There were other DMUs obviously, but these four car ones are the ones I remember as they didn't stop at Padgate which added to the excitement. They went from Liverpool to Manchester (I always assumed Piccadilly). Only stops on the regular pattern were Widnes and Warrington, I think. Birchwood didn't exist (the place or the station).
The 115s (4-car Derby’s) were built for the Marylebone suburban lines, but an additional six (?) were added to the order specifically for the CLC Manchester Central (later Piccadilly 13/14) to Liverpool Central (later Lime Street) expresses.
They were among the better DMUs running out of Manchester, most of which were awful. They felt well built, rattled hardly at all, and their acceleration from station stops was impressive and loud. They did have a very suburban feel though, with VEP-style doors to every seating bay, and seemed an odd choice for a express service. Particularly as the locals that terminated at Warrington Central from each end had a more conventional low-density layout.
Green 1500VDC EMUs between Altrincham and Manchester London Road, as was, in the 50s and 60s, Comfortable and reliable, though I still remember the time I trapped a thumb in a compartment door.
Same, though by the time I was of an age to remember stuff they’d been cut back to Oxford Road. By the time I started travelling in them daily to school, most (but not all) were in blue. Their ride and acceleration was massively better than their replacements the AM4s.
I managed to avoid any thumb injuries, but my mother loved telling everyone how she has slammed a door shut on a pre-electrification Liverpool Street to Chelmsford stopper, not realising that a small child had inserted its hand into the gap. It was, in her voluble opinion, a stupid child...
