Mersey Railway electric units
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Mersey Railway electric multiple units were
electric multiple units An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number ...
introduced on the underground
Mersey Railway The Mersey Railway was the first part of the passenger railway connecting the communities of Liverpool, Birkenhead, and now the rest of the Wirral Peninsula in England, which lie on opposite banks of the River Mersey, via the Mersey Railway Tun ...
, now a part of
Merseyrail Merseyrail is a commuter rail network serving the Liverpool City Region and adjacent areas of Cheshire and Lancashire. Merseyrail operates 66 railway stations across two lines – the Northern Line and Wirral Line, which are dedicated electri ...
, in 1903. In the early 1900s the railway was bankrupt as it used steam locomotives that left a dirty atmosphere in the tunnel and passengers preferred the ferries. However, the railway was rescued by Westinghouse Electric, who electrified the railway and provided the first electric multiple units. The cars were supplemented in 1908, 1923 and 1925 and finally in 1936 to allow the progression from 4-car, through 5-car, and finally to 6-car trains. In 1938, when the
Wirral Railway The Wirral Railway was a railway network in the northern part of the Wirral Peninsula, England. Its route was from Birkenhead Park in the east of the Wirral to West Kirby in the west. A branch off this line at Bidston went north to Secombe and ...
was electrified, the units were modified to allow through running between the two systems. In 1956–57 the cars were replaced by units similar to those used on the Wirral Railway.


Service introduction

In the early 1900s the Mersey Railway was bankrupt. The steam locomotives then used left a dirty atmosphere in the tunnel that mechanical ventilation was unable to remove. Passengers preferred the ferries. However, the railway attracted the attention of
George Westinghouse George Westinghouse Jr. (October 6, 1846 – March 12, 1914) was an American entrepreneur and engineer based in Pennsylvania who created the railway air brake and was a pioneer of the electrical industry, receiving his first patent at the age of ...
, an American looking for business for his UK works, the British Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Co. Ltd that opened at
Trafford Park Trafford Park is an area of the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, opposite Salford Quays on the southern side of the Manchester Ship Canal, southwest of Manchester city centre and north of Stretford. Until the la ...
in 1899. Westinghouse considered the railway would be profitable with electric traction and undertook to fund electrification, promising to complete in eighteen months. In 1903, 24 motor cars and 33 trailers were provided by Westinghouse. The stock was of an American design, with a
clerestory In architecture, a clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey) is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, ''clerestory'' denoted an upper l ...
roof and open gated ends. Unheated accommodation was in saloons and the wooden bodies were British built, the bogies had been made by
Baldwin Locomotive Works The Baldwin Locomotive Works (BLW) was an American manufacturer of railroad locomotives from 1825 to 1951. Originally located in Philadelphia, it moved to nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania, in the early 20th century. The company was for decades t ...
in America. All cars were wide, the motor cars were long and weighed and the trailers long and weighed . First and Third Class cars were provided, the first class seats being natural rattan, the third class seats being moulded plywood. The livery was maroon with white roofs and "Mersey Railway" in gold left on the upper fascia panels. Air-brakes were provided with storage reservoirs that were recharged at the terminal stations. The motor cars were powered with Westinghouse motors controlled by the Westinghouse low voltage multiple unit train control system. Once the original cars had their ends enclosed, all cars, original and subsequent, motor and trailer, had the same basic interior layout, with inward swinging end doors into vestibules, leading to a large saloon with two bays of transverse seats in the centre, and lengthy longitudinal seats towards each end, allowing for standing passengers in the centre. As the longest journey on the Mersey was 11 minutes. Liverpool Central to Rock Ferry, comfort was not a significant issue, but nevertheless there was considerable provision of first class, two cars of five (after the 1936 lengthening, two of six).


