The movements of trains shown in the table below are a reconstruction, so far as possible, of the working timetable for August 1909, using the WTT for Winter 1909 and the public timetable, which includes a list of through carriages, for Summer 1909. The times of a few up goods trains and just one down goods have been adjusted to clear extra Summer passenger trains. These are indicated * in the table of train movements.

The working timetable gives passing times at Helsby and these have been used for trains appearing in it unchanged. For trains which ran only in summer or to different times, stopping times at Helsby have been taken from the public timetable and passing times deduced from the departure and arrival times at other stations.

One thing is missing in comparison with previous articles — details of trains’ marshalling. The only through carriage workings on the line shown in the marshalling circulars, both for 1910 and 1913. were those of the Liverpool and Manchester carriages attached to the Holyhead boat trains and the newspaper van at 1.55 from Liverpool. The information on through carriages in the public timetable naturally does not specify types of carriages, nor how they were marshalled. As with previous articles, the trains shown are those of Tuesdays to Fridays.

In general, on the Birkenhead Railway and on the Manchester line over which the Great Western had running powers,

passenger trains were joint. However, there were exceptions: some of the express trains to and from Manchester were LNWR, such as the down ‘club’ train from Llandudno (though the up train was considered joint); Great Western tickets were not accepted on trains described as LNWR. Passenger trains which used the Liverpool line were all LNWR.

On the Chester–Birkenhead main line and the West Kirby and Helsby branches there was, in LMS days, a tradition (it could hardly have been a rule) that trains of Great Western stock were headed by an LMS engine, and vice versa. This tradition may well have been inherited from the LNWR. In 0.S. Nock’s  ‘Premier Line’ there is a photograph of a ‘Problem’ with a train of Great Western clerestories, which could well have been a Paddington–Birkenhead express. between Chester and Birkenhead. I do not know whether the tradition extended to the Chester–Warrington (or even Manchester) line — Great Western engines were seen at Exchange but may have headed GWR carriages.

Almost all goods trains were either LNWR or GWR. Some goods trains which did not venture beyond the joint lines between Chester and Birkenhead, West Kirby and Helsby were joint trains, but none went beyond Helsby.