Early Electrics (or ‘a non-standard, experimental or unique historic electrification questions thread’)

[Springs Branch]

If the OP is looking for interesting, non-standard and unique electrification systems, then we should include an honourable mention for a couple of industrial systems that have used electric traction. These are probably more like freight analogues of early 20th century street tramways than main line railways (e.g. used low voltage DC & obviously overhead line, never conductor rails) but were involved in moving full-size, standard gauge, "proper railway" rolling stock (usually coal wagons).

One example - not far from the Manchester - Bury line and even closer to the old Clifton Junction power station - was at the *CEGB's Kearsley Power Station.

This line transferred coal from BR exchange sidings to the power station. 4 steeple-cab locos ran on the steeply-graded line (not easily accessible to random visitors), powered by 500V DC tramway-style overhead. Coal deliveries by rail appear to have ceased sometime around the mid-late 1970s, ahead of the power station closing in 1980.

Some random photos:-

Kearsley Power Station

One of 4 steeple-cab electrics that worked on the short but very steeply graded branch line from the exchange sidings adjacent to the ex L&Y Manchester to Bolton line to the power station in the background. I'm not sure which one of the 4 this is - I can't read the number. It was taken on a...

flic.kr

Electrics at Kearsley by Kevin Lane, on Flickr


Kearsley power station, 1972 by Keith Halton, on Flickr


Another example was the **NCB's Harton Electric Railway on Tyneside, which operated with assorted elderly pre-WW1 German, plus five 1950s-vintage English Electric locos, closing around 1989. I couldn't easily find the voltage for the Harton system, but assume from the appearance of the overhead that it was somewhere in the 500 - 600 V "tramway" range. The pantographs seen on the locos in the following images were apparently salvaged from Sunderland tramcars.

N C B Rail 04

Explore Regional Bus Photos' 525386 photos on Flickr!

flic.kr

Bo-Bo No.12 (EE 1794/1951 / Baugley 3351/1951) At Harton Low Staithes. South Shields. by Adrian Nicholls, on Flickr

* CEGB = Central Electricity Generating Board
** NCB = National Coal Board

 

[generalnerd]

O

Volume 2 of John Marshall's History of the L&YR contains a chapter on the electrification. Many of the details agree with those in post #10 above.
Some extra details:
Southport line - a power station at Formby struggled to keep up with power demands at peak hours, so booster battery stations were provided at several locations.
Before the start of regular electric services, a special electric train ran from Liverpool to Southport in 14 minutes - an average of 70 mph, and probably unequalled since then. The initial electric service from Liverpool was 119 trains per day as far as Hall Road, of which 65 continued to Southport (schedule 37 minutes). 17 trains continued from Southport to Crossens; these ran express between Liverpool & Southport, with schedule 25 minutes.

is that Liverpool to Southport line the current Merseyrail line?

If the OP is looking for interesting, non-standard and unique electrification systems, then we should include an honourable mention for a couple of industrial systems that have used electric traction. These are probably more like freight analogues of early 20th century street tramways than main line railways (e.g. used low voltage DC & obviously overhead line, never conductor rails) but were involved in moving full-size, standard gauge, "proper railway" rolling stock (usually coal wagons).

One example - not far from the Manchester - Bury line and even closer to the old Clifton Junction power station - was at the *CEGB's Kearsley Power Station.

This line transferred coal from BR exchange sidings to the power station. 4 steeple-cab locos ran on the steeply-graded line (not easily accessible to random visitors), powered by 500V DC tramway-style overhead. Coal deliveries by rail appear to have ceased sometime around the mid-late 1970s, ahead of the power station closing in 1980.

Oh wow, that is unique!! It’s a shame electricity didn’t spark up (pun intended) with the amount of lines built with electrification around the Manchester area.

 

[norbitonflyer]

Ther Hythe Pier railway is a 2ft gauge line serving the ferry that connects Hythe Pier Head to Southampton. The pier was built in 1881 and the railway was built in 1909, originally to make the hand-propelled luggage trolleys easier to move. Passengers still had to walk along the pier until the railway was electrified in 1922 at 250V 3rd rail, using two locomotives converted from ex-War Office battery locomotives built in 1917 for work in a munitions factory. Those locomotives are still operating the line today, and are probably the oldest rolling stock in the UK outside the preservation movement - and certainly the oldest electric stock. They are in more or less original 1917 condition apart from the removal of the batteries and some modification to the cab to give better weather protection than was necessary in the factory.
The train operates push-pull, with a driving trailer at the seaward end of the train.

By Chris Wood, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=519522

Above - The driving trailer, propelling a luggage trolley
Below- the coupled end of the loco - showing the unmodified end of the cab. Note the jumper cable - and the lifebelt!

