We certainly are at the centre. Many first & achievements have been centered of Merseyside. We need to celebrate our part in all this

Cheers Tony, no doubt will bump into you now that shows are restarting

Thanks Chris. New microphone & getting the hang of audio editing have made the difference. Glad you enjoyed it

Thanks Alan, there is far more to it. Maybe one day a book could be done going into more detail than I can

Merseyside certainly did get its act together. It's a real shame that delays & cost overruns caused the scheme to be cut back. But we did get the main core of the system. Perhaps the outer loops would have been successful, sadly we will never know

Thanks Brian. Thousands use it daily & probably never give it a second thought. I did this video to showcase the engineering achievement of the 1970s extensions

@@Merseywail I remember when the work was taking place when exchange closed in 1977 and those class 507-8 looked so futuristic. I believe the 508 s originally started life in London, I personally carnt spot the difference.

@@brianfearn4246 the 508s were always meant for merseyside. On the southern the 455s weren't ready, & some equipment was to be reused. But the 4SUB units were in desperate need of replacement. So our 508s were "borrowed" by the Southern to cover until their units were ready. Hench the often misconception that we got second hand sets. In some ways they were stolen from us to help out the southern region

@@Merseywail that makes sense now and thanks again .

Thanks for subscribing. Yes the plans for the loop date back to the 60s. We were lucky to get what we did considering the actions of Dr Beeching. The idea for the loop was first suggested as far back as 1914. But nothing came of it then. But they got there eventually.

Thank you. Need to do the follow up

Cheers for the the extra info. Didn't realise that the Dosco's were also used on the metro, another good system. If Manchester hadn't messed around with mono rail & other daft schemes they would have had a underground to. But then again they probably wouldn't have metrolink

Liverpool is a great city, with lots of history and culture

I bet! e.g., I live somewhere where our nightlife is (was? [911 was said to have snuffed the peak, the zenith]) famed, yet there are signs in and around that valley there that'd make we here vanillas blush out of embarrassment

It is a great shame. The full system they planned was sadly never realized. At least we got most of it

Thank you. I will get round to doing the Southport to Lime street service and the earlier through steam coaches eventually. There's so much railway history around merseyside and the north West.

Thank you for the very kind comment glad you enjoyed it. It's enjoyable researching for these videos.

Thanks Stephen I enjoy doing these & hopefully shedding new light on subjects

Thanks. It's a story that previously hadn't been covered. Hopefully I have shed some light on the underground and it's creation

Cheers, one of the future videos will be of the lost lines & stations of Merseyrail. It was to be a much bigger network than we ended up with

Thanks David. I have been gathering info for a follow up. This will be more about the the lines that were to be included in the Merseyrail system , but were cut due to budget issues

Cheers for that Nigel. I have lots more planned, work permitting.

Cheers Andrew lots more planned

@@Merseywail Nice. Does that mean Class 777 as well whenever they do enter service and the farewell tour for Class 507 and Class 508 PEPs.

@@AndrewG1989 hopefully I will be on the farewell tour & no doubt do some sort of video on the 507/8s. The 777s are likely to be with us shortly & I would like to do a video compering the three generation of units I have known. The 502 & 503s. The 507/8s & the 777s

@@Merseywail Indeed. 😊

Cheers Mike, doing the research can be a challenge at times.

Thanks. Although we sort of had a "underground" in Liverpool since 1886. The 1970s transformations turned one line into a true network by the additions & extensions

Cheers, wasn't sure if perhaps I have gone into too much detail

@@Merseywail no.....spot on mate💪👍🚂

@@doggerproductions thanks I think the next ones will be easier to do. The picture research for this was a challenge lol

@@Merseywail I can imagine mate,.... proper nightmare, but you done a great job and I look forward to your next video....keep up the great work👍😊

Cheers, am only starting out relatively speaking

Cheers Chris. I do know someone who has a good archive of merseyside railway history. Hopefully I can persuade him that people are interested in these things. It would be great if he did a book or two. Hopefully the reaction to these videos might help that along

Am back doing the narration, so hopefully you can understand my accent and deep voice

@@Merseywail most likely. Let's see.

