As part of the
Chester and Birkenhead Railway, the railway from Rock Ferry to Birkenhead Town is one of the oldest stretches of track in the world. The line was completed and opened on 23 September 1838, less than nine years after the
Rainhill Trials, across the
River Mersey, on the outskirts of
Liverpool. Before
Monks Ferry was opened in 1844, the line was originally to a temporary terminus known as
Birkenhead Grange Lane station. Grange Lane engine shed was opened on 23 September 1840. The section, from Grange Lane to
Bridge End near Cathcart Street, was built into a cutting known as the
Sough (pronounced "Suff"), opening the same day as
Birkenhead Park, on 5 April 1847. The connection with the
Great Western Railway at Green Lane Junction was made in 1847. These were renumbered as 95 and 96 by the
GWR, after the joint takeover of the railway, with the
LNWR, in 1860.
British Rail diesel era During the BR era, the line was used by various classes of
diesel locomotive, primarily for hauling offloaded
iron ore from Bidston Dock, to the John Summers Steelworks in
Shotton. The John Summers wagons came under the
TOPS code of PHO. Fully loaded, a train was limited to eleven of these wagons. This work was carried out by engines with a high traction capacity, usually either a
Class 40 locomotive, or pairs of
Class 24 or
Class 25 locomotives. However, pairs of
Class 20 diesels were also occasionally used, although very infrequently. This work was ceased in March 1980, when the steelworks at Shotton was closed. Between 1983 and 1985,
Class 503 electric multiple units were stored at Cavendish Sidings, before scrapping. Most of these trains suffered vandalism whilst stationed there. Amongst the few and final passenger workings on the line was the
Birkenhead Bandit railtour, hauled by
Class 40 locomotive 40122
D200, on 16 February 1985. Others included the
Mersey Meanderer railtour on 19 April 1986,
Hertfordshire Rail Tours'
Wirral Withershins charter on 18 January 1986 and their
Cheshire Cat charter, on 24 June 1989. Goods workings continued on the line, for traffic to the Spillers Mill on East Float until the late 1980s with grain wagon traffic from
Whitemoor Yard. all of which have been preserved. Indeed, the railways around the docks saw the last mainland use of the class by British Rail, before their withdrawal in March 1989. The last traffic along the line, from Birkenhead North to Rock Ferry, was a
Class 08 shunter on 10 May 1993. Subsequently, the line was mothballed by Railtrack. However, the trackwork remains in place and various other railway artefacts are still in existence. The line has been used on only two occasions since 1993, both a day apart. In January 2008, an
EWS Class 66 diesel entered the line at Rock Ferry station.
Rea Bulk Handling locomotives The Rea Bulk Handling Company had a small fleet of nine
Drewry 0-4-0DM and
0-6-0DM diesel
shunters, which operated on the dock lines. The names of these locomotives included;
Theseus,
Wabana,
Kathleen Nicholls,
Pegasus,
WH Salthouse,
Dorothy Lightfoot,
Narvik,
Teucer and
Pepel. A further 0-4-0
DE locomotive built by the
Yorkshire Engine Company, named
Labrador, and of similar design to a
Class 02, also worked around the Bidston Dock area. ==21st century==