Fond lines recalling the old rail shed and ‘Steamport’

LIFELONG trains enthusiast Arthur Nettleton has fond memories of the old rail shed that stood on Derby Road.
The 62-year-old worked at Derby Road train station and its accompanying shed in the years before its closure in the 1960s.
Where now stands Central 12 retail park was a terminus on the West Lancashire line to Preston, which had opened back in 1882.

A class 5 steam loco passes Portland Street crossing in July 1961

And although Arthur left Derby Road to work at British Rail’s shed in Edge Hill, Liverpool, in the mid-1960s, and the West Lancashire line to Preston closed down, it was not the end of Arthur’s association with the resort’s steam train heritage.
Southport Steamport opened on the Derby Road site in 1980 and now, nearly a decade after its closure, Arthur has spoken of his memories.
“A group of enthusiasts started up Southport Steamport in 1980 and I started visiting after it opened,� said Arthur, of Poulton Court.
At that time Arthur was using his mechanical know-how to operate the boilers at Greaves Hall Hospital in Banks, which restricted the time he could devote to his passion for locomotives.

Arthur Nettleton today, wearing a hat bearing badges from his years as a trains enthusiast

That passion started with regular train journeys with his father to Fleetwood as a young Southport schoolboy.
After leaving Meols Cop High School, Arthur worked for British Rail from 1961 to 1968 – progressing from cleaner to staffing the engines as a fireman.

‘Stagecroft’ awaits its next turn of duty at Southport Railway Centre in July 1990

But after Greaves Hall’s closure, Arthur became increasingly involved as a volunteer at Steamport, the rail heritage site that became known as Southport Railway Centre.
He said: “When Southport Railway Centre first moved in they had to re-lay all the track as British Rail had taken it out.
“I was involved in a number of ways – from operating the push-pull trains to playing the part of the Fat Controller during the centre’s Thomas The Tank Engine days.�
Those Thomas The Tank Engine days were particularly popular, when children delighted in seeing locomotives resembling ones from the much-loved animated television series.

Jubilee class locomotive ‘Bahamas’ arriving at Southport Railway Centre in September 1989

The steam trains that operated at Derby Road were also a vivid reminder of a rail system that Arthur saw disappear during the 1960s, as British Rail completed its move to running its trains on diesel.
Southport Railway Centre shut its door for the last time in December 1997 in order to move to Preston dockside and became Ribble Steam Railway.
The move took two years and the final demolition of the Derby Road rail shed took place in 2000, to make way for Central 12.
“It was sad because I’d seen the shed close down twice,� said Arthur.
“But I still keep in touch with a few of my friends from it and go to Ribble Steam Railway three or four times a year.�

An amazing old image showing a pre-1900 shot of the old Southport Railway Station in Lord Street