired and I also drove a few trips. Our reversal at the far end of the line frequently coincided with one (or sometimes two - one in each direction) diesel multiple units passing on the busy main line. We usually exchanged whistles with these trains.

At the end of passenger operations, the brake van was left at the buffer stop and 'Agecroft No. 1' and the coach were drawn forward to the 'Disposal Point' where the fire was 'knocked out' and the ashpan cleared. The Battery Electric Shunter was attached in front of the steam locomotive and used to shunt all three vehicles into the Power Hall.

The popular steam train rides may not be able to continue - two distinct threats exist, outlined below.

The Ordsall Chord

Computer Generated Image of the proposed Ordsall Chord

Network Rail have an ambition to build a new line - the 'Ordsall Chord' - allowing trains to go directly from Manchester Victoria to Manchester Piccadilly. As you can see from the above view, their proposed route would 'chop' the existing demonstration line just beyond the Water Street Bridge, isolating the present connection to the main line and and the Museum's 'Pineapple Line' over Stephenson's original bridge across the River Irwell.

MOSI and the Science Museum Group

In February 2012, MOSI became part of the Science Museum Group, which now comprises the Science Museum (London), the Museum of Science and Industry (Manchester), the National Railway Museum (York), the National Media Museum (Bradford) and the National Railway Museum (Shildon). The Group modestly claims to be "The most significant group of museums of science and innovation worldwide". However, Director of Science Museum Group Ian Blatchford is reported recently as saying that the prospect of a further 10% cut in funding in the next round of government spending proposals meant that one of the three northern museums in the group almost certainly would have to close.

External websites

Ordsall Curve (Network Rail).
Ordsall Chord (Wikipedia).

My pictures

Manchester Area Rail.
Museum Of Science & Industry, Manchester.
Agecroft No. 1.
Battery Electric Shunter.

The Liverpool Overhead Railway

In 2009 I wrote briefly about the long-gone Liverpool Overhead Railway in the post Liverpool.

This panorama from the Liverpool Overhead Railway 'Map and Guide of the Railway and Docks' shows the route of the railway and the stations. Click on the image for a larger view.

In the 1980s, I came across the preserved intermediate trailer coach of the pattern rebuilt by the Liverpool Overhead Railway at 'Steamport', which occupied the disused steam shed at Southport. The 'Steamport' operation subsequently relocated to Preston as The Ribble Steam Railway and I don't believe this coach survived.

Liverpool Museums originally had the preserved Driving/Motor car displayed in the Transport Gallery of the former museum but, when this closed, the coach was placed in storage. I caught up with this coach in 2010, described in my post here, whilst museum staff were preparing the vehicle for display in the new Museum of Liverpool. I was allowed to take a series of pictures.

I finally saw the Driving/Motor car displayed on 1st December 2011 when I was invited to attend the Official Opening of the new Museum of Liverpool, described in my post here. There are a few pictures of the car on display here.


The preserved Liverpool Overhead Railway driving motor car is displayed in the Museum of Liverpool in a setting representing the supporting girder structure and a station.

One bogie of each Driving/Motor car had a single 60 h.p. electric motor. Formation was normally 3-car with two Driving/Motor cars and a single Trailer car but, of course, 2-car operation was possible.

Liverpool Overhead Railway coach: view of the driving compartment with (dummy) driver.

Top view of the Controller for the Traction Motors fitted in the driving compartment.

The controller now fitted appears to be more modern than that originally fitted. The cast brass top plate of the controller carries the name 'The English Electric Mfg. Co. Ltd', together with 'Dick Kerr & Co. Ltd, Sole Agents, London' and a cryptic reference to 'The Short System'. The type of the Controller is also marked on the top plate - Type Q4, Form D.

The Controller has two controls - the speed regulator is provided with a large, fixed handle whilst the master controller has a removeable handle which was moved from cab to cab when the driver 'changed ends' at the end of the line.

The speed regulator rotates from the one o'clock position (Off) through a number of 'Series' notches to five o'clock. Movement from five o'clock to eight o'clock places the motors in parallel and further notching up is possible, until the stop at eleven o'clock which should produce the maximum design speed of 30 m.p.h.

The master controller has a number of positions - Forward, No. 2, No. 1, Off, No. 1, No. 2, Reverse. I believe the 'No. 1' and 'No. 2' positions are to allow the set to continue with only one serviceable motor.

Dick, Kerr & Company were taken over by English Electric in 1919 (see the Wikipedia articles on Dick, Kerr and Company and English Electric).

