Birkenhead (Mollington St.) Engine Sheds

Image: © Ben Brooksbank Taken: 20 Jun 1948

View NW, showing the ex-London & North Western depot (on the left) and the ex-Great Western depot on far side. This was the main Birkenhead Joint depot, located just south of Birkenhead Town station (closed 7/5/45) on the BJ line into Birkenhead Woodside. After Nationalisation, the Depot (coded 6C, in the London Midland Chester Division) had an allocation (in 1950) of 94 locomotives, namely GW:- 6 4-6-0, 5 2-8-0 (4 ex-WD), 5 2-6-0, 9 2-6-2T, 17 0-6-0T and 2 0-4-2T; LMS:- 10 2-8-0, 7 2-6-0, 4 0-6-0, 9 2-6-2T and 20 0-6-0T. The extensive yards serving the Birkenhead Docks etc. required a large number of shunting engines; these included LMS Dock Tanks and some of the old Great Western 0-6-0Ts sporting bells for warning at road crossings. The Depots provided larger tank-engines for the local services to Chester and a variety of larger tender locomotives for the numerous freight trains run from Birkenhead to a great variety of destinations, all of which started their journeys on the line to Hooton and Chester. The Depot closed to Steam on 6/11/67, but remained for Diesel motive-power until 24/11/85. In the photograph are seen:- an ex-Midland 0-6-0T and two ex-LNW 0-8-0s; to the right, two GW 2-6-2Ts and probably a 43XX 2-6-0.

Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0