Wigan Album

Interesting photograph. Although I was no lover of DMU's, this Derby built 'bug wagon' brings back a few memories. By the summer of 1966, the steam locomotive's days were well numbered. These Multi's were beginning to encroach on local services and beyond. The days of a Stanier tank pulling into Pemberton Station were becoming less and less; the BR Standards filled in, albeit, on borrowed time. The Multiple Units were taking trains to Yorkshire and beyond, and even dared to have buffet cars on longer trips to Harrogate and Newcastle... Sacrilege! However, there was still another full year left to savour the magic of steam; including the Indian summer of Brits on the Manchester Vic to Liverpool Exchange mail run. But, the ticking clock set to August, 1968, had started...By the high summer of that year, the green Multi's had their bridgehead on all local metals. What came after in the seventies was a steady decline in everything that was cherished in the sixties: decay, dereliction, and the eventual withdrawal of many 'staffed' stations. The days of 'free rides' was upon us...And the old LMS Guards must have been turning in their graves...

This particular unit was one of a large number built by the Birmingham Railway, Carriage and Wagon Company in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The B3 is the headcode not the number. It tell staff the type of train(i.e. express or stopper) and its destination. They later became Class 104.

'B3' is not the number of the train, but the code for the service/type of traffic.

In the bottom right of the photograph, you can just see the gate at the bottom of the 'Nick'. This is where the trainspotters of Wigan congregated on weekend Saturdays from dawn till dusk. We bonded together down there: lads from Wigan, Leigh and some from as far as Manchester to swap tales and brag about how many Brits we had (or needed). Good days they were, those summer afternoons when money, cars, and anything material, meant nowt. We cared only for our Ian Allans and our coloured regional spotters club badges. And the only thing that differentiated us was the fact that some of us had enamel badges...Which meant you were well off...