BJR C Class

The Birkenhead Junction Railway C Class were a class of steam locomotive built for the Birkenhead Junction Railway during the 1880s. Seven were built by the Derby works of the Midland Railway, on contract to the BJR, to a 0-6-0T wheel arrangement, for goods duties in the Birkenhead Docks area and light passenger trains around Birkenhead General Station and the Parkgate branch line.

The C Class
The seven locomotives were delivered in pairs over a year, with the first coming on its own in February 1883.

Nos 33, 34 & 35
That first engine, No.33, became station pilot at Birkenhead General upon arrival, a position it held almost uninterrupted until replaced by a Q class locomotive in 1924. In 1891 No.33 operated the Parkgate branch with No.35, following No.34's crash into the River Dee. It was based at Birkenhead Junction Depot for most of its working life. Nos 34 and 35 were the first pair to arrive in May 1883, and were put to work on the Parkgate branch line, as well as top-and-tailing the Shuttle service from General station. No, 34 suffered an unfortunate incident in February 1891, when, in heavy snow and ice, it failed to stop as it approached Parkgate (Birkenhead) Station, coming from Birkenhead to relieve No. 35, which had failed with a split ash-pan. the signalman changed the points to allow No. 34 onto the loop, and again to send it down towards the riverside, where there was a small quay and loading point for the catch of fishermen in the Dee. The sharp curve at the quay was to be taken at slow speed, but the locomotive was travelling at, to quote the Neston Gazette, 'quite a pace', and it toppled over into the river. Nobody was injured, but the locomotive had to spend two days at the bank of the Dee until a rescue mission could be undertaken. No.35 had a relatively uneventful life, running the Parkgate branch with No.34 until the outbreak of the First World War, when they were withdrawn to Birkenhead to cover for Nos 36 and 37, which had been converted to run armoured coastal patrol trains along the Dee coast. Following the cessation of hostilities the pair were brought back to Parkgate until withdrawal in 1936, after being joined by No.33 in 1924.

Nos 36 & 37
These two were delivered in September 1883 and were put to work on goods trains and shunting in the BJR area of Birkenhead Docks. They undertook these duties uninterrupted until 1914, when they were rebuilt for coastal patrol trains. A spur on the Central Wirral Line onto the Hooton-West Kirby Branch at Neston was constructed, and both locomotives were given armour plating, and marshalled into the middle of four-wagon trains. Each train was composed of two Machine-gun posts (MGW), an ammunition van (AV), and an open wagon with troops (TCW), in the format MGW-AV-Loco-TCW-MGW. For more information on the Wirral Armoured trains see Wirral Coastal Patrol Trains. The engines were refurbished in 1919 and re-entered service in their original role until 1939, when they saw use once again as Armoured Trains. No. 37 was hit by a bomb at Moreton in 1943 and was scrapped, being replaced by C1 class No. 41, but No.37 was withdrawn in 1945 and languished on a siding at Parkgate Shed until it was sold to the Pembroke Colliery Company in 1953.

Nos 38 & 39
The final pair arrived in January 1884, and complimented 36 & 37 on goods trains, as well as acting as relief for the Parkgate engines and the D2 class working at Ellesmere Port. In 1898 both were transferred to building the Wallasey King Street Extension, and in 1900 that line opened. 38 & 39 were then put in service on this branch, which was single track apart from a passing loop at the intermediate stations, and in 1903 were both transferred to the WCCRA; No. 38 went to the Wallasey Corporation, and 39 to Birkenhead. Both were repainted, 38 in the deep maroon of the underframes of the Wallasey Corporation's trams, and 39 in a lined black, matching the underframes of Birkenhead's trams. This latter livery was later revised to a deep navy blue. These locomotives ran the line until they were replaced by two GWR 57xx class tank engines in 1947, which replaced the WCCRA.