Birkenhead Underground Railway

The Birkenhead Underground Railway, later the Birkenhead and Wallasey Railway, was a railway company in Birkenhead, England. It existed from 1892 until 1905.

Construction
Due to the success of the Mersey Railway, the Birkenhead Underground was built in 1891 to connect Tranmere with Wallasey, via the western area of Birkenhead. The line to Tranmere was never completed due to a lack of funds and potential patronage, and so the southern terminus was at Birkenhead South. The line ran under the streets of Birkenhead to Birkenhead General, the terminus of the Birkenhead Junction Railway (BJR), and thence onward to Wallasey Harrison Drive, where there was to be an end-on connection with the Wallasey and Bootle Railway. The only major engineering work besides the tunnels was the tunnel underneath the Great Float in Birkenhead Docks, which resulted in the section between Birkenhead General and Wallasey Underground being on a reasonably steep gradient, with West Float Station being at the bottom of this 'dip'.

Opening
The line opened on March 16th 1892, with the first train, containing dignitaries such as the Mayor of Birkenhead and the Chief Engineer, Mr D.F.Kinnear, leaving Birkenhead General for Birkenhead South (the party had travelled on the BJR to General and simply walked down to the underground station) before travelling up to Wallasey Harrison Drive, to check on progress on the Wallasey and Bootle, before having luncheon in the Tower Ballroom in New Brighton. The first train was hauled by Locomotive No.1 'Cilgwri', the first of the locomotives to have arrived from manufacturer Beyer, Peacock and Co. of Manchester. Prior to the opening of the railway, in keeping with local tradition, local residents were invited to walk through the tunnels between Birkenhead South and Birkenhead Junction (the section under the Great Float being flooded).

Flooding
The section of line between Birkenhead General and Wallasey ran directly below the docks complex, and this led to frequent flooding of the central section, and the eventual closure of West Float station in 1895, after just three years of use. Two pumping houses were built at either end in order to remove water from this section of line, and they served reasonably well until the last years of the line.

Electrification
Due to falling revenues, partly down to the poor publicity of the line and partly due to the dreadful conditions in the tunnels, the Company looked at electrifying the line in the late 1890s. The southern section, the busier half, was earmarked for the first stage of electrification. The contractor was Alexander Johnson of Southport, and a third rail was laid between South and General stations. The section under the docks wasn't electrified due to the flood risk, which would have necessitated a change of train at General Station. However, the electric trains were hugely unreliable, and were only used on a complementary service to the steam trains. Between 1898 and 1899 the line from Harrison Drive to Wallasey was electrified, and the electric stock was converted to use batteries to traverse the Great Float section until they reached General.

Closure
Traffic was only ever light, and the company failed to make a profit in 1898 due to falling revenues and rising costs. the selling of locomotives and stock brought extra cash and reduced costs, and the railway struggled on until 1903, when the decision was made to close the line from Wallasey northwards. The truncated line carried on for thirteen months on a reduced timetable, and then in the winter of 1904/5 the pump on the Wallasey side failed, and the Birkenhead pump was overburdened and broke. The line flooded into the platforms at Birkenhead General, and, with the line only struggling to make ends meet, the railway was closed. The Locomotives were brought to the surface and sold to other local rail users, as was the passenger stock, and the electric stock was cut up on site.

Route
The line started at Birkenhead South, in a station building that became 'the Railway' pub once the railway closed. Leaving the three-platform station, to the left the line deviated to the Depot, part-underground, part in a cutting, before continuing north towards Claughton Station- the station here was built to look like any of the other houses in the area, due to complaints from local residents at the prescence of a railway. The railway carried on to Birkenhead General, where there was a connection with the Birkenhead Junction Railway, via a long staircase, before descending towards the Great Float and West Float Station, the platforms of which were directly underneath the water. The line rose up to Wallasey (Underground) Station, which lay roughly two hundred yards from the BJR station at Wallasey South. After that the line continued to the northern terminus at Wallasey Harrison Drive.

Locomotives
Locomotive Power was provided by three 0-4-0ST locomotives supplied by Beyer Peacock of Manchester, followed by a fourth in 1893. They resembled Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway 'pugs', albeit cut down, to fit inside the tunnels, which had been built to a smaller loading gauge. These locomotives were remarkably powerful considering their size, and sufficient for the passenger traffic on the line, which was rarely more than light. Beyer Peacock also provided two larger tank engines in 1893, both identical 2-4-2Ts, for the goods traffic that never materialised. The 0-4-0STs were named 'Cilgwri', 'Walha', 'Bircen' and 'Klakkr'. The 2-4-2Ts were named 'The Great Float' and 'Subterranea'.