In service

The inaugural service ran on 3 May 1903. The trains originally operated from
Liverpool Central Liverpool Central railway station in Liverpool, England, forms a central hub of the Merseyrail network, being on both the Northern Line and the Wirral Line. The station is located underground on two levels, below the site of a former mainline ...
to
Rock Ferry Rock Ferry is an area of Birkenhead on the Wirral Peninsula, England. Administratively it is a ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral. Before local government reorganisation on 1 April 1974, it was part of the county of Cheshire. At the 2 ...
and
Birkenhead Park Birkenhead Park is a major public park located in the centre of Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. It was designed by Joseph Paxton and opened on 5 April 1847. It is generally acknowledged as the first publicly funded civic park in the world. Th ...
. Following the electrification of the former
Wirral Railway The Wirral Railway was a railway network in the northern part of the Wirral Peninsula, England. Its route was from Birkenhead Park in the east of the Wirral to West Kirby in the west. A branch off this line at Bidston went north to Secombe and ...
in 1938, electric services were extended to
West Kirby West Kirby is a resort town on the north-west corner of the Wirral Peninsula in Merseyside, England, at the mouth of the River Dee, Wales, River Dee. Within the boundaries of the Historic counties of England, historic county of Cheshire, to th ...
and New Brighton. The older Mersey units then commonly operated the New Brighton and Rock Ferry branches during the week, and the West Kirby route on Sundays, while the new LMS units operated to and from West Kirby on weekdays, and to New Brighton and Rock Ferry on Sundays.


Additional vehicles

An additional four trailers were received in 1908 with British bogies, and in 1912 the open ends were boxed in. In 1923 two motor-cars were ordered from
Cravens Cravens Railway Carriage and Wagon Company Limited was a railway rolling stock builder in the Darnall district of Sheffield, England. Founded by brothers named Craven and known as Craven Brothers, later Cravens Limited, it remained a family busi ...
with four motors, and in 1925 a five-car train was received from the same manufacturer. To allow the introduction of 6-car train in 1936, ten steel-bodied third class trailer (TT) units were built by Gloucester RCW. The Cravens and Gloucester cars did not have a clerestory roof; however, any car could work in multiple with any other car and mixed formation trains were normal. On 14 March 1938, the
Wirral Railway The Wirral Railway was a railway network in the northern part of the Wirral Peninsula, England. Its route was from Birkenhead Park in the east of the Wirral to West Kirby in the west. A branch off this line at Bidston went north to Secombe and ...
was electrified and through running between the two companies became possible. When the Mersey Railway trains were modified to run on the Wirral Railway, heaters and air-compressors were added. One final car was built following the destruction of original Milnes Trailer Third No. 84 by bombing in Birkenhead in 1940. The LMS helped out, and built at Wolverton works in 1944 a comparable car No. 112 (later M29193M). It was all steel and looked similar to the Gloucester RCW additional cars built a few years previously. It only lasted for 12 years before the fleet was withdrawn.


Replacement

Following the nationalisation of the Mersey Railway as part of
British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
, the Mersey Railway became part of the
London Midland Region The London Midland Region (LMR) was one of the six regions created on the formation of the nationalised British Railways (BR), and initially consisted of ex-London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) lines in England, Wales and Northern Irelan ...
alongside the former Wirral Railway lines. The Mersey cars were replaced in 1956-7 by vehicles to the same design as the ex-LMS units introduced with the former Wirral Railway electrification in 1938, lightweight three car multiple units which were eventually classified as Class 503. The final Mersey unit was withdrawn in March 1957. Car no. 1, a first class motor coach, was destroyed in a fire at Derby carriage works paint shop in 1957, where it had been taken for overhaul in preparation for restoration and preservation.


Notes


References


Sources

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Further reading

* {{British Rail EMU
Mersey Railway The Mersey Railway was the first part of the passenger railway connecting the communities of Liverpool, Birkenhead, and now the rest of the Wirral Peninsula in England, which lie on opposite banks of the River Mersey, via the Mersey Railway Tun ...
Rail transport in Merseyside Train-related introductions in 1903 https://electronicsindia.net/wpc-license-in-india/ 600 V DC multiple units