1. Journey there and Liverpool Lime Street station-08.07.15

THE ARCHIVE FILES > Archive-2015 > 42. Trip to Liverpool-08-10.07.15 > 1. Journey there and Liverpool Lime Street station-08.07.15

After travelling up to Liverpool with London Midland I spent an hour or so at Lime Street whilst my wife reacquainted herself with the layout of the shops in the city!

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Images 1-18 of 18 displayed.

350111, LM 06.49 Crewe-London Euston (2Y00), Northampton station
350111 drifts into Northampton station with the 06.49 Crewe to Euton service. This view clearly shows the rampant and uncontrolled undergrowth, mainly buddleia, that appears to have taken over the platform ends and the sidings behind the train!
Keywords: 350111 06.49 Crewe-London Euston 2Y00 Northampton station London Midland Desiro

350127, LM 07.54 London Euston-Birmingham New Street (2Y17), Northampton station
As can be seen from the screen, the 07.54 Euston to Birmingham New Street is arriving early and will wait for some fifteen minutes before it continues its journey. My wife and I took this train worked by 350127 to New Street.
Keywords: 350127 07.54 London Euston-Birmingham New Street 2Y17 Northampton station London Midland Desiro

158840, AT 10.09 Birmingham International-Aberystwyth & Pwllheli (1J11 & 2J11), Birmingham New Street station
158840 leaves New Street station into the darkness of New Street North tunnel forming the ATW 10.09 from Birmingham International to Aberystwyth and Pwllheli. Out of sight in the tunnel is another Class 158 with the two units splitting at Mchynthleth with them running separately to their relative destinations.
Keywords: 158840 10.09 Birmingham International-Aberystwyth & Pwllheli 1J11 2J11 Birmingham New Street station ATW Arriva Trains Wales

350232, LM 10.36 Birmingham New Street-Liverpool Lime Street (1F39), Birmingham New Street station
350232 stands at New Street's platform 4C in the darkness under the Hill Street bridge. This was the second train that my wife and I took of our journey to Liverpool as the 10.36 1F39 service to Lime Street.
Keywords: 350232 10.36 Birmingham New Street-Liverpool Lime Street 1F39 Birmingham New Street station

153375, LM 10.42 Birmingham New Street-Walsall (2A89), Birmingham New Street station
153375 waits inside Birmingham New Street to work the 10.42 to Walsall. This service ought to be operated by a Class 323 electric unit but in this case a diesel has been forced to substitute that seems rather wasteful.
Keywords: 153375 10.42 Birmingham New Street-Walsall 2A89 Birmingham New Street station

350232, LM 10.36 Birmingham New Street-Liverpool Lime Street (1F39), Birmingham New Street station
With eight minutes until its departure, the guard of the 10.36 Birmingham New Street to Liverpool Lime Street takes a little time as he sits in the rear cab of 350232 prior to its departure. Meanwhile, 390151 with its one-off 'Business is Great' vinyls waits at a nearby platform. My wife and I took the London Midland Desiro all the way to Liverpool.
Keywords: 350232 10.36 Birmingham New Street-Liverpool Lime Street 1F39 Birmingham New Street station London MIdland Desiro

Stafford No. 4 signal box (BR, 1960)
Not a great picture of Stafford No. 4 signal box taken through the train window but with only some three weeks left in service before being decommissioned I have included it. No. 4 box is a British Railways (LMR) type 15 structure with a one hundred and five lever frame that was opened in 1960. I suspect that it will be demolished pretty quickly after its closure at the start of next month but I hope that somebody will save the large British Railways enamel sign hanging above the steps.

PS The box closed on 01.08.15 and was demolished over the 15 & 16.09.15
Keywords: Stafford No. 4 signal box BR 1960 Stafford number 4 signal box

09204, stabled, Crewe South
Undertaking some shunting duties to the south of Crewe, 09204 sits attached to a line of Polish built IOA bogie box wagons. There is a general misunderstanding in the railway fraternity that the Class 09s are a more powerful version of the Class 08 shunters. They are in fact identical having the same 350hp English Electric 6KT engine with the only difference being slightly higher gearing. This means that they can reach the dizzy heights of twenty-seven and a half miles per hour! However, it does reduce their maximum tractive effort slightly. Whilst some Class 09s were converted from 08s, this example was one of the original twenty-six constructed at Horwich works entering service in December 1961 as D4112. Apart from being stored for a year between 2011 and 2012, it has been in continual service since its introduction; quite some testament to the design!
Keywords: 09204 Crewe South Gronk shunter

142061, NT 15.55 Liverpool Lime Street-Manchester Oxford Road (2H40), Liverpool Lime Street station
Lime Street station really is a gem of a structure being designed collaboratively by the architects John Cunningham, Arthur Holme, and John Foster Jr. Under one of its earlier cast-iron arches, Pacer 142061 departs with the 2H40 15.55 to Manchester Oxford Road.
Keywords: 142061 15.55 Liverpool Lime Street-Manchester Oxford Road 2H40 Liverpool Lime Street station Northern Trains Pacer

