Warwickshire Railways: Book Review

An Illustrated History of theAshchurch to Barnt Green Line: The Evesham Route by RJ Essery

Hardcover, 11" x 9", 134 pages, 221 Black and White Photographs plus Illustrations

OPC Publications. ISBN: 9 780860 935629 Cover price £14.95

The history of Britain''s railway infrastructure has been marked by the construction of numerous lines that, whilst serving a local use, generated much of their revenue from providing alternative routes to existing main lines. It was these routes, moreover, that were to be amongst the most conspicuous casualties of the rationalisation in the railway industry in the 1950s and 1960s. The most notable victims of this policy were the Waverley route and the Great Central Main Line. Another route, perhaps less well known but equally important for the communities that it served, was the former Midland Railway line from Ashchurch to Barnt Green.

'The former Midland Railway branch line from Ashchurch to Barnt Green via Evesham was typical of the numerous lines constructed as Britain's railway network spread throughout the country during the 19th century. The route, which opened in stages between 1859 and 1868, provided an essential link for the various communities along it, such as Redditch and Alcester, but also generated much of its revenue as an important diversionary route running parallel to the Midland Railway main line between Gloucester and Birmingham. This was particularly important in the days of steam as the route bypassed the notorious Lickey Incline. It was this type of branch line that was to be amongst the most conspicuous casualties of the rationalisation in the railway industry in the 1950s and 1960s and although the section of line from Redditch north to Barnt Green remains open today and is now electrified as part of the Birmingham cross-city line, the remainder closed in the 1960s.

Contents are:

• The Evesham Link at Saltley, 1950-51
• A Historical Review
• The Railway Described [location by location]
• Train Working over the Evesham Branch
• Six Appendices

In this book, Bob Essery - one of Britain's foremost railway historians, authors and experts on the Midland Railway - provides a comprehensive and detailed account of the history and operation of the line. Drawing upon many years of detailed research, the author, whose personal knowledge of the line goes back some years to when he worked as a footplateman in the area, provides the modeller and historian with the first in-depth history of this important secondary route to be published. In addition to dealing with the Ashchurch-Barnt Green line itself, the book also examines the line's inter-relationship with the Stratford-on-Avon & Midland Junction Railway, which connected with the route at Broom Junction. Comprehensively illustrated throughout with photographs and line drawings, including station plans and signalling diagrams, An lllustrated History of the Ashchurch-Barnt Green Line will be invaluable to railway historians and modellers alike, for whom the route is an ideal prototype, as well as those interested in the local history of the area.'

Mike Musson

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