Birmingham to Blackpool by DMU circa 1970

[Springs Branch]

With a bit more time to sit indoors at present, I've had an excuse to browse through some old BR timetables.

Here's a question about West Midlands Class 116 DMUs and whether these units regularly worked to Blackpool on summer Saturdays in the late 1960s/early 70s:-

• Does anyone have recollections or any information on Birmingham - Blackpool summer Saturday trains around 1968 - 1972?

It's easy to find references & photos of high-density DMUs from the Midlands going to coastal resorts like Skegness or Great Yarmouth, but I haven't found anything online regarding them going up the WCML to Blackpool.

Background information:
Back in the heyday of seaside holidays, it's no surprise that there were regular, timetabled summer Saturday trains from the Birmingham & West Midlands area to Blackpool and back. Public & working timetables show:-

- In the early 1960s, there were several separate SO Blackpool trains: two from Coventry (one via Nuneaton & Trent Valley, another via Stetchford & Birmingham), another started from B/ham New St and one went from Walsall via Wolverhampton.​

- By 1968, these had been rationalised to just one train, starting from Birmingham New St and booked for a DMU - presumably Tyseley-based units.​

- This train also called to collect seaside trade at smaller stations in Cheshire and Lancs - Winsford, Hartford, Acton Bridge, Coppull and Balshaw Lane & Euxton.​

- Despite all the local stops, it ran under a Class 1 headcode - 1P42 out, 1G20 back.​

- Departure from BHM was around 09:30 (give or take 5 mins). Return working left Blackpool about 14:30, getting back into BHM around 17:30​

- From 1972 onwards the train was cut back to start and terminate at Crewe - still booked for a DMU.​

In the period around 1970, I was often lurking alongside the WCML on summer weekends (notebook & trusty biro in hand) and I'd probably have been by the lineside at the times the Birmingham trains went through - but I don't remember ever observing any high-density units.

With all DMUs in the north-west being low-density types at the time (except Lime St-Piccadilly via CLC), I would have noticed the novel door-to-a-bay arrangement, especially as there'd likely be several units running in multiple - possibly up to 9 cars.

I'd be interested to hear:-

1. Does anyone have any information on these Blackpool trains? Were high-density suburban units actually used?​

2. Did anyone actually see or travel on one, either from Birmingham or joining at points further north?​

3. How many units were lashed together for this train (I'd imagine more than one 3 or 4-car DMU was used)?​

4. Were any other types of DMU based in the Birmingham area in the early 70s which might have been used for this trip instead of Class 116?​

 

[The_Train]

I don't have any answers to your questions but the one thing that jumped out at me was the departure times from each place. You've mentioned a 3 hour return journey so I assume it was the same sort of time from Birmingham to Blackpool which would leave 2 hours to be spent in Blackpool - seems like an incredibly short amount of time for a 'day' out especially when you consider that 6 hours of the day would he spent travelling on trains

 

[Ash Bridge]

Not really a definite answer to your question but during the early 70s I recall 3 car Met Cam 101 DMUs being employed on Birmingham New Street - Manchester Piccadilly Sunday services in place of the regular class 310 EMUs when engineering works or e.g. diversions via the Chase line were taking place. Always assumed these were West Midlands based sets hence wondered if these perhaps ever found their way on the Blackpool workings you mention?

 

[theblackwatch]

Tyseley also had an allocation of a dozen Class 101 sets (TY400-TY411), which were transferred in from Monument Lane in 1967, which could perhaps have been used. These would have been more suitable too, having gangway connections, providing toilet facilities for everyone on board. The suburban sets were non-gangwayed at the time and although some had centre cars with a toilet, others contained no loo at all (at least it wasn't discriminatory!).

 

[43096]

I don't have any answers to your questions but the one thing that jumped out at me was the departure times from each place. You've mentioned a 3 hour return journey so I assume it was the same sort of time from Birmingham to Blackpool which would leave 2 hours to be spent in Blackpool - seems like an incredibly short amount of time for a 'day' out especially when you consider that 6 hours of the day would he spent travelling on trains

I would think that it was aimed at people going to Blackpool to spend the week there, much like the Summer Saturday East Mids HST service to Skegness currently.

 

[The_Train]

I would think that it was aimed at people going to Blackpool to spend the week there, much like the Summer Saturday East Mids HST service to Skegness currently.

Ah yeah, that would make more sense. Easy to forget that people used to spend more than a day in Blackpool in its heyday

 

[bassmike]

Ah yeah, that would make more sense. Easy to forget that people used to spend more than a day in Blackpool in its heyday

Spent three weeks in Blackpool last night.

 

[The_Train]

Spent three weeks in Blackpool last night.

I imagine that one night in Blackpool does feel like 3 weeks.....

Out of interest at the time the OP refers to, would Central have still been operating or would it have been a service into Blackpool North?

 

[Bevan Price]

I imagine that one night in Blackpool does feel like 3 weeks.....

Out of interest at the time the OP refers to, would Central have still been operating or would it have been a service into Blackpool North?

Blackpool Central closed in November 1964. Afraid that I did not take much notice of DMU services at that time - they were something to avoid. The last years of steam, and then diesel loco haulage was much more interesting.