Liverpool Lime Street signal box (LMS, 1948)
Liverpool Lime Street signal box was opened by British Railways on 25th January 1948. It was built to the LMS Type 13 design and was fitted with a ninety five lever Westinghouse ‘L’ frame and is currently the last miniature lever frame operated by Network Rail. It is equipped with a Westinghouse Miniature Control Desk N-X panel. It is scheduled for closure this year (2015) but the upgrading works that will precipitate its demise are running late so it will probably operate for a while longer yet. It is said that the box is haunted with various signallers reporting nighttime paranormal activity...hmm!
Keywords: Liverpool Lime Street signal box LMS

185124, TP 12.50 Scarborough-Liverpool Lime Street (1F88), Liverpool Lime Street station
TPE's 185124 arrives at Liverpool Lime Street with the 1F88 12.50 from Scarborough. It is passing in front of the 1948 LMS signal box that is about to close with control moving to the Manchester RSC.
Keywords: 185124 12.50 Scarborough-Liverpool Lime Street 1F88 Liverpool Lime Street station TransPennine Express TPE

319380, NT 15.02 Manchester Victoria-Liverpool Lime Street (2F21), Liverpool Lime Street station
I cannot get used to seeing Class 319 units in operation in the north-west! Being from the Midlands, I have many photographs of them operating on the London to Bedford route operated by Thameslink. Looking very smart in its new Northern Train's livery 319380 arrives at Lime Street with the 15.02 from Manchester Victoria. This image clearly illustrates the huge tunnels that the trains pass through on the approach to Lime Street station.
Keywords: 319380 15.02 Manchester Victoria-Liverpool Lime Street (2F21), Liverpool Lime Street station Northern Trains

350261, LM 16.04 Liverpool Lime Street-Birmingham New Street (1L79), Liverpool Lime Street station
According to the clock, the dispatcher is spot on getting the 16.04 away from Liverpool LImes Street to Birmingham New Street. London Midland's 350261 will take about an hour and a half to get to Birmingham where it will terminate at platform 4C. This image shows the grandeur of the front arch of Lime Street station contributing to it being one of the UK's most impressive stations.
Keywords: 350261 16.04 Liverpool Lime Street-Birmingham New Street (1L79), Liverpool Lime Street station London Midland Desiro

185137, TP 13.10 Newcastle-Liverpool Lime Street (1F69), Liverpool Lime Street station
185137 slows as it enters platform nine of Liverpool LIme Street station with the 13.10 from Newcastle. These class 185s are competent units that are reliable and comfortable to ride in. However, they have been plagued by high running costs with various strategies tried in an attempt to reduce their fuel consumption including enhanced driver training and monitoring of their use of the power controller!
Keywords: 185137 13.10 Newcastle-Liverpool Lime Street 1F69 Liverpool Lime Street station Trans Pennine Express TPE

156420, NT 16.27 Liverpool Lime Street-Manchester Oxford Road (2H42), Liverpool Lime Street station
Passengers exit from 156420 at Liverpool Lime Street. The Sprinter has just arrived with a train from Manchester and will work back as the 14.27 to Oxford Road.
Keywords: 156420 16.27 Liverpool Lime Street-Manchester Oxford Road 2H42 Liverpool Lime Street station Northern Trains Sprinter

390128, VT 14.07 London Euston-Liverpool Lime Street (1F18), Liverpool Lime Street station
With spring sunshine streaming through the roof 390128 'City of Preston' arrives at Liverpool Lime Street station's platform six with the 14.07 from London Euston. Notice the work underway on the closed adjacent platform. I am not sure if this platform is planned to be reinstated having been out of use for many years.
Keywords: 390128 14.07 London Euston-Liverpool Lime Street 1F18 Liverpool Lime Street station 390128, VT 14.07 London Euston-Liverpool Lime Street (1F18), Liverpool Lime Street station Virgin Trains Pendolino City of Preston

350262, LM 14.31 Walsall-Liverpool Lime Street (1F48), Liverpool Lime Street station
350262 comes to a halt at Liverpool Lime Street with the 14.31 from Walsall. As a resident of Walsall, it is interesting to think that you could get a train directly to Liverpool. Notice the Virgin first class lounge to the far left of the image cunningly disguised as a mini aircraft hanger!
Keywords: 350262 14.31 Walsall-Liverpool Lime Street 1F48 Liverpool Lime Street station London MIdland Desiro

Tickets, Northampton-Liverpool Lime Street
Our outward single tickets from Northampton to Liverpool. At £7.50 each this is superb value at 0.6p/mile. If you are flexible with your time of travel and are not bothered about the length of time taken to complete the journey, there are some good value tickets out there. However, should it be like this and should you have to search for them using inside knowledge?
Keywords: Tickets Northampton-Liverpool Lime Street

Images 1-18 of 18 displayed.