Hi all!
I'm working on a little project involving trains in 1955.
I'm curious about how electric workings worked with through passenger trains (I'm not interested in freight at this time) on the various electrified routes back then:
Thanks in advance!
I'm working on a little project involving trains in 1955.
I'm curious about how electric workings worked with through passenger trains (I'm not interested in freight at this time) on the various electrified routes back then:
- Through trains on the Woodhead Route — I know the wires had only really just been finished by this point. But my guess is that most through trains would have a loco change at Sheffield Victoria and at Guide Bridge to switch to/from electric traction? Can I assume that every train which calls at both these stations would use electric traction, and that those that don't call at Guide Bridge, say (and continued beyond Manchester London Road), probably would have been steam throughout? Or is it more complicated than this?
- Trains using part of the Woodhead route, Sheffield to Penistone — my guess is they wouldn't have bothered with loco changes for such a short section, but I wanted to verify this as this was just an educated guess on my part.
- Tyneside electrics — guessing the electrification was just for local passenger trains and they wouldn't have had locomotives for through trains?
- Southern Region — I know that by this point there weren't too many long-distance routes electrified, and I certainly don't imagine they bothered with loco changes for through trains on short suburban sections. But what about through trains (like cross-country style services) that joined the then-completed routes like Brighton and Portsmouth? Would these have used a third rail locomotive or would they have remained steam throughout?
- Out of Liverpool Street again I guess again the only electric services would have been local trains to Shenfield, since I believe only (what other companies would call) the slow lines were wired by then (wiring beyond that not coming until '56)?
- Any other routes I've missed?
Thanks in advance!
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