And it was good. :)

A long and detailed one, so well worth the watch!

@@DefaultMale_ I was worried that it might have been to detailed. Glad you enjoyed it

Cheers, enjoyed putting it together

It's like a rabbit Warren. There was a perspex model of the station that was on display at the now gone large object museum . Hopefully it will be going on display again one day. It showed how the road tunnel passes over the Wirral line & Under the northern

Thanks, a little bit of Liverpool railway history that was neglected.

Cheers Phil glad you enjoyed it. Wasn't sure how many would be interested. But it seems there is interest in our underground

Thanks Brian

Thanks Andy. It's a subject that's largely neglected. Hopefully when the 50th anniversary is reached there will be some kind of event to commemorate

Thanks Lee. It's a subject that has never really been covered much before. I thought I would attempt to give this transformation of Merseyside's railways a little more recognition. Ideally it hopefully might inspire someone to do a full story of this engineering achievement

Thanks Terry, I find part of the enjoyment of doing these videos is in the research. I had some luck in being able to have access to the collection of one of the engineers involved with the project

It is a good system and it revitalised the railways on Merseyside

Cheers Brian. Will be doing a follow up on the lines & stations that were planned for merseyrail but never happened

@@Merseywail cheers Paul

It's always been an interest of mine & hasn't been well documented. Hopefully the video has gone some way in correcting that. I will have to get round to doing the follow up, documenting the extra lines Merseyrail would have had, had the full plans come to fruition

@@Merseywail Look forward to it :)

Cheers Dennis, will we see you at MTT open day?

Hopefully 😊

There is a lot more out there. A lot of the pics in the video are from my own personal collection. These were from a dealer who still has a few hundred more but is keeping them in his own collection. More stuff came from one of the civil engineers involved with the project. I am trying to persuade him that there is interest out there & hopefully do a book on the building of the loop and link. I have seen pictures looking down the vent shafts to the tracks at Hamilton square but haven't seen them since.. I too would love to see more of the drainage tunnel. I know Simon Groom did a piece for Blue Peter back in 1986. He & the camera crew walked through the drainage heading. Water entering the tunnel from all angles

Manchester came so close . I know some of the civil engineers of the loop/link were going to be involved with the Picc-Vic line before it was cancelled. I know in the early stages Manchester planner's couldn't make their minds up of what system to go with. Even toying with a mono-rail solution at one point. My opinion is if they got their act together sooner Manchester would now have a first class underground. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/sJ-eY8mq3r20eY0.htmlsi=xaGaPQWqIsQvgbcb

It seemed like a good idea at the time but people seldom used the sections that were built. The modular seats could have easily been the same Verona Green as the buses, but the architect specified the brown

Lots do, it's a shame a new use couldn't have been found for it. But sadly it was demonstrated

Not sure what parts you didn't know about. But most of this hasn't really been covered before. Hopefully this video has gone some way to bring to light the major engineering achievement of the Merseyrail underground

Can't speak for the other cities but Manchester came very close to having an underground system like Merseyrail. Their system was the Picc- Vic scheme. They delayed making a decision on which way to go with things, including considering a mono rail at one point. Perhaps if they had got their act together they would have had a underground. Though it has to be said the Metrolink tram system has been a great success for them

@@Merseywail Ah Im with you mate, seems Manchester was close to having an Underground as its a very busy place. Seems with them delaying they missed out on the UG opportunity. Metrolink seems to be doing pretty well currently which is great. Also Nottingham does have disused Underground tunnels which should be transformed and used as a rail system. If you look up Trekking Exploration on YT and ALW Research you will see how they explore the disused tunnels.

Something I would love to do one day walk the loop link tunnels. That & the Mersey railway drainage tunnel

Thank you. I haven't any footage of the lowering of the trackbed, but I have seen a picture of the work. In the picture I have seen they used mechanical excavators to dig and chisel out the rock bed. I have seen a picture of it encroaching on the Wapping tunnel .