 

[billh]

Close to the Kearsley power station , but somewhat lower down was the NCB Sandhole Colliery mine railway system. MetroVick electric locos, fitted with pantographs and overhead conductor running in the main underground roads. not sure what the voltage was but it sounds spectacularly dangerous as the line was necessarily close to the locos' top and driver's head!
Apparently the mine was very well ventilated so there was no risk of explosion caused by electrical sparking at the pantograph.

 

[billio]

...
Bury line - the side contact 3rd rail was a requirement for safety of linside workers. Apart from lower voltage drops, no reason if specified for the choice of 1200 V.

...

Here is a picture showing the protective wooden casing around the live rail with an OS surveyor standing next to it and looking almost oblivious to the situation. His minder seems to be paying a bit more attention to what is going on.

The location is just south of Radcliffe Central station on the electrified Bury to Manchester line via Prestwich. The train looks as though it is rushing past the station which begs the (off topic) question what exactly is this service? Steam trains from Bury towards Manchester would normally have run via Clifton Junction.

(Edit - sorry, problem including the correct URL))

 

[ac6000cw]

However, when the mercury arc rectifiers were later replaced by solid-state rectifiers, the DC traction they produced contained far higher harmonic levels which caused interference issues with some S&T equipment.

The silicon diodes probably switched much faster between their forward (conducting) and reverse (non-conducting) states, compared to the mercury-arc rectifiers.

AC motors on particular make distinctive noises due to electromagnetic induced vibration.

'Magnetostriction' (magnetic materials changing shape/size in response to magnetic fields) - which is also why mains transformers hum.

 

[generalnerd]

Ther Hythe Pier railway is a 2ft gauge line serving the ferry that connects Hythe Pier Head to Southampton. It was elecrified in 1922 at 250V 3rd rail, using two locomotives converted from ex-War Office battery locomotives built in 1917 for work in a munitions factory. Those locomotives are still operating the line today, and are probably the oldest rolling stock in the UK outside the preservation movement - and certainly the oldest electric stock. Apart from the removal of the batteries and some modification to the cab to give better weather protection than was necessary in the factory.
The train operates push-pull, with a driving trailer at the seaward end of the train.

By Chris Wood, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=519522

Is this line still operating today? I can’t find much information on this online.

 

[norbitonflyer]

Is this line still operating today? I can’t find much information on this online.

I rode it at the end of 2023. https://hytheferry.co.uk/

Hythe ferry staff fear service 'will never run again'

Crewman Graham Charles says staff have been "left in the dark" over the future of the Hythe ferry.

www.bbc.co.uk

Seems the ferry service has been suspended since August, awaiting funding for a new landing pontoon at the pier-head. The ferry is, of course, the railway's raison d'etre. Without the ferry, the railway has no purpose.

The pier changed hands in November, and the new owner is fundraising, although it seems to be a bumpy road

Councillor buys Hythe Pier and vows to safeguard its future

Hythe Pier has been sold to a woman who spearheaded a campaign to save the ferry service after it was threatened with closure

www.dailyecho.co.uk

Double blow in bid to save 'vital' transport link

Campaigners have suffered a double blow in their bid to save a "vital" transport link used by tens of thousands of passengers a year

www.dailyecho.co.uk

It has survived similar crises before, including the pier being severed by a dredger in 2003, and most recently a funding crisis in 2023.

Possibly the biggest threat to the ferry's long-term viability is the proposed re-opening of the Fawley branch.

 

[generalnerd]

I rode it at the end of 2023. https://hytheferry.co.uk/

Hythe ferry staff fear service 'will never run again'

Crewman Graham Charles says staff have been "left in the dark" over the future of the Hythe ferry.

www.bbc.co.uk

Seems the ferry service has been suspended since August, awaiting funding for a new landing pontoon at the pier-head. The ferry is, of course, the railway's raison d'etre. Without the ferry, the railway has no purpose.

The pier changed hands in November, and the new owner is fundraising, although it seems to be a bumpy road

Councillor buys Hythe Pier and vows to safeguard its future

Hythe Pier has been sold to a woman who spearheaded a campaign to save the ferry service after it was threatened with closure

www.dailyecho.co.uk

Double blow in bid to save 'vital' transport link

Campaigners have suffered a double blow in their bid to save a "vital" transport link used by tens of thousands of passengers a year

www.dailyecho.co.uk

It has survived similar crises before, including the pier being severed by a dredger in 2003, and most recently a funding crisis in 2023.

Possibly the biggest threat to the ferry's long-term viability is the proposed re-opening of the Fawley branch.