When first built, the trains had no air compressor and a trainborne air receiver was re-charged at the terminus. But later electric compressors were added. A 2-pipe system is fitted and the driver was provided with two air pressure gauges. The brake application valve was placed at the top of an upright branch pipe in the cab, in what I should think was a fairly inconvenient position. The driver was required to stand whilst driving.

The Museum of Liverpool display allows visitors to enter part of the coach and sound effects are provided. Additional information on the Liverpool Overhead Railway is presented adjacent to the coach and there is a splendid model of the route, where white lights (representing trains) move up and down the route, pausing briefly at each station.


The large model of the Liverpool Overhead Railway viewed from the Seaforth Sands end. The River Mersey is on the right.

Book References

[1] 'The Liverpool Overhead Railway 1893-1956' by Charles E. Box, revised by Adrian Jarvis, published Ian Allen (ISBN 0 7110 1183 4).
[2] 'The Docker's Umbrella: A History of the Liverpool Overhead Railway' by Paul Bolger, published by the Bluecoat Press (ISBN 1 872568 05 X).
[3] 'An Illustrated History of Liverpool's Railways' by Paul Anderson, published Irwell Press (ISBN 1-871608-68-6).

My pictures

Liverpool Overhead Railway Driving/Motor Car.
Royal Visit to the Museum of Liverpool.

Day Trip to Ely

On Saturday 1st June 2013, I made a day trip to Ely by rail to attend the Open University Degree Ceremony in Ely Cathedral (where Ann was "being presented" having graduated). It's a little surprising that such a cross-country journey is feasible these days but there's a regular Birmingham - Stansted Airport service which calls at Ely.

I reached Birmingham using the Virgin service from Wolverhampton. This was more than I could easily have done the previous (Bank Holiday) weekend when Wolverhampton was closed to trains and all departures were by bus. It continues to appall me that chunks of our railway system close down every holiday period for engineering works of one sort or another. This is such a contrast with matters when I was young when the railway put on extra trains and virtually every vehicle that could 'turn a wheel' was pressed into service (there's a flavour of this sort of activity in my post Excursions at Sedgeley Junction). The idea of the railway excursion is credited to Thomas Cook who organised the first known major excursion from Leicester to Loughborough in 1841.


Statue outside Leicester station of Thomas Cook.

Executing the change at Birmingham New Street meant negotiating the recently-changed arrangements there. Birmingham New Street station is being modernised. There's a website here about the project which modestly describes itself as "transforming Birmingham's New Street station to create a stunning 21st century transport hub". Halfway through the project, the first half of the new concourse was opened on the 28th April 2013 so it's all a bit incomplete and unfamiliar.

A class 170 from Leicester arriving at Birmingham New Street in 2009.

However, the 3-car class 170 diesel multiple unit was already waiting in the platform and we slowly set off 'right time'. Once we'd untangled ourselves from what I still think of as the "new" arrangements around Proof House Junction and established ourselves on the Up Derby, speed picked up. We passed Saltley Power Signal Box and then the futuristic-looking West Coast Control Centre.

Each time I travel by rail now, I'm reminded of just how difficult is is to observe the 'passing scene' from a train since most trains have air conditioning and no opening windows at all. Seats appear to be carefully aligned in relation to the available windows so as to minimise the number of seats with a decent view outside. This makes taking pictures from a moving train - the "drive by shooting" - difficult and the results disappointing. One of the attractive features of the early 'Modernisation' series of diesel multiple units was the window at the end of the passenger compartments allowing passengers to look through the driving compartment to the track ahead (or behind). Of course, that sort of nonsense has been stamped out. In modern diesel-powered trains, the noise and vibration from the underfloor engines is often too high for comfort, as well.

Our train continued on the former Midland Railway route. Approaching Nuneaton, you struggle to spot signs of the former Abbey Street station which I remember, with its all-wood 'Midland' signal box. From here, trains are routed to a new island platform tacked on to the Up side of the largely London and North Western station which serves the West Coast route. Originally, there was a freight avoiding line here which, I think, was sometimes used by passenger excursions.

Nuneaton: View from the new island platform looking south, with the old station on the right.

We made good time to Leicester. I'm always amazed at just how simplified the railway layout is, compared with what I remember from steam days. After a wait of a few minutes, we set off northwards, passing the very spartan-design of the Power Signal Box.

