I have been building an N-scale model of Liverpool Lime Street for some years now. Maybe I’ll finish it some day... It will be set in 1980/1 since this was an interesting period here in my opinion. Coincidentally 1981 was the year I left Liverpool.
I have also been researching the timetable. Broadly speaking the Inter-City services were to/from Newcastle/York, Edinburgh/Glasgow, London Euston, Plymouth/Penzance, Bournemouth/Poole and Birmingham. A semi-fast service ran to/from Preston/Barrow-in-Furness. Local services ran to/from Wigan North Western, Manchester Victoria, Manchester Piccadilly/Oxford Road, Warrington and Crewe. There were also non-passenger (Parcels etc.) services. I have almost completed the timetable with passenger services from the 19080/81 Passenger timetable. I have determined the ecs (empty coaching stock), npccs (non-passenger carrying coaching stock) and light engine movements from a range of sources including the 1976/7 Liverpool Lime Street timetable for PC-Rail, the summer 1992 Working timetable, the internet and a bit of guesswork. When I have "finalised" the timetable I shall post it here. If you have any information or memories regarding stock movements in the Liverpool area in the late 70s or early 80s then please e-mail me.
I have acquired information on what stock/motive power was used on each service from a variety of sources such as memory, the 1H8x books, PC-Rail and the internet, in particular the excellent 1980's Timewarp site. From this I have started producing a stock selector based on the probabilities of locos appearing on given services. Currently this looks like this:
| Route | Stock | Locos |
| Euston | Mk. 3 | 6% 81; 3% 85; 3% 86/0; 6% 86/1; 69% 86/2; 11% 87/0 |
| Euston Sleeper | Mk.1 Sleepers + Mk.1 | ?% 81; ?% 82; ?% 83; ?% 85; ?% 86/0; ?% 86/1; ?% 86/2; ?% 86/3 |
| Newcastle | Mk.2, 2a-c | 1% 37; 29% 40; 7% 45/0; 4% 45/1; 9% 46; 11% 47/0; 3% 47/3; 36% 47/4; ?% 47/7 |
| York | Mk.2, 2a-c | 2% 25/2; 3% 31/4; 17% 40; 4% 45/0; ?% 45/1; 4% 46; 9% 47/0; 1% 47/3; 49% 47/4; ?% 47/7; 10% 55 |
| Paddington | Mk. | 7% 40; 2% 81; 5% 85; 5% 86/0; 5% 86/1; 46% 86/2; 7% 86/3; 21% 87/0; 2% 87/1 |
| Western Region | Mk.2d-f | 3% 40; 3% 47/4; 3% 50; 3% 81; 3% 83; 3% 85; 6% 86/0; 63% 86/2; 6% 86/3; 3% 87/0 |
| Southern Region | Mk.2d-f | 3% 81; 3%82; 3% 84; 6% 85; 6% 86/1; 66% 86/2; 11% 87/0 |
| Scottish Region | Mk.1,2,2a-c | 25% 40; 42% 47/4; 8% 47/7; 17% 55 |
| Birmingham | Mk.1,2,2a-c | 6% 40; 6% 47/0; 3% 47/4; 3% 83; 3% 85; 9% 86/0; 3% 86/1; 43% 86/2; 23% 87/0 |
| Barrow | Mk.1 | 7%25/1; 7%25/2; ?%25/3; 67% 40; 7% 47/0; 7% 47/4 |
| Llandudno | Mk.1 | %25/1; ?%25/2; ?%25/3; 91% 40; ?% 47/0; ?% 47/4 |
| Crewe | EMU | 6% 303; 94% 304 |
| Wigan | DMU | 17% 101; 24% 104; 15% 105; 27% 108; ?% 110; 17% 111 |
| Manchester Victoria | DMU | ?% 101; 56% 104; 38% 105; 6% 108; ?% 110; ?% 111 |
| Manchester Piccadilly | DMU | 19% 101; 7% 104; 5% 105; 52% 108; ?% 110; 18% 111; ?% 115 |
| Parcels | Mk.1, DMU | 25; 40; 47/0; 47/3; 47/4; 81; 82; 83; 85; 86/0; 86/1; 86/2; 86/3; 128 |
| Footex | Mk.1 | 65% 40; 18% 47/0; 12% 47/4 |
If the total percentage does not add up 100% the balance will be operated by my "ghost" locos.
The image below is taken from an old photograph of the track plan within Liverpool Lime Street Station Signal Box. This layout had been partially rationalised by 1981 and was simplified still further during subsequent refurbishment.
In this image the north side of the station is at the bottom. The four lines leading off to the left lead to the east and Edge Hill. The lower pair would generally be used for trains to/from the north and east via Broad Green and the upper pair for services towards Manchester Piccadilly and the south via Mossley Hill. The bottom siding fan to the right was (from memory) no longer present by 1981 and the three groups of three lines above this were platforms 1-6 with stabling sidings between the platform roads. The next (darker) siding up was an un-numbered platform used for npccs services and the next one up was platform 7. The two short sidings at the left hand end of platform 7 had been removed by 1981 leaving a short loco storage spur (which was removed in the subsequent refurbishment). The next two lines up were platforms 8 and 9 and the two above this had been removed by 1981 (when that area was mainly a car park). The group of tracks in the upper middle area were presumably associated with a turntable and had also been removed by 1981.
Progress: I have built most of the stock and started laying the track. However, rapid progress in the hobby has caused be a rethink and I intend to completely relay the tracks rebuild the motive power for digital command control (DCC). However, I'm also rethinking whether I want to build this layout at all and am considering the option of building a model brewery with railway, or maybe a combination of both... It all depends on how much room I have left in the garage once I have set the brewery up.
The image above is my model of 55 015 “Tulyar” in 1981 condition. It is a Graham Farish model that I have repainted, renumbered, named, detailed and very lightly weathered. At some stage I will have to convert it to DCC. The coin is a 5p and the distance between the rails is 9mm to give some indication of the small scale of N-gauge.