Thanks Alex. We are getting Liverpool Baltic, which is at the old St James site. I will be doing the lost merseyrail lines soon, a little more research to do first.

@@Merseywail Do you happen to know when we are getting Liverpool Baltic? They have been talking about it for years but I haven't been able to find out when work will begin? I completely understand about the research to be done before you can make the video! It's obvious from your content that you do a lot of research before you actually put a video together. I really appreciate the effort! I loved the Merseyrail before I saw your videos but afterwards my admiration for the whole system has really shot up!

@@alexscott1257 am not sure myself about time scales for the openings of Liverpool Baltic, there has been a cgi video of the planned station. From experience, now its been announced, it could be within the next 5 years. Yes research can be time consuming, but also enjoyable. It often throws up things you never knew. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/f6uEdbViuN3efJc.html

@@Merseywail Wow thanks that was really interesting to see! And thanks again for all your videos I really do find them enthralling!

@@alexscott1257 thanks again Alex

I was allowed access to the collection of John Ryan, who was one of the head civil engineers on the Merseyrail project. I & others have suggested to him to do a book about the Merseyrail construction. But he is very modest about it all, and the achievements he & colleagues made.

What we could have had

I never even noticed that lol, it happens. Footage I had hoped to include but couldn't was from the old James Street power box, it had a guy announcing a cancellation back when the loop had just opened

The link line passes through the site of the cavern yes. As for the flooded tunnel, there was a number of old well's that had to capped off. There's been lots about a underground river, but most likely its the drainage heading of the mersey railway. This has approximately 4000 gallons per hour entering the river tunnel

Thanks. We were given access to a few of plans in preparation for a fundraising book for the preserved class 502 unit. ”Merseyrail 50 years of progress 1971 - 2021” . The plans belonging to one of the civil engineers involved with the project. We didn't use them in the book, but I got additional permission to use them in this video. We are hoping to get permission to add them to our archive material in due course. I also hope to persuade my 502 colleagues to do another fundraising book all about the building of Merseyrail, hopefully in time for it's 50 year anniversary.

The junction is at the top of Lord Street, just before the Queen Victoria monument. The tunnel on the left is the old mersey railway tunnel to Liverpool Central low level, now the northern line platforms. The one on the right is the end of the 1977 loop. Both are looking towards central. The tracks into the old tunnel are the stock interchange, linking Norham and wirral lines, and a short siding

@@Merseywail Yes, I realise now where it is. The left one leads up to "paradise" junction, "up the hill" at 1 in 27 where the original Wirral line service used to go after leaving James street's old platform on the far side, now not used. The right hand line goes up to the link line and the left one just terminates at a buffer stop, I've seen it on another video somewhere on here which was filmed from a train's cab. And the newer tunnel is where the current Wirral line trains emerge after leaving the loop. I was getting it mixed up with the reversing siding at Central low level but the newer tunnel is on the wrong side as there it's on the left.

@@majorpygge-phartt2643 that's correct yes

Thanks. The 47 was 47190. One of the 503s was preserved for preservation, it was in storage at the Hornby warehouse in Margate, but I think it's since been moved out. A 502 unit (northern line) was also preserved & is undergoing restoration at the premises of the Merseyside transport trust in Burscough. A open day is being held there on 31 July. www.class502.org.uk/news-blog/2022/07/15/mtt-open-day-2022/

The Class 47 was a life long Crewe engine and had serious accident and had to be rebuilt

@@suninn22 the pic would be approximately 1976 would this be before or after the accident?

