At the head of a very lengthy up ‘Horse and Carriage’ 3C02 12.10pm Holyhead-Ordsall Lane, Salford (the destination varied over the years), 46254 City of Stoke-on-Trent is on the Up Main at Chester General and no doubt some stock would be attached/detached here. The term ‘Horse and Carriage’ is folklore amongst railwaymen in North Wales and always referred to the midday parcels vans/ECS working from Holyhead picking up at Bangor, Llandudno Junction and Chester. This train always loaded heavy and was a favourite for a Coronation in their twilight years. The service returned parcels and vans which had arrived overnight in North Wales on mail, parcels and newspaper traffic, not only for Welsh towns but also for Ireland.

Peter Kerslake adds "46254 was one of four LMR Pacifics drafted on to the Western Region in January 1956 when a number of the Western's Kings were found to have fractures to their bogie frames, resulting in all of the class being stopped for examination. 46254 worked the down 'Cornish Riviera', the 10.30am from Paddington to Plymouth during that month, returning on the 8.30am from Plymouth."