Stuart Black’s railway memories of Ormskirk and beyond

Railway memories of Ormskirk and beyond.

Reading articles in the quarterly magazine of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Society, LYR Focus, about Cheshire Lines Railway to Southport and about the station at Ormskirk before WW1 brought back memories for me of train journeys as a young child in the 1920’s. The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway lost its identity in 1922 with the amalgamation which resulted in the ‘big four’, the LMS,LNER,GWR and Southern. They in turn were nationalised in 1948 after WW2 to became British Rail with its distinctive logo on all of its many possessions.

Photographs of Ormskirk Station show how little has changed over the years, the only exception being the west side which now has been bricked up.This I remember well as it sheltered me as a young child in the 20’s waiting tor the stopping train to Preston, sometimes starting from Ormskirk and at other times coming from Liverpool.  There seemed to be no urgency about these local trains, the driver would leave his tank engine cab and fill the water tank of the engine with water from a wide hose at the tank at the end of the platform. I got off at Midge Hall Station to visit relatives in business there; the platform was lower than at most stations to fit in with the lower chassis of L & Y coaches which suited me as a young child. However if it was often a train of mixed rolling stock and if I was in a more modern coach I had to be assisted to the platform. Steps were available for the few people using the station. Surprisingly the older coaches still had gas lighting; I disliked the seating as the benches were upholstered with a  fabric from which sharp hairs scratched the backs of my bare legs.

For a time there was what was known as a ‘slip coach’ on the rear to be uncoupled at Midge Hall to be attached to an engine waiting in the siding to take it to Blackburn I believe or to East Lancashire.

On some occasions I left the train at Lostock Hall, now no longer in existence, to take the Ribble or Fishwick  service bus to Leyland to visit other family connections there. The local people near Lostock Hall must have been delighted with the demise of the station and the the adjacent large engine shed which produced a thick yellow smog which rarely cleared.

In common with many boys in the 20’s and 30’s I was always alert for steam trains and hopefully able to identify more powerful locomotives on the line from Liverpool Exchange through Aintree hauling direct express services to Blackpool, Barrow and the Cumberland Coast, Windermere and to Glasgow and Edinburgh. In the mid thirties we were thrilled when the ubiquitous ‘black fives’ with their sloping boilers and unmistakeable greater power; they are still in use on Heritage Railways.

Ormskirk was a very busy station from the 20’s to the 60’s, all long distance trains stopping to pick up passengers and if it was a long train, pull in a second time. One must not forget the trains to Southport and the Skem Jazzer and above all the excellent, still operating, electric service to Liverpool which had its own bay to accommodate steam trains running non-stop to Liverpool; the bay referred to is now filled in. Electrification only reached Ormskirk in 1913, just in time for extra traffic generated in WW1.

I recall the arrival at about 9:30 pm on a dark night of the Glasgow express, ‘The Scotch’ to the station staff. The glow from the firebox lit up the surroundings with staff unloading luggage, packages and assisting passengers. It could be quite late sometimes but we just accepted it, not having heard of the compensation now obligatory for often quite unavoidable delays.

In the last days of steam a new class of loco was introduced, the Clan Class with names such as Clan Cameron and Clan Buchanan,  solely for Scottish Services from  Liverpool and Manchester. Of good appearance in green livery the class was said to be not too successful and ceased to be required as diesels took over as steam was phased out.

Further memories and observations.

From the early days of rail travel the railway companies have offered excursions, i.e. cheaper fares to popular places at appropriate times; even as early as 1851 to the Great Exhibition in London. They always seemed to have the spare rolling stock and locomotives to enable them to plan ahead and advertise their offers in the popular press.

One quite unique excursion was the cheap evening trip to Blackpool Illuminations. Starting from Liverpool, these long trains of older rolling stock picked up the ‘excursionists’ at all stations to Preston before proceeding to Blackpool.

Rather loosely timetabled in order not to interfere with scheduled services, particularly at busy Preston; excursion trains were frequently quite late arriving back.

All for one shilling and ninepence (9 p) return.

It is interesting to note from the timetables in magazines how busy the railways became in the 19th and 20th centuries. The rapid decline in the 1960’s and 70’s was mainly due to the convenience of the motorcar and coach services. It was at this time that steam power was phased out and the Beeching Plan was fully implemented.

Stuart Black – longstanding member of the society.