At Chester the front of the EMU was actually just beyond the end of the third rail at the London end of P7A, meanwhile a 3-car Merseyrail service train came and went from the usual P7B. After a short break at Chester the tour made its way to Birkenhead Central via a reversal at Hooton bay P1 to Ellesmere Port and an unusual return through Hooton P2 instead of the normal P3. Ellesmere Port's claim to fame, of course, being that it is home to the largest Marks and Spencer store outside London.














The first highlight was a run to Birkenhead Central, then a double reversal for the long curving trailing crossover at the Chester end and then No.1 Carriage Siding (stop blocks) behind P2. Alongside is the remains of the three road depot with intact track. However, a poor roof structure and asbestos means that, while a useful asset for stock, it would be a costly exercise to rebuild to modern standards.








In this cleverly planned tour we then visited Rock Ferry bay P4, once common with terminating EMUs when the third rail stopped there and now quite rare. This was the first 'comfort' break with portable loos.

After an unusual non-stop run round the recently relaid loop our AGM tour reversed at Mann Island Jn to take the Stock Interchange Line, a link not accustomed to seeing a loaded passenger train as it is used for ECS movements between the Northern and Wirral Lines. To make our way northwards towards Southport appropriate use was made of Liverpool Central Reversing Siding between the Up and Down lines. In true BLS style the run to Southport involved reversals to do Hall Road (7m 10ch) and Marsh Lane (3m 52ch) trailing crossovers completing the full set on the line over our three tours.

A few miles from Southport, just before the CLC line to Lord Street went over, we passed 'Southport International Airport' (RAF Woodvale). There is not much activity now except some University Air Squadron flying. Woodvale's claim to fame is that it was the home of the Temperature and Humidity Flight (THum) which on 10 Jun 1957 flew what was to be the last operational flight by an RAF Spitfire anywhere in the world. However, in 1963 the RAF was seriously concerned as to how it would support the new State of Malaysia against Indonesia whose front line fighter was the North American P51! A fine aircraft but somewhat beyond its 'sell by' date. We were flying the Mach 2 English Electric Lightning so to develop tactics to fight the P51s, a Griffon engined Mk 19 Spitfire was obtained from RAF stores and went up against the mighty Lightning. The conclusions make interesting reading!








Meanwhile back in Southport a much deserved 'comfort break' was enjoyed by most participants followed/preceded by (according to individual priorities!) a complementary tea or coffee kindly provided by Merseyrail. After half an hour or so it was off from P2 to Birkdale No.8 Carriage Siding for a reversal back into P3. After another short break we headed back for our first depot visit at Kirkdale by way of the Sandhills Reversing Siding with the Town Green and Maghull trailing crossovers thrown in for good measure and Ormskirk P1. Less than five months earlier our 'Cat & Dock' tour had visited P2!








At Kirkdale North Jn the tour ran through Depot Line 4 (not by coincidence, it is coming out with the alterations to accommodate the new EMUs) as booked then right to the end of the headshunt which was a nice little 'extra'. I had imagined that doing this was no big deal but listening to Kev explain what that little 'extra' took just highlights the tremendous effort needed to cover this sort of rare track. Part of the permission to access the headshunt required the replacement of some of the wooden sleepers! The NITEQ 4wBE (B226) battery electric unit used as a light weight shunter was kindly specially positioned for tour participants to see. Several variants exist in depots around the country.

After Kirkdale it was off to Bidston via reversals at Walton Jn and Liverpool Central then via the Stock Interchange Line pausing at James Street P2. It was dark as we made the short trip from bidirectional Bidston P2 to the Stabling Siding which was once part of the curve and third side of the triangle to Seacombe Jn. To make up for not being able to see much the traincrew kindly turned the carriage lights off for the 25 minutes* or so we were in the siding. To keep us entertained, bizarrely music from 1970s/80s TV adverts was played over the PA (a BLS first?)! *Arriva Trains Wales Wrexham Central DMUs also use P2; on a Sunday they are roughly every 2½ hours with a 20 minute wait here and have to retreat ECS for a Down EMU. We had to wait in the siding for this to happen, but covered the trailing crossover three times. The signalling does not allow reversal in Bidston P1. When (SuX) the Wrexham service is hourly (with two DMUs) their reversal in P2 is, at times, almost instantaneous!





Birkenhead North depot was next on the menu via the Up & Down Through Siding and No.4 Road to the shed doors. Talking to the guard about the level of criminality (as you do when in Liverpool) at the depot he says things are much better than they were; in 2001 arsonists destroyed 508118 on shed!

Another 'comfort break' at New Brighton followed and we set off back to Hooton taking in the rare Birkenhead North P1 (the Up Passenger Loop) then reversing at Canning Street Jn to regain the Down Chester for a quick run to Hooton where we arrived P3 right on time at 18.47. Another very enjoyable day with the friendly Merseyrail staff and very little waiting about so we covered much track.





It becomes more and more clear to me just how much effort has to go into organising these types of tours and I think it worth acknowledging the effort our team (led so well by Kev Adlam) and industry partners put in to the day so that we could complete all the bits of track we needed. Following the tour £11,079 was donated to the Whitechapel Centre a substantial amount to help in their endeavours. Many thanks to Gary Lonsdale for his detailed stock lists, Jim Sellens for his 'miles' and distinctive tickets, and Peter Scott and Martyn Brailsford for the track plans over the weekend.