Talk:Mersey Railway

Electricity
The article say's In 1903 it was electrified, becoming the first railway in the world to change over completely from steam to electric power. The Liverpool Overhead Railway, whilst not a conversion was all electric from it opening February 4 TrackInspector 14:50, 31 October 2005 (UTC)

Loop heading
The article refers to a loop heading. It's in inverted commas, implying it's technical ajrgon, but the general reader has no idea what this means. Can someone clarify please?Afterbrunel (talk) 06:55, 13 July 2012 (UTC)
 * The book described the combining of the ventilation and drainage tunnels as the "loop heading". I thought it was a common civil engineering term, but there's little reference on the internet. There is a 1886 DISCUSSION ON THE MERSEY RAILWAY at the ICE (I can't link to it) that says

"...and this was driven to one side and called the 'Loop heading,' and it was turned into the original drainage heading so soon as the gradient of the tunnel allowed for the junction to be effected. The 'Loop heading' served both for drainage and ventilation."


 * I don't think the term itself is important; what I am trying to say is that in the deepest part of the tunnel the drainage and ventilation tunnels are combined. Edgepedia (talk) 09:39, 13 July 2012 (UTC)

2nd oldest ..
lists the Mersey R. as 2nd but isn't explicit.

In Electric Railway. vol.47 (Electric Railway Society) (Doppler Press, 2003) p.61 it states, "With the Földalatti, Budapest claims to have the oldest underground railway on mainland Europe. It came after the steam worked Metropolitan (1863) and Metropolitan District (1868) in London and the Mersey Railway (February 1886) and the Glasgow City & District (Queen St LL, March 1886).." http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=9DdeAAAAIAAJ which makes it second or third depending on how you count.. (or could say the "oldest outside london")

Some sources don't seem to count it as a 'railway system' or 'subway', just as a tunnel.

http://www.engineering-timelines.com/scripts/engineeringItem.asp?id=1151 is more explicit '' .. Mersey Railway featured Britain's second oldest sub-aqueous railway tunnel ..''

Another record is the steepest passenger line in the UK eg : http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=iZmyAAAAIAAJ (Guinness) The steepest gradient in Britain over which standard-gauge passenger trains work today is the 1 in 27 (3-7 per cent) on the Mersey Railway from the bottom of the Mersey Tunnel up to James Street. or Oranjblud (talk) 14:28, 28 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Thanks Oranjblud. I'm working on a re-write of the lead and will probably include "oldest outside London". Edgepedia (talk) 05:13, 29 August 2012 (UTC)
 * The Mersey railway is the second oldest in the world for sure, making Merseyrail the second oldest network in the world. It is older than Glasgow and Budapest. The word "world" should be in the text. Are some trying to pretend this railway never existed in 1886? 78.105.8.113 (talk) 12:33, 12 October 2014 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified one external link on Mersey Railway. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20101004030033/http://www.railsaver.co.uk/merseyrail/merseyrail.htm to http://www.railsaver.co.uk/merseyrail/merseyrail.htm

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 20:20, 8 June 2017 (UTC)

External links modified (January 2018)
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 3 external links on Mersey Railway. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20120529210026/http://www.merseyrail.org/merseyside-by-train/merseyside-by-trainattractions-and-events/merseyside-by-trainmerseyside-by-trainattractions-and-eventsheritage/shore-road-pumping-station.html to http://www.merseyrail.org/merseyside-by-train/merseyside-by-trainattractions-and-events/merseyside-by-trainmerseyside-by-trainattractions-and-eventsheritage/shore-road-pumping-station.html
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20150623213351/http://www.liverpoolworldheritage.com/visitingthewhs/areas/albertdock/Pumping_Station.asp to http://www.liverpoolworldheritage.com/visitingthewhs/areas/albertdock/Pumping_Station.asp
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20101109190741/http://www.urbanrail.net/eu/liv/liverpool_merseyrail.html to http://www.urbanrail.net/eu/liv/liverpool_merseyrail.html

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 09:23, 26 January 2018 (UTC)

The railway still exists
The opening sentence sounds like the railway itself no longer exists. Perhaps change it to

The Mersey Railway was a company that, from 1886 to 1948, ran the passenger railway that connects the communities of Liverpool and Birkenhead, England, which lie on opposite banks of the River Mersey, via the Mersey Railway Tunnel.

JMcC (talk) 09:11, 17 August 2018 (UTC)


 * or perhaps


 * The Mersey Railway was the first part of the passenger railway connecting the communities of Liverpool, Birkenhead, and now the rest of the Wirral Peninsula in England, which lie on opposite banks of the River Mersey, via the Mersey Railway Tunnel. JMcC (talk) 11:28, 17 August 2018 (UTC)