Photographs © John H. Luxton 2011

Over 10 years ago four retired railway wagon frames were placed on a short section of the redundant Birkenhead Dock Railway system at the northern end of Duke Street and fitted with new bodies which approximated to the size of the standard roadside poster rather than the British railway loading gauge. Initially these wagons  were used for general commercial advertising, however, with the opening of the nearby Twelve Quays Terminal they have exclusively been used to promote the services to Ireland operating from the terminal.

With DFDS selling the Birkenhead to Belfast service to Stena and the closure of the Dublin route at he end of January 2011 it is appropriate to record the final advertisements to appear on the wagons. It is interesting to note that whilst DFDS quickly rebranded the ships and the terminal signage the old Maersk "norfolkline.com" name remained on the poster boards with "part of DFDS Seaways" . Perhaps there was intention to be in it for the "long haul"? DFDS Seaways will be recorded as one of the shortest lived operators on the Irish Sea.