During the 1970s, the West Lancashire Light Railway attained two Barlow closed ‘Silver Belle' carriages from the Southport Pier 2'0″ gauge railway.
The carriages were in poor condition following years of work on the pier. The West Lancashire Railway rebuilt the carriages and saw brand new bodies placed on the original chassis as carriages 1 and 2 which are used regularly to carry passengers hauled by its steam and diesel locomotives.
The pier continued to operate the remaining Silver Belle open coaches until replaced with ‘English Rose' stock from Severn Lamb in 1973.
During the 1990s, Southport pier faced closure but fortunately was saved before being fully rebuilt in 2002 including a brand new 3'6″ gauge railway and battery-powered tram. The tram service was sadly suspended in 2013 after issues were found with supporting pier columns and operation finally ceased in 2015.
2022 saw the excess BS 35M rails removed from Southport Pier in order for decking to be put in place and this once again gave the West Lancashire Light Railway the perfect opportunity to utilise old equipment. The first of the excess rails have now arrived with the railway rejoining the chassis that would have run on their predecessors. Most of the rails on the pier are still in place but it is expected that they will be removed as more decking is replaced.