Leicester station, looking north. Click above for an uncropped picture showing the Power Signal Box on the right.

At Syston, we turned right for the Midland Railway line to Peterborough. As we made our way along the branch, I was pleased to see semaphore signals. I spotted the elderly Midland-origin mechanical signalboxes at Market Harborough and Oakham - I'm not sure what others survive.

The Midland route approaches Peterborough from the north, meeting the electrified East Coast Main Line about six miles north of the city and then running parallel to it to Peterborough station. There was quite a lot of alteration work in hand around the station. Quite a few passengers alighted or boarded here. Leaving the station, the Midland route diverged from the electrified route to Kings Cross on a falling grade before taking a broad sweep to the left and crossing the River Nene. On the right, I could see 'Railworld', a rather curious amalgam of Transport Centre and Wildlife Haven, "promoting sustainable travel and development". The trackbed of the London and North Western Railway route can be seen. This originally converged with the Midland route here. A few yards to the west I could see the Nene Valley Railway's eastern terminus (called, appropriately enough, 'Peterborough Nene Valley') which is built on that redundant trackbed. We then passed under the impressive girder bridge carrying the electrified lines and, after about a mile and a half, left the control area of Peterborough Power Box. We returned to semaphore signalling, initially controlled by a delightful mechanical signal box at Kings Dyke. We were now in Great Eastern Railway territory and the signal boxes provided a suitable reminder.

The next large town was March, about 15 miles from Peterborough, and we crossed fifteen level crossings (plus a couple of Accommodation Crossings) before arriving at March. I first visited March with my mother when I was about ten years old. She had a visit to make in the area and we travelled by train. I remember an impressive station with elaborate umbrella roofing over the platforms and a selection of unfamiliar Eastern region steam locomotives. Returning in 2013, only two platforms remain in use and the rest of the station is semi-derelict with tracks removed. I think there were originally four through platforms and a couple of bays.

March was famous for its automated hump marshalling yard at Whitemoor, built by the L.N.E.R. in 1929 and well-described in 'Mike's Railway History here.

Whitemoor Hump Yard (from a British Rail Film Strip produced in 1950).

I never saw the hump yard and it was completely removed by the mid 1980s. However, a new yard has been built, principally to serve as one of the ugly 'Virtual Quarries' now used for ballast storage.

There are still two mechanical signal boxes at March - March East Junction and March South Junction - controlling a pleasing array of mechanical signals. Beyond March, I didn't spot the boxes at Stonea and Manea but I think they survive, Manea serving as a 'Fringe Box' to the Power Box at Cambridge. Fourteen miles beyond March, the overhead electrified line from Kings Lynn joined on our left at Ely North Junction. This is remotely controlled from Cambridge, as is Ely station itself, two miles further on, where I left the train. The train then continued 'under the wires' to Cambridge and then Stansted Airport.

I had an interesting day as Ann's guest at the Degree Ceremony in Ely Cathedral. Ann and Dean are involved in the Sealed Knot as members of Sir Gilbert Hoghton's Companie of Foote and a number of members of this Royalist regiment attended in costume and posed for photographs, by arrangement, before the Degree Ceremony. This created quite a bit of interest!

Hoghton's in the Nave of Ely Cathedral.

The ceremony itself started at 2.30 p.m. and almost 300 graduates were presented to the Chancellor of the Open University, Lord Puttnam of Queensgate CBE. In the evening, a further group of graduates were to be presented at a similar ceremony.

A graduate being presented to Lord Puttnam.

Later, John, Ann, Dean and I enjoyed an excellent meal (as John's guests) at 'The Boathouse' riverside restaurant. Then, a short walk took me back to Ely station, where I had time to take a few pictures before catching the 20:15 to Birmingham. At Birmingham, I'd just time to catch a 'Virgin' Pendolino service back to Wolverhampton.

Ely station in the evening: A Class 365 for King's Lynn on the Down Main passes a freight waiting in the Down Goods Loop.

Map References

There are historic signal box diagrams for some of the route I travelled in the Signalling Record Society publications 'British Railways Layout Plans of the 1950's'.

Wolverhampton to Birmingham is included in 'Volume 11: LNW Lines in the West Midlands' (ISBN: 1 873228 13 9).
Saltley to Nuneaton Abbey Street is included in 'Volume 16: ex-MR lines Derby (excl) to Barnt Green, Burton to Leicester (excl), and branches' (ISBN: 1 873228 22 8).