Oh, that is a very sad state of affairs. Hopefully somebody can save it along with the railway (although hopefully the railway will stay even if the ferry seizes, but seeing anything go would be a shame)

 

[norbitonflyer]

Interestingly the one major rail company which never dabbled in electrification was the GWR,

Apart from thge 4-rail electrification between Paddington and Westbourne Park, and the Hammersmith branch (opened in 1864, jointly owned with the Metropolitan Railway from 1867).

Electrified in 1906 (before even the first LBSCR electrics) - the GWR even owned some of the H&C rolling stock until 1923. The two electrified tracks between Paddington and Westbourne Park only came under London Transport control in 1948, with actual ownership transferred two years later.

[Edit - I see Jago Hazzard has just made a film about Royal Oak, in which he says that the station did not become LT's responsibility until 1970 - Paddington Praed Street remains Network Rail, property of course, and Westbourne Park was BR-owned until the BR section was closed and demolished in 1990. But my understanding is that the tracks were LT's from 1950]

 

[mike57]

Apart from thge 4-rail electrification between Paddington and Westbourne Park, and the Hammersmith branch (opened in 1864, jointly owned with the Metropolitan Railway from 1867).

Electrified in 1906 (before even the first LBSCR electrics) - the GWR even owned some of the H&C rolling stock until 1923. The two electrified tracks between Paddington and Westbourne Park only came under London Transport control in 1948, with actual ownership transferred two years later.

Yes good point, how much interest did the GWR take in this? I always felt that the Metropolitan drove the various electrification schemes, but stand to be corrected.

 

[Bevan Price]

O

is that Liverpool to Southport line the current Merseyrail line?

Yes - Liverpool Exchange to Southport via Formby.
Forgot to include that electrification extension from Ormskirk to Southport via Burscough curve was also proposed by L&YR, but was not proceeded with (maybe due to proximity to WW1).

 

[Gloster]

I read somewhere recently, possibly on this forum, that the reason the 1914-built locos from the Newport-Shildon electrified line were stored after deelectrification in 1935 was the possibility that they might be sold to the GWR. This possibly meant that they survived just long enough to be considered for use on the Woodhead line.

 

[stuving]

I think what you need to understand how the LCC's conduit system worked is some illustrations out of Simmons. I've tried to get quick snaps of the main ones here - a bit dark and skewed, but I think they'll serve. (I had not realised until I did this that some pages, including these, are printed askew!)

First the conduits:


And the plough. You'll see it is very flexible to allow for the tram's sideways movement. Thus it needs to be pushed from both sides against its sprung contacts. That, I think, is why the obvious design has the two polarities supplied that way.

 

[contrex]

I read somewhere recently, possibly on this forum, that the reason the 1914-built locos from the Newport-Shildon electrified line were stored after deelectrification in 1935 was the possibility that they might be sold to the GWR. This possibly meant that they survived just long enough to be considered for use on the Woodhead line.

I seem to recall that in the 1930s the GWR had 'considered' electrifying over the Devon banks at least, at 3,000 volts DC, and that studies reached quite an advanced stage. I have also seen talk of a Paddington-Reading suburban scheme. As Newport-Shildon was 1500 volts, some rewiring would have been needed! It has been suggested that the Merz & McLellan study was mainly an exercise in talking down coal prices, and seems possibly to have worked.

Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette - Saturday 20 May 1939

 

[Lloyds siding]

Volume 2 of John Marshall's History of the L&YR contains a chapter on the electrification. Many of the details agree with those in post #10 above.
Some extra details:
Southport line - a power station at Formby struggled to keep up with power demands at peak hours, so booster battery stations were provided at several locations.
Before the start of regular electric services, a special electric train ran from Liverpool to Southport in 14 minutes - an average of 70 mph, and probably unequalled since then. The initial electric service from Liverpool was 119 trains per day as far as Hall Road, of which 65 continued to Southport (schedule 37 minutes). 17 trains continued from Southport to Crossens; these ran express between Liverpool & Southport, with schedule 25 minutes.

Bury line - the side contact 3rd rail was a requirement for safety of linside workers. Apart from lower voltage drops, no reason if specified for the choice of 1200 V.

L&YR proposed to electrify between Manchester, Oldham, Shaw & Royton, but (housing) developments near the line did not proceed as expected, and the proposal was dropped after 1920.

