Merseyrail electrification to Kirkby 1977

[Springs Branch]

Maybe some older members who were around the Liverpool area in the late 1970s can help with this question. I’m trying to reconcile my own memories with some published facts around the electrification of the Merseyrail line between Walton Junction and Kirkby in 1977.

My niggle is that several books I have read on the history of Merseyrail state the electric service to Kirkby started the same day that the present Liverpool Central station and Link tunnel opened, 2 May 1977. This includes a report in Modern Railways, which I’d always considered a fairly authoritative magazine.

But I remember taking a day trip from Wigan Wallgate to check out the new underground railway very soon after the Link had opened. As I recall it, the electrification of the section to Kirkby had been delayed, and the DMUs from Wigan were running through to Sandhills and reversing in the siding there in the interim. Wigan line passengers had to change to Ormskirk and Southport trains to and from Liverpool Central.

Can anyone confirm this was actually true, and for how long the reversal of DMUs at Sandhills was in place? I suspect somewhere between several weeks and several months. Or am I hallucinating?

 

[L+Y]

I wasn't around in Liverpool in the 1970s, but I know people who were: and I think you're correct in saying that Sandhills was used for DMU reversing for at least a few months after Exchange closed. For some reason, January 1978 comes into mind as the date I've been told for the ending of this, but I can't say for sure.

All I can confirm is that you're not hallucinating: Sandhills reversing siding WAS used for DMUs for a while.

Any further questions on these lines?

 

[Ploughman]

No knowledge of the Kirkby services but I was on the last train out of Exchange and on the first into the new Central.

 

[Taunton]

I was around Merseyside at the time, and faintly recall some issue with the Kirkby electrification, possibly that it turned out that the old LMS Class 502 units were out of gauge on the line. Wirral Class 503 units were eventually brought across to run the new Kirkby route for a short while, it being known that the Class 502 had just months to run until the new Class 507 were delivered at the end of 1978.

I've read that Class 313 were sent up from the GN London Suburban to run the Kirkby route as well, but do not recall these being used at all.

 

[Polarbear]

I'm pretty sure the OP isn't hallucinating. I seem to recall that this was indeed the case for a short period in 1977.

As I remember, the Northern Line from Liverpool Central through Moorfields was opened, (02/05/77 is the date on Wikipedia) but due to a funding farce, the electrification of the line to Kirkby was delayed (it nearly got pulled completely at one point. This resulted in the erstwhile Liverpool Exchange - Bolton services having to be turned at Sandhills for a short time until the Kirkby line was juiced.

I think it may have only been for a matter of weeks & certainly not mor than a month or so?

 

[prod_pep]

I've read that Class 313 were sent up from the GN London Suburban to run the Kirkby route as well, but do not recall these being used at all.

Three Class 313s did visit the Merseyrail Northern Line, but they were never used in passenger service. Two visited in 1977 for clearance testing ahead of the Class 507 delivery and another was present at Hall Road depot in late 1978 alongside the first 507s.

 

[Springs Branch]

Thanks to all who commented, glad my memory is vindicated.

Regarding duration of the Sandhills turnbacks - I had it in mind that the Kirkby electrification was only delayed by a matter of a month or two, but now I recall once waiting on the platform at Sandhills in the afternoon peak in the dark, being frozen by a strong icy wind.
The only circumstances where I would be doing this was waiting for the DMU back to Wigan and the fact it was dark at 5.00-5.30pm suggests it was in the winter of 1977/8 (of course cold winds could be any time of year on Merseyside, especially at Sandhills).

Regarding the Wirral Class 503s on the Kirkby line, I did read that these were brought over to the Northern Line because their motors and gearing were better suited to the steep gradient between Moorfields and the viaduct out of Exchange. Apparently the Class 502s were failing regularly because their drives were specified for the flat run out to Southport or Ormskirk, not for grinding up a steep gradient many times a day.

One other random memory of those days. There was no clue whatsoever at Liverpool Central of the existance of connecting trains to Wigan. No indication on the Solari indicators, no announcements and only timetables for Southport and Ormskirk. You sort of had to remember what times the connecting DMUs were supposed to leave, then guess which Southport or Ormskirk train might make a connection into it. Bit of a pity since those DMUs still served Kirkdale, Preston Road (as it was), Fazak. and Kirkby, which were all "Merseyrail" stations.

 

[Taunton]

It seems a little unlikely that the handful of Wirral units, which were hardly used I understood, somehow alleviated any problem with the Moorfields-Sandhills gradient

The Wirral units were of course fine with steep gradients, as the climb from under the river to both James Street and Hamilton Square is at 1 in 27 in places, which is the steepest passenger gradient on the whole of the national system; for some reason this goes generally unrecognised as such. It always seemed strange to me that the Southport 502 3-car units had motors twice as powerful as the Wirral units (4 x 235 hp = 940 hp, compared to 4 x 135 hp = 540 hp), despite their flat territory compared to the big climb from under the Mersey.

Another recollection from the time of the changeover for both these units, firstly the Southport ones and then continuing with the Wirral. The Southport 502 units really went downhill towards the end, big paint peel-offs, panels looking dented, interior upholstery tattered, failures (as described) etc, whereas in comparison the Wirral 503 units were as presentable and reliable as they had always been right to the end. There can be all sorts of reasons for one or the other in the final months of service, the strange thing was the difference between the two, under common management.