For details of the route in the 21st century, refer to:-

'Railway Track Diagrams Book 4: Midlands & North West', Second Edition, published by Trackmaps (ISBN: 0-9549866-0-1).
'Railway Track Diagrams Book 2: Eastern', Third Edition, published by Trackmaps (ISBN: 0-9549866-2-8).

My pictures

West Midland Railways.
Nuneaton.
Leicester area.
Ely Station.
Ely & the Degree Ceremony.

'Black 5' to Birmingham

I consider myself fortunate to have experienced steam haulage on the main line when it was an everyday experience - when I was young, almost all the trains I saw were steam hauled! I'm just sorry I'm not able to give more details of these trips. I rarely noted even the engine number and dates and timings are usually not recorded. Sometime in the 1950s, one of my day trips was from Wolverhampton to Liverpool Lime Street.

I'd acquired a 'Clarion' portable tape recorder and hoped to make some sound recordings on the journey. The recorder was fairly basic - I would have liked a 'Uher', as used by the B.B.C., but that was way beyond my resources. The 'Clarion' recorder had capstan drive, giving nominally constant recording speed of three and three quarter inches per second (unlike the competing Grundig 'Cub' machine which simply drove the take-up spool at constant speed, giving a variable recording speed so that recordings could only be played back on the 'Cub'). However, 'wow' and 'flutter' performance was fairly poor. The microphone had no protection against wind so recordings at speed were fairly hopeless.

I don't remember the outward journey and can't tell you how I spent the day, although I'm sure to have walked to Pierhead at some point and probably made a trip on the Mersey Ferries. I'll try to describe what I remember of the return trip.

It was starting to get dark as I made my way back to Lime Street Station to catch a Birmingham train as far as Wolverhampton. The route (as it remains today) was through Runcorn to Weaver Junction where we would join the West Coast Main Line, then through Crewe to Stafford and finally onto the Stour Valley Line as far as Wolverhampton.

With a few minutes in hand before departure, I walked the length of the platform to check the motive power. It was a rather grubby 'Black 5' and I chatted to the friendly crew for a minute or two. I would have mentioned that I intended to make recordings on the journey. The first vehicle was a brake composite so I tucked myself in the corridor on the left near the leading door with the window wide open.

Click for larger image.
Not a 'Black 5' but otherwise a similar working from Liverpool Lime Street in 1959. LMS Fowler 6P 4-6-0 No. 45515 'Caernarvon' on the 10.05 express to Bournemouth West (Photo: Ben Brooksbank via Wikimedia Commons [CC-BY-SA-2.0]).

The colour light signal at the end of the platform came 'Off' and, about right time, the Guard gave the 'Right Away'. With a short whistle, the driver eased the regulator open and the train moved out across the pointwork at the station throat to reach the Up Fast line. There wasn't the trace of any slip as the driver 'opened her up' and the train settled into the 1 in 93 bank to Edge Hill. Originally this stretch had been a tunnel but it was then opened-out into a deep rock cutting, spanned by numerous bridges to carry the various roads. The crisp Stanier exhaust really echoed off the rock walls as we blasted up the grade.


Gradient diagram Weaver Junction - Liverpool Lime Street, with our starting point at Lime Street on the right.

We ran through the platform at Edge Hill at a fair speed and crossed to the 'South' Lines at Edge Hill No. 2 signal box, now running on the level. Looking to the left, there was just time to see the 'Waterloo' goods lines (leading through a tunnel under the city to the northern docks) and the extensive sidings before passing Edge Hill No. 3 signal box where we branched right onto the 'Crewe' lines. The curve, now rising again at climb of 1 in 93, took us under the 'Wapping Goods' lines and then, on our left, there was a view of the smoky gloom around Edge Hill Shed, with its distinctive coaling stage.


Again, not a 'Black 5' but '5X' 45418 passes Edge Hill shed with an Up Express for Crewe direction (Photo: Lamdelz)

We plunged under another bridge, this time the 'Circular Goods' lines (these allowed freight trains to and from Crewe direction to reach the unique 'Gridiron' marshalling yard without interfering with either passenger trains on the 'Crewe' line or traffic on the Liverpool and Manchester route) and soon reached the summit at Wavertree Junction. Now on a downhill stretch, we sped through Mossley Hill and clattered over the pointwork at Allerton Junction, where a branch to Hunts Cross diverged on our left. There was then an easy climb at 1 in 296 through more crossings at Speke Junction. By this time, we were running well. It was a dark, clear night and, under these favourable conditions, I remember noticing (not for the first time) just how visible the semaphore signal indications (red, yellow, green) were at a distance, considering they were produced by a tiny paraffin flame in the signal lamp (there's a description of semaphore signal lamps here). After around three miles, the track levelled through Halebank water troughs. I can't remember whether we took water but, only having come around 10 miles from Lime Street, we may not have done - it depends how full the tender was when we started. If we had taken water, I would have been careful to close the windows beforehand to avoid a possible drowning! We then ran downhill for a mile to Ditton Junction. This was quite an important location with two signal boxes, six platforms, extensive sidings and numerous bracket and gantry semaphore signals.