I have heard of them. I suspect they are thinking of the deep sump that was built by the mersey railway back in 1886. There is a similar one at shore Rd Birkenhead. There is also a short unused heading at Mann island that's partially flooded. The river tunnel has a drainage tunnel to extract the water entering the tunnel from the river and it runs downwards into the two sumps to be pumped out

Thanks. There was an alternative plan, called the Horseshoe scheme, that would have connected the northern & wirral directly. Trains from Southport could have gone to Chester for example. This actually had better overall long term cost / benefit results. But as planning for the loop & link was well advanced, it was that which was cheaper in the short term. The lime Street to Concourse escalators were favored by British rail engineers. But city Council wanted a closer link to the bus station & civic centre. Unfortunately the council got there way. After it had been built that way the civic centre plans were cancelled. The problem with a link to the pier head is apart from tunneling in poor infilled ground with flooding issues. Is the rundown of both the ferry & buses that used to run from there. The transport authorities had planned to do away with the ferry altogether. The link to the airport was not seen as important at the time as it wasn't as busy as it now is. But the poor link to the airport is now a major omission

@@Merseywail Thank you for this. Ido not quite follow the lack of a subway entrance to James Street from Mann island. Surely the tunnels and platforms run under the Strand to Mann Island anyway?

@@uingaeoc3905 they do, but require constant & expensive pumping to keep them dry. The extra cost of the pumps contributed to the Mersey railway company being plunged into bankruptcy. That & operating steam underground. The cost / benefit for having a link to the pier head just isn't worth it

@@Merseywail Thank you again. Have you read my 'Merseyrail: an Alternative ....'?

@@uingaeoc3905 no I haven't

Thank you. It's one thing I hadn't considered, that people might not know the area. The maps used are the ones that were actually used on the project by the various civil engineers. One of whom kindly gave me permission to use them in the video. Indeed I had hoped to have sections where he described the various parts of the construction & its issues. He declined sadly, being very modest about the superb work he & his colleagues achieved

@@MerseywailEven if you knew the area, it's nice to also see it on the map, especially when several aspects build up over time and you see the network grow. Of course, the on-location B-roll has plenty of value, too. Those engineer's drawings can be hard to understand, being drawn for precision over clarity; trying to decipher them in real time was quite the trick. That's really all I could say with regards to improvements, you've got a talent for this!

@@caramelldansen2204 thanks for that, am still learning. My earlier videos are embarrassingly bad, so hopefully new ones will be better

@@Merseywail I'd hardly call them bad! With regards to the map situation, I'd take inspiration from how Rediscovering Lost Railways shows the paths railways took; of course, do it in your own way, and I'd also recommend _not_ taking inspiration from his far-too-frequent pleads for subscribers. By the way, if you ever decide to film on-location footage for the North Liverpool Extension Line (or "Liverpool Loop Line" for you blerts out there), get in touch, since I'd be happy to facilitate sharing anything I know, and I have a tripod and external camera mic you could borrow too!

@@caramelldansen2204 cheers again, the loop is going to be featured in the lost Merseyrail lines video. But will only feature those stations that would have been Merseyrail ones. As to how am going to film that section,I haven't decided yet. It can be a bit dodgy round certain sections

It is. It's hard to believe that something like Merseyrail was helped along by Marple. The cynical would point out that the various consultants & construction contractors were probably friends of his. I couldn't possibly comment.

There was a DVD about merseyside electrics by “online video" but I don't think it featured the exchange to sandhills section. With it being on a viaduct for most of the way it would have been difficult for good footage

@@Merseywail I just wanted to see that tiny bit which has now gone where you see the old unused arches

@@eddherring4972 it does feature in my earlier video “remembering Liverpool Exchange" or bits of it do kzfaq.info/get/bejne/n7GZhbdpnqivfX0.html

@@Merseywail I’m watching it now, although I see from the comments I’ve already commented, mine seems to be the first comment, thanks for the heads up, I’ll watch it fully again.

@@Merseywail Found it! The quality is very poor (but I don’t care because I found it) watch it here ➡️ kzfaq.info/get/bejne/sLiWZNiGqcm2kXk.html

It's not that Leonard Fairclough, though I think the character was on Corrie about the same time. This was a now gone construction firm of the same name en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Fairclough_%26_Son

The provision for cycles in lifts is quite poor. I don't think it was considered when the system was designed in the early 70s. I can't see a wheelchair problem though. I regularly see disabled passengers using the underground stations, and that Will probably increase when the new trains come in. With their level access making travel for the disabled far easier