Along Birkenhead Lines 3 rd, 4 th & 5 th March 2017 Event Guide CONTENTS Stepping Back in time 2 Rails to Woodside 3 The Last Knockings of Steam 4 Locomotive Fleet 5 What s On Guide X -------------------------- X -------------------------- X TICKETS Tickets may be purchased directly from all the station Booking Offices on the day or in advance on our website. At times when our intermediate stations are closed, tickets should be obtained from the ticket inspection on board the train. Discount tickets are available for children, senior citizens, families and groups. SOUVENIRS AND SALES The railway s main souvenir, models and book shop is at Llangollen Station, stocking a wide range of our own range of souvenirs, railway books, models and DVDs at competitive prices. Two carriage shops selling railwayana, books and collectables are located at Carrog, with funds raised supporting the restoration and operation of some of the railway s historic steam locomotives. The stations along the line also have dedicated sales areas open over the weekend. REFRESHMENTS The Station Café and Bar at Llangollen will be open over the weekend offering a variety of fresh coffee, teas, soft drinks and alcoholic beverages as well as freshly prepared sandwiches, cakes, cream teas & afternoon teas. At Berwyn, Glyndyfrdwy and Carrog stations there are small and friendly Tea Rooms offering Tea, Coffee, freshly made sandwiches, pasties and homemade cakes. A Buffet is available onboard one of our trains (see timetable for details) SAFETY DURING YOUR VISIT Steam locomotives are used throughout the year and the smoke from them adds to the heritage ambience of our historic railway. Please take care when close to the locomotives, especially when trains are leaving the stations. Please take the following simple precautions during your visit: Don t lean out of train windows or open doors whilst the train is in motion. Don t cross railway lines unless authorised. Don t drop litter from the train. VOLUNTEER SUPPORT GROUPS The Railway is operated mainly by volunteers. The Llangollen Railway Trust welcomes both active and armchair members to support the line. Benefits of membership include travel concessions and a regular news magazine Steam at Llangollen. Shares in the Llangollen Railway PLC can also be bought. The majority of the railway s historic locomotives and railcar fleet have their own dedicated supporting groups, including: Foxcote Manor Society; The 5199 Project; Llangollen Railway GWR Locomotive Group, 80072 Steam Locomotive Company; Llangollen Railcar Group and Llangollen Diesel Group. SOME USEFUL POSTCODES Market Street Car Park, Llangollen (Pay & Display): LL20 8PS Mill Street Car Park, Llangollen (Pay & Display): LL20 8RQ Royal International Pavilion, Llangollen (Pay & Display): LL20 8SW Carrog Station (Free but limited parking): LL21 9BD Green Lane Car Park, Corwen (Pay & Display): LL21 0DN
Steaming back in time The journey from Paddington to Birkenhead has a much wider significance than that of a point-to-point dash across England. It means, for one thing, the linking of the great Port of London with the two chief ports of the north-west coast, for although the line actually ends at Birkenhead it is virtually a great trunk route from London to Liverpool, for Liverpool lies just across the Mersey from Birkenhead only ten minutes journey by ferry from Woodside Station, the northern terminus of the Great Western Railway. The Great Western Railway, fully living up to its name, is, in the broadest sense, the great railway to the West not merely the South- West, or the Middle West, but to the whole of the West, including the North-West. It sounds a far cry from Birkenhead to Penzance, but they have this in common both are western ports and are therefore on the Great Western Railway. Extract from the GWR Through the Window Paddington to Birkenhead, 1925. Photo Credits: Front Cover: David Pool Rear Cover: xxxxxxxxx
Rails to Woodside A railway linking the Roman city of Chester with the north-western port of Birkenhead opened in 1840. The original terminus in Birkenhead was superseded firstly by an extension to Monks Ferry (1844) and then via a half mile long tunnel to a new station at Woodside. The station was hailed by the Great Western Railway as its northern terminus and was built in a grandiose style. Two semi cylindrical roofs covered much of the station s five platforms, offering much protection during periods of inclement weather. Steam hauled local services departed from Woodside to Chester, Helsby, West Kirby and deep into North Wales via Llangollen. From the early days, the Great Western Railway also operated express trains from the station to London Paddington via Shrewsbury & Wolverhampton and Birmingham. A surviving GWR excursion poster from 1879 notes that the arrival platform at [Woodside] is 630 feet long and therefore will only accommodate 21 four-wheeled vehicles, or 17 six-wheeled vehicles. Interestingly, if any of the excursion trains were longer than the platforms would allow, passengers were advised that some of the carriages would be taken off at Chester and attached to the next passenger train! On 1st July 1880 a new prestige express service was introduced. This left Paddington at 4.45pm for Wolverhampton with connections onto Birkenhead Woodside. It was unofficially called the Northern Zulu to differentiate it from the Zulu express to the West of England, which had been introduced the previous year. The station remained busy right up into nationalisation in the late 1940s, but by the 1960s the station was beginning to lose custom. Most of the routes served by Birkenhead Woodside could also be taken from Liverpool Lime Street station, on the opposite side of the River Mersey. March 1967 saw the last remaining through services to Paddington were withdrawn; the route effectively being curtailed at Wolverhampton as a result of the introduction of new electric trains on the West Coast Main Line. At the same time the last steam-hauled service from Woodside took place, with the local diesel train service lingering on for a few more months. Birkenhead Woodside closed to passengers on 5 th November 1967 and was demolished within just a couple of years. Today very little remains of this once impressive station, although the majority of the route from Chester into Birkenhead is part of the Merseyrail network. Our Spring Steam Gala aims to recreate some of the sights and sounds of those long lost steam hauled Birkenhead services.
Saturday 4 th March 1967 The last scheduled mile-a-minute booking for steam haulage in the British Isles took place on the Gobowen to Shrewsbury section of the Woodside to Paddington services. Ian Allan Railtours ran two train trains to Birkenhead to commemorate the last through working from Paddington to Birkenhead. The first train was the Birkenhead Flyer which was worked partly by No.4079 Pendennis Castle, whilst the second was the Zulu which was worked by No. 7029 Clun Castle. Sunday 5 th March 1967 On the following day, two further enthusiasts railtours were run by the Stephenson Locomotive Society, entitled Farewell to the GWR Birmingham Birkenhead Service. These were hauled by No. 7029 Clun Castle and a Black Five class loco No. 44680. Monday 6 th March 1967 The final Birkenhead Woodside to Paddington train, the 21.40 departure on Sunday 5 th March was worked by Black Five No. 44690. This did not leave Birmingham Snow Hill until 01.00 on the Monday morning meaning that the service did not officially end until the Monday. For a comprehensive look at the last years of steam locomotive workings in the Wirral, Chester and Wrexham areas, see Chris Magner s latest book Steam Finale. The Last Knockings for Steam Saturday 4 th March 2017 On the Saturday evening, local historian and railway enthusiast John Hobbs will be giving an illustrated talk on The Last Knockings for Steam in Wrexham. Making use of his extensive collection of photographs from the 1960s, John will be showing the dying days of BR Steam in and around the town of Wrexham. Venue Henry Robertson Suite, Llangollen Station. 5 for the talk (with proceeds going towards the restoration of GWR Pannier No.7754).Doors open 6.30pm for 7pm start. Tickets available on the door or in advance from Berwyn station ticket office.