Formby power station, 'The Power House' as it was known, has its own page on the Formby Civic society website: Formby Power House . Although not used for power generation after 1946 this substantial building became an industrial site making polystyrene insulation, then a frozen food storage warehouse. Ater a period of disuse it was bought with proposals for converstion to flats, but was demolished about nine years ago: the site is now a housing estate. The narrow gauge sand railway, referred to in the Flickr collection on the Formby Civic society site, was an industrial railway that delivered sand to transfer sidings on the western side of the Liverpool-Southport railway, on the opposite side to the Power House. It had no relation to the Power House, parts of this railway were still in use into the 1960s.

 

[norbitonflyer]

I read somewhere recently, possibly on this forum, that the reason the 1914-built locos from the Newport-Shildon electrified line were stored after deelectrification in 1935 was the possibility that they might be sold to the GWR. This possibly meant that they survived just long enough to be considered for use on the Woodhead line.

Possibly, but the Woodhead project was under way by 1935 and at one stage the EF1s were planned to be used there as banking engines, although only one of them was actually modified before the project was abandoned in favour of building more EM1s (aka Class 76).

Indeed, the GCR had made some initial plans before the 1923 Grouping but, like the NER's plans for the East Coast Main line, they were shelved by the LNER management.

 

[etr221]

The other shelved mainline project that i am aware of, at around the time of the grouping, ie. early '20s, which ended up being shelved was an LNWR/LMSR scheme for Crewe-Carlisle.

 

[generalnerd]

Another question I’ve been dying to ask (but have forgotten too) is why was the wood head line closed? I’ve heard that it was because of the non-standard electrification but other systems with even less compatible electrification have survived through beeching (the Manchester bury line as mentioned earlier)

So why might it be the woodhead line was shut, instead of being re-electrified or just left how it is for a few years at least.

 

[hexagon789]

Another question I’ve been dying to ask (but have forgotten too) is why was the wood head line closed? I’ve heard that it was because of the non-standard electrification but other systems with even less compatible electrification have survived through beeching (the Manchester bury line as mentioned earlier)

So why might it be the woodhead line was shut, instead of being re-electrified or just left how it is for a few years at least.

Lack of passenger service
Decline in coal and other freight traffic
Availability of paths for freight by other routes
Life-expired locomotives
Aged electrification equipment
Non-standard (for GB) electrification system

That's the ones that come to mind.

 

[norbitonflyer]

So why might it be the woodhead line was shut, instead of being re-electrified or just left how it is for a few years at least.

It was indeed left how it was for a few years, mainly to act as a diversionary route whilst remedial work was done to the Cowburn and Totely Tunnels on the Hope Valley route. I recall using it in a dmu one Sunday c1980.

 

[generalnerd]

It was indeed left how it was for a few years, mainly to act as a diversionary route whilst remedial work was done to the Cowburn and Totely Tunnels on the Hope Valley route. I recall using it in a dmu one Sunday c1980.

Oh right! It thought it was left in place but without it being passable, i wasn’t aware trains could use it into the 1980’s

 

[Gloster]

Oh right! It thought it was left in place but without it being passable, i wasn’t aware trains could use it into the 1980’s

Hadfield-Penistone (Huddersfield Junction) closed to all services on 20 July 1981. Several related connections also closed on that date.

Source: Hurst’s Register.

 

[ThirteenArches]

Lack of passenger service
Decline in coal and other freight traffic
Availability of paths for freight by other routes
Life-expired locomotives
Aged electrification equipment
Non-standard (for GB) electrification system

You've missed out the most important thing - it was (and I think still is) intended by the Department of Whatever It's Called These Days to be the route of another trans- Pennine motorway.

 

[etr221]

Source: Hurst’s Register.

As I am unaware of this, and googling doesn't come up with anything, could you provide more details of this, please.

 

[Gloster]

As I am unaware of this, and googling doesn't come up with anything, could you provide more details of this, please.

Register of Closed Railways 1948-1991, Geoffrey Hurst, Milepost, 1992. ISBN 0-947796-18-5.

 

[norbitonflyer]

Has anyone mentioned the Post Office Railway?

 

[Greetlander]

I'm sure I read somewhere that Halifax power station had some overhead electrification on internal rail lines. I imagine I saw a photo once......

 

[generalnerd]

I'm sure I read somewhere that Halifax power station had some overhead electrification on internal rail lines. I imagine I saw a photo once......

I think that’s a running trend with some coal lines, I know one in America also has an electric line and another electric shunting way near Manchester mentioned earlier.

 

[Gloster]

I'm sure I read somewhere that Halifax power station had some overhead electrification on internal rail lines. I imagine I saw a photo once......

There were lots of very short industrial and other lines long before main-line electrification. The High Royds Hospital near Leeds electrified the short line connecting it with the Otley & Ilkley Joint Railway in 1897 (or thereabouts) and the Hellingly Hospital in Sussex’s connecting line was electrified in 1902.