Ditton Junction had some notoriety as the location of a serious accident in 1912 when the driver of a Down train who was fairly unfamiliar with the location misread signals and failed to slow when crossing to the Slow line, derailing the train with considerable damage. The seriousness was compounded by fire in the wreckage. The complete Railway Accident Report by Lieutenant-Colonel Yorke is available here, on the excellent Railways Archive site.

Another uphill section of 1 in 114 took us across Ditton Viaduct and then, on the level, we crossed the River Mersey and the Manchester Ship Canal by Runcorn Railway Bridge. This bridge was built in 1868 to a design by William Baker and features double-web lattice girder contruction on stone abutments. There's a Wikipedia article about the bridge here. Leaving the bridge, the line climbed at 1 in 145 to our first station stop at Runcorn, about two and a half miles beyond Ditton Junction.

After a brief stop, we received the 'Right Away' and set off. The line was cut through a sandstone cutting, with about half a mile at 1 in 101, easing slightly to 1 in 115 for another mile. The engine was being worked fairly hard to accelerate away from our stop and we were certainly 'raising the echoes'. We passed Halton Junction (where the line to Frodsham Junction and Chester diverged to our right) a little over a mile from our stop having built up a fair speed. Almost two miles further on, we passed our highest point at Sutton Weaver, then we descended for about a mile and a half at 1 in 101 to the small signal box at Birdswood, situated near the flyover junction where our line crossed over the main lines to Warrington and ran alongside the Up Main, descending at a gentle 1 in 337 for almost a mile and a half before finally converging with the main lines outside Weaver Junction signal box.


Gradient diagram Madeley - Weaver Junction.

We crossed the River Weaver and the Weaver Navigation on the double-track Dutton Viaduct. This stone viaduct, comprising 20 arches each of 60 foot span, was built in 1837 for the Grand Junction Railway.


Dutton Viaduct (Photo: N.R.M.).

For the next 11 miles, our route was generally uphill, but not too demanding - 1 in 330 was about as stiff as it got. The double track section continued past the viaduct for about another mile and a half to Acton Bridge station, where the route became four-track, paired by direction, for two miles to Hartford Junction. We clattered over the pointwork where a spur diverged to the left to join the former Cheshire Lines Committee from Chester to Altrincham. On our left were the I.C.I. sidings but, in the darkness, the lines of bogie hopper vehicles which always filled the sidings could not be seen. Back on double track, we dived under the bridge carrying the C.L.C. route and started to reduce speed, for we were booked to stop at Hartford station a mile further on. Quite a few passengers left the train here.

As we stood in the platform, it was all very peaceful for a moment, with just a quiet sizzling from the engine. The driver leaned out and waved. I turned towards the rear of the train to see who he was waving at but I couldn't spot anyone. The driver waved again, more urgently and I realised the signal was for me. "Now what?" I thought as I dropped down onto the platform and went forward. The fireman opened the cab doors and beckoned me onto the footplate. The driver briefly acknowledged me but carried on looking back along the train. When the fireman closed the cab doors, it finally dawned on me that I was to travel with them. Our next stop was Crewe, twelve miles on. As soon as the driver got the 'Right Away' from the guard, he made a vigorous start and quickly worked the speed up.

I'd previously had a number of short rides on the footplate (pottering around on station pilots or yard shunters). Around Morecambe, I'd had a number of rides on a Stanier 0-4-4T working push-pull trains (mentioned in the post Steam around Morecambe). But I'd never had a trip like this one - on the main line, at speed and at night.

When the fireman opened the firedoors to put a charge of coal on, the cab was flooded with intense, white light and, even standing at the back of the cab, I could feel the searing heat. I thought to myself "I must try to remember everything I see" but the noise, the vibration and the heat when the firedoors were open made it very difficult to concentrate. I was fascinated and terrified at the same time.