 

[Taunton]

A number of what had been lengthy mainstream holiday trains of past times were reduced to dmus by the 1960s/70s. In those times Saturday services catered for those spending a week at resorts and were in the timetable, while Sundays were for day excursions only advertised locally.

I recall a Met-Cam in Glasgow Queen Street heading for Whitley Bay one Saturday in summer 1974, with a few (only), inevitably elderly, passengers queued for it with suitcases. Must have been an uncomfortable and dreary ride, compared to the mainstream Inter-City stock on most of the route. Now a week at Whitley Bay must put even the comments above about Blackpool into context.

Earlier, units from Birmingham and environs were regulars at Weston-super-Mare (commonly known as Weston-on-the-Mud in Somerset) on summer Sunday excursions from the late 1960s, invariably again the Met-Cam sets.

 

[Springs Branch]

Tyseley also had an allocation of a dozen Class 101 sets (TY400-TY411), which were transferred in from Monument Lane in 1967

Thank for all the replies. I wasn't aware of the presence of Class 101 units at Tyseley and this may have solved this riddle.

Metro-Cammell units certainly made regular appearances in the north-west, and a 3 or 6-car example scuttling past on a Saturday afternoon would have raised no eyebrows. After all, we were there to see bigger, more impressive trains hauled by the likes of "D400s" (double-headed if going to Scotland), or Brush / English Electric Type 4s.

This also probably explains the apparent lack of photographs etc. So soon after the end of steam, many rail photographers had likely put away their cameras, or if they were still out photographing diesels, the focus was on locomotives. They wouldn't be wasting expensive film or laborious developing time in the home dark room on mundane DMUs.

I would think that it was aimed at people going to Blackpool to spend the week there, much like the Summer Saturday East Mids HST service to Skegness currently.

Whilst these trains were timed for the "week / fortnight in a boarding house" market for most of the summer, during the Blackpool Illuminations season, early September to late October, the return DMU to Birmingham departed Blackpool much later - 23:00 off Blackpool North, the last timetabled train of the night.

This would, at a pinch, allow for a day out, with a walk / tram ride through "The Lights" in the evening.

Your autumn 1971 itinerary would be: New St. dep 09:33, Blackpool N. arr 12:54. Then Blackpool N. dep 23:00, New St. arr 02:45 (after diversion Warrington - Chester - Crewe for WCML electrification work). Let's hope there were toilets available on that train, especially if you'd called at Yates's for refreshments on the way back to Blackpool station.

I can't imagine a more dreary, miserable end to a day out - especially if it had turned out cold & rainy - than a night on board a 1st Gen DMU vibrating and rattling down the WCML in the dark for 3¾ hours, before arriving to the delights of Birmingham New St around 3am! I assume most of the punters who used this train got off at earlier stops like Preston, Wigan or Warrington.

 

[d9009alycidon]

I imagine that one night in Blackpool does feel like 3 weeks.....

Out of interest at the time the OP refers to, would Central have still been operating or would it have been a service into Blackpool North?

My first visit to Blackpool was in September 1968, and Blackpool South was still seeing long distance excursions, I remember the sidings to the north of Waterloo Road beiing full of coaching stock. I believe that the station was reduced to local services only in 1970 and the carraige sidings lifted, leaving the still operational signal box separated from the track that it controlled! See this pic https://www.flickr.com/photos/masonphenix19/15799513397

 

[Springs Branch]

I believe that the station was reduced to local services only in 1970.........

That's true - from the closure of Central until 1970 the daily Blackpool/Euston Inter-City trains, with full Restaurant Car & Buffet facilities, started/terminated at Blackpool South rather than Blackpool North (and served Lytham and St. Annes-on-the-Sea along the way).


Well after the period of my original query, but it seems the Class 116s did eventually make their way up the WCML to Blackpool.

Here's a picture of a WMPTE-branded unit passing Farington Curve Junction home-bound with an excursion in 1989.
Not sure if gangways had been fitted by then - otherwise better hope you'd boarded that third carriage with the toilets in the middle.

Class 116 4-Car Suburban DMU (T414) - Farington Curve Junction.
Copyright Martyn Hilbert on Flickr and reproduced with permission.

 

[ainsworth74]

That's true - from the closure of Central until 1970 the daily Blackpool/Euston Inter-City trains, with full Restaurant Car & Buffet facilities, started/terminated at Blackpool South rather than Blackpool North (and served Lytham and St. Annes-on-the-Sea along the way).

Considering the state of Blackpool South now, that's a hard image to bring to mind!

 

[Whistler40145]

Considering the state of Blackpool South now, that's a hard image to bring to mind!

Indeed, until the mid 1980s the Blackpool South line was still double track

 

[30907]

OT but 116s did an even longer run from Birmingham to Pwllheli on Saturdays in the 70s.

 

[Dr Hoo]

OT but 116s did an even longer run from Birmingham to Pwllheli on Saturdays in the 70s.

Ah yes! Remember going on one of those (albeit only as far as Tywyn). Obviously no public address to warn of arrival in those days. Realised we had stopped off the end of the platform in non-corridor set. Alerted sleeping travelling companion that we had arrived. He jumped up and blearily flung the door open before stepping straight out onto a six-foot drop...

(Sorry for wandering off Blackpool thread but it was too good a recollection to waste.)