GWR Route: North Warwickshire Line

Henley in Arden - New Station: gwrha1386

An unidentified GWR 4-4-0 Atbara class locomotive is seen approaching Henley-in-Arden on an up West of England express service in 1912. The locomotive is about to the cross Ullenhall Road between Warwick to Redditch (see image 'gwrha2812').

Most expresses of this period comprised between four and seven vehicles which would be strengthened with others at weekends and holiday periods. An Atbara class locomotive could manage '96 wheels', that is to say approximately twelve standard 57ft coaches. For this West of England service, the Great Western Railway made use of their historic ‘running powers’ over the Bristol & Gloucester Railway line which was owned by the Midland Railway. The section used was between Standish Junction and Yate Junction, but this crossed the Stonehouse Viaduct on which the Midland Railway had imposed a weight restriction, limiting the largest locomotives on the route to 4-4-0 types. The capability of the viaduct was subsequently uprated following a report by the national Bridge Stress Committee in 1927 and after this 4-6-0 locomotives were allowed to cross the viaduct at a limited speed.

Robert Ferris

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