Mersey Railway Electric Multiple Units

The Mersey Railway operated trains between Liverpool and the Wirral via a tunnel underneath the river Mersey. The use of steam locomotives in the tunnel was proving a turn off for passengers, who preferred the ferries. By the early 1900s the railway company was in serious financial trouble [1]. The railway was rescued by Westinghouse Electric, who were looking to break into the British market. They electrified the line and built a fleet of electric multiple units. Twenty four Driving Motors and thirty three Trailers [2] were built in the initial batch. They entered service in 1903 between Liverpool Central, Rock Ferry and Birkenhead Park. Services were later extended to West Kirby and New Brighton.

Original stock [2]

Information
Number built:	78 (4, 5 and 6-car sets)
Built:	1903, 1908, 1923, 1925, 1936
Builder:	Westinghouse Electric, Cravens, Gloucester Railway Carriage & Wagon Company
Motor:	4 Westinghouse electric motors (650v DC fourth rail)
Power:	460 hp (344 kW)

The initial batch of trains was built at the British Westinghouse works in Trafford Park but with bogies made by Baldwin in America. The new trains were an immediate success and in the following decades the Mersey Railway looks to strengthen it's fleet. Four more trailers were built in 1908 which had British bogies. In the early 1920s extra cars were ordered from Cravens, these having Metropolitan Vickers motors. In the 1930s more trailers were built by the Gloucester Railway Carriage & Wagon Company. Whereas earlier cars had had wooden bodies the later batches had steel bodies.

The Mersey Railway became part of British Railways and the units were converted to use third rail [3], the Mersey Railway EMUs were replaced by the Class 503 in the mid-1950s. None have been preserved, one car was reserved for preservation but was lost in a fire [4].

Later style EMU [5]

(Left) motor bogie (Right) rear view of car [2]

[1] Colin J Marsden, DMU and EMU Recognition Guide (Ian Allan, 2013) p. 187
[2] "The Electrification of the Mersey Railway", Practical Engineer (May 13 1904), p. 529
[3] Jonathan Cadwallader & Martin Jenkins, Merseyside Electrics (Ian Allan, 2010) p. 59
[4] Ibid. p. 61

[5] R.D. Gauld, "The Three Electric Railways of Liverpool II: The Mersey Railway, Meccano Magazine (May 1930) p. 372