Three miles of double track took us past Winsford Junction and its goods loops, another mile and a half to Winsford station where, once again, the line became four-track, paired by direction. This four-track section would take us right into Crewe.

I had a fair idea of the layout of the driving controls in a Stanier cab but everything looked more mysterious in the dark, being bounced around and deafened. Although we were running pretty fast, the Fireman was only firing occasionally and the rest of the time he was on the tip-up seat keeping a look-out for signals. The driver was making no further alterations to the regulator or cut-off and most of his attention was focussed along the side of the taper boiler, peering at the line ahead


View of the Driver's side of the cab in a Stanier locomotive.

Two and a half miles beyond Winsford, we passed Minshull Vernon. The station was long-gone, only grass-covered platforms remained flanking the slow lines but the signal box was still there to "shorten the block". Here, the line became level right into Crewe. Another two miles took us past Coppenhall Junction, where there were crossovers to allow some switching between Fast and Slow lines. Another three miles would bring us into Crewe station. I knew we were close when I saw Crewe Coal Yard signal box. This was an 'Air Raid Precautions' style box on the Up side where the Liverpool Goods Independent lines branched off the Slow lines and tunnelled under Crewe North Junction to emerge near Salop Goods Junction. We'd left semaphore signals behind for a while - all the main signals through Crewe were colour light. As we approached Crewe North Junction, the Driver told me to tuck myself in the back corner of the cab up against the tender until the "coast was clear" so I didn't see much of our arrival into what was (and I think will always remain for me) Platform 4.

When we stopped, the Fireman had a good look both ways along the platform until it was safe for me to slip back to the train without the Driver or Fireman getting disciplined for their kindness. It was some years before I read the saying (probably in one of Professor Tuplin's books) "There's always somebody at Crewe on the look-out for trouble" but that night I already understood the meaning very well. Babbling my thanks, I clambered off the footplate when bidden and quickly slipped back into the leading coach. I'd abandoned my possessions (including the 'Clarion' tape recorder) in the front coach when I'd hurriedly left the train at Hartford. Fortunately, everything was still there, undisturbed. My legs were still trembling and my head was a whirl so I didn't pay a great deal of attention to the rest of the journey back to Wolverhampton, I'm afraid.

What happened next?

That was a wonderful experience which I still remember (even if the details are a bit vague). My initial interest was in railway signalling, rather than locomotives and it was many years before I began a serious study of steam locomotives, when I was already in my forties. I've explained the circumstances in the post 'Lion'. Eventually, I got to drive a few Stanier locomotives on preserved lines.


Jan in the cab of 'Black 5' 45337 at Peak Rail (Photo: Sheila Rayson).

The Route

In the 1950s, apart from Lime Street and Crewe, the route was mainly controlled by semaphore signals, manual signal boxes and Absolute Block Signalling. We passed the following signal boxes on our way from Lime Street to Crewe:-

Liverpool Lime Street
Edge Hill No.2
Edge Hill No.3
Wavertree Jn.
Allerton Junction
Speke Jn.
Woodside Siding
Ditton Jn. No. 2
Ditton Jn. No. 1
Runcorn
Halton Jn.
Sutton Weaver
Birdswood
Weaver Jn
Acton Bridge
Hartford Jn.
Hartford
Verdins Sidings
Winsford Jn.
Winsford Goods Yard
Winsford
Minshull Vernon
Coppenhall Jn.
Crewe Coal Yard
Crewe North Jn.
Crewe No. 3

More details about each of these signal boxes can be found in the 'British Railways Layout Plans of the 1950's' series below.

Map References

You can find detailed signal box diagrams for the route I travelled in the excellent series of publications from the Signalling Record Society 'British Railways Layout Plans of the 1950's'.

Liverpool Lime Street to Weaver Junction is included in 'Volume 9: LNW Lines Crewe to Euxton Junction, Liverpool to Manchester (and associated branches)' (ISBN: 1 873228 11 2).
Stafford to Crewe is included in 'Volume 1: ex-LNWR main line, Euston to Crewe' (ISBN: 1 873228 00 7).
Wolverhampton to Stafford (excluding Stafford) is included in 'Volume 11: LNW Lines in the West Midlands' (ISBN: 1 873228 13 9).

If you want to see what remained of the route in 2005, refer to 'Railway Track Diagrams Book 4: Midlands & North West', Second Edition, published by Trackmaps (ISBN: 0-9549866-0-1).