The dock was served by the Birkenhead Dock Branch railway line and an iron ore train ran regularly to the John Summers Steelworks in Shotton. Monthly shipments of iron ore arrived at Bidston Dock from 1956. Due to the nature of the train, a high degree of motive power was required. Class 40s and pairs of Class 25 locomotives are known to have operated on this track, during its latter days. In the steam era, the iron ore train was known to have been hauled by Class 9F locomotives. The Class 9F locomotive 92203, later named as "Black Prince", worked the final steam-hauled iron ore train in November 1967.