THE SOUTHERN DIESELS
A diesel on milk duty
The date is Wednesday 12th July 1961 and the location is just south of Madeley on the West Coast Main Line (WCML). The train, headed by one of Oliver Bulleid’s three 1-Co-Co-1 diesel-electrics, is on the up fast. Mike, who took the photograph, was concentrating on capturing the scene and so unfortunately missed identifying the particular locomotive, all three of which were based at the London Midland Region’s Camden shed (1B) at the time. The locomotive is carrying a Class 1 headcode which applied to a fully fitted milk train. In those days, even fully fitted trains had to have a guard’s van and a guard.
The view was taken to feature the point at which the former North Staffordshire Railway’s Market Drayton branch, seen in the foreground, crossed the London & North Western main line. The line was originally double track but was singled by the London Midland & Scottish Railway (LMS) with that work commencing in October 1934. The passenger service from Silverdale to Market Drayton ceased on 7th May 1956.
The photograph demonstrates that overhead line equipment was already being installed at that early date in readiness for electrification of the WCML. Electrification from Manchester and Liverpool to Crewe was completed on 12th September 1960 and 1st January 1962, respectively, and extended
