The route between
Liverpool Exchange and
Southport was one of the earliest to be electrified. In conjunction with Dick Kerr of Preston, the Liverpool & Yorkshire Railway built these electric multiple units which operated on tracks converted for 625v DC fourth rail. A live rail was placed at the side of the running rails, a return rail between the running rails. The line opened in March 1904 [3]. Fifty six cars were built which were marshalled as four car sets with 270 seats [2] in a mixture of first and third class, two trailers were marshalled in-between two motor cars at each end. The cars had a clerestory roof and, at the time of construction, were the widest passenger carriages built in Britain (304.8 cm) [4].
 |
| An EMU not longer after the entry into service [1] |
| Information |
| Number built: |
92 (4-car sets) |
| Built: |
1904-10 |
| Builder: |
L&Y Newton Heath |
| Motor: |
4 Dick Kerr 4-A electric motors per motor car (625v DC fourth rail) |
| Power: |
600 hp (468 kW) |
| Formation: |
DM (Driving Motor)+TF (Trailer First)+TT (Trailer)+DM |
Extra cars were built to strengthen services in the following years. Longer trains were operated during times of peak demand. Two special baggage cars were also built in order to reduce dwell times for normal services. Similar EMUs were built in 1913 for the line to
Ormskirk. The units were replaced by the
Class 502 in the early 1940s.
 |
| Side view of a Driving Motor [4] |
 |
| Side view of first class trailer [4] |
 |
| Inside a First Class Trailer [4] |
 |
| Close-up of the connection between two cars [1] |
[1] "The electrical equipment of the Liverpool & Southport division of the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway", Street Railway Journal (Vol. XXIII No. 14) April 1904, p. 496
[2] H.M. Hobart, Electric Trains (D Van Norstrand, 1910) p. 87
[3] Colin J Marsden, DMU and EMU Recognition Guide (Ian Allan, 2013) p. 188
[4] "Electrical equipment of the Liverpool, Southport & Crossens section of the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway", Street Railway Journal (Vol. XXIII No. 5) January 1904, p. 172
