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Watching Michael Portillo’s programme Great British Railway Journeys, it struck me how often it is outsiders who make the most of Liverpool’s heritage. In this instance, Portillo was enthusing about the unique place Lime Street Station held in the history of the railway. His first impression – the magnificent canyon cut out of rock as [...]
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Nice one Colin.
My dad worked there for thirty years. I have some very happy memories of Lime Street station as a boy. My dad would take me there, get his friends to let me onto the footplate and sometimes let me travel to Edge Hill in the guards van. When you're six or seven years old, it's a great experience.
That musta been great Ronnie.
It was mate! The old feller started at 14 in 1943. His dad and three brothers were all railwaymen and my grandma worked on the railways during WW2. The street we lived in was owned by the railway before being taken over by Liverpool University. As soon as I was old enough to drink, my dad took me to Ma Eggies, The Legs of Man, Lord Warden and The Courthouse. He left British Rail for British Leyland because he couldn't stand the new type of managers who had no experience of the job. That was in 1973! If he could see the nuggets running things now, he's start a revolution on his own.Quote:
Originally Posted by pablo42
It's like that throughout industry now. The old train guys were a special breed indeed.Quote:
Originally Posted by RonnieW
You're right mate! Bring in someone who used to be a Mars Bar salesman and who took Leeds United from Champions League football to relegation in two years, another bloke who used to sell plasterboard, another goon who cocked up the new Wembley Stadium then put them in charge of Royal Mail. And people wonder why they get their mail sometime in mid-afternoon!
I don't suppose it's a modern thing. Didn't we almost lose two world wars by putting the clueless in charge of the armed forces?
Ha, we nearly lost all our wars that way...
Thanks Colin, those platforms have born witness to a lot of emotions of the years! A place of both happiness and sadness, of comings and goings.
I love old railway stations , they remind me of ciggies , and the war .. hope and loss and love ..Quote:
Originally Posted by dazza
Remind me of trains...Quote:
Originally Posted by Debra
True Story.Quote:
Originally Posted by RonnieW
During WW1 there was a lot of officers dying in the first few months, so the British Govt, thinking it was our own men sent spys to the trenches to see if it was a rebellion in progress.
They soon discovered the cause.
When it rained all the officers were raising Brollys to keep themselves dry, the Germans targeted the Brollys and that was that!
I heard about that before. Nice one.Quote:
Originally Posted by H_Asbo
That's why you always see them in the movies.Quote:
Originally Posted by Debra
Did the original trains have to be pulled up to Edge Hill when they first started out?
Condensed snippet from an old magazine article,Quote:
Originally Posted by dazza
"When the tunnel was first bored they made no provision for ventilation since the line was rope worked and only first class carriages were lit by day, by oil lamps hanging outside the windows. It became unpopular with passengers as it could mean a journey of ten minutes or more in total blackness, and also because steam locos passed through the tunnel to work at the Lime Street end it was always full of smoke."
By the way, when condoms came out the ticket collectors at Edge Hill were made redundant.
The "Lion" steam engine (as seen in the Titfield Thunderbolt, the basement of Liverpool Museum at one time and soon to be at the Museum of Liverpool) was once at Lime St station. It went off for a while somewhere else and when it came back, the station/railways had new owners who wouldn't honour the former 99 year contract to allow it to stay there.