The Great Western Railway in Warwickshire
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Into the Golden Age
Broad gauge conversion had resulted in the time to travel
from London to Birmingham increasing. Prior to conversion the 129.5 mile trip
from Paddington had taken 2 hours 50 minutes, but after conversion, in 1870,
the fastest train took 3 hours 20 minutes. This was woefully slower than the
LNWR competition and these were dark days for the Great Western Railway as it
struggled to economise following the expenses of amalgamations, gauge
conversion and the construction of the Severn Tunnel.
Slowly Great Western Railway Warwickshires Lines saw
improvements to the train timetable through the county. On 1st July 1880 a new
prestige express service was introduced. This left Paddington at 4.45pm for
Wolverhampton with connections onto Birkenhead. It was unofficially called the
Afghan or sometimes the Northern Zulu to differentiate
it from the Zulu express to the West of England, which had been introduced the
previous year. It was hauled by one of the 7-foot singles (2-2-2 locomotive) of
the Queen class and despite the normal heavy load of nine eight wheeled coaches
it averaged 49mph on its non stop journey to Oxford, where three of the coaches
were detached for Worcester.
To decrease journey times between Paddington and Birmingham,
water toughs were constructed at strategic positions on the route. In October
1899, the 560 yard water toughs near Rowington Junction were constructed on a
level section of track. These water toughs allowed water to be scooped up
directly into the tender, which meant that there was no longer any need for
engines to stop at intermediate stations to replenish their water supply and
this enabled non-stop express running (see gwrrj262). The first non-stop express services to
Birmingham commenced in 1901 and the fastest time recorded in that year was 143
minutes for the 129.3 miles (an average speed of 54.2 mph).
To facilitate more non-stop expresses between Paddington and
Birmingham, while maintaining an equally fast service to the principle stations
on route required the introduction of slip coaches. These coaches were
positioned at the rear of the express and coupled with special apparatus that
allowed a Slip Guard (who rode in the slip coach) to disconnect the coach from
the main portion of the train. This slipping operation took place just prior to
the desired station and the slip coach then travelled under its own momentum
with the Slip Guard regulating the speed with the coachs modified vacuum
brake gear until it finally was stopped at the station. Slip coach operation
broke the fundamental safety rule that there must never be more than one train
in a block section. Special identification lamps were therefore carried on the
rear of both the slip coach and the main train.
In Warwickshire slip coaches were detached at Leamington,
Warwick, Knowle and Hatton Junction (see 'gwrhj107'). The majority of these services were
destined for Stratford-upon-Avon; on Birmingham to Paddington trains (up) the
slip coaches were detached at Hatton, the Stratford branch junction, but on
Paddington to Birmingham trains (down) the slip coaches for Stratford were
detached at Leamington, prior to the steep climb up Hatton Bank. This had the
advantage of reducing the number of coaches that the express train had to haul
up the incline.
There was a steady increase in the number of slip
arrangements, but the number of slip operations peaked just prior to the First
World War and never again recovered:
Location |
1885 |
1902 |
1910 |
1914 |
1922 |
Leamington (down) |
1 |
2 |
3 |
5 |
1 |
Knowle (down) |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
Knowle (up) |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Hatton Junction (up) |
3 |
5 |
6 |
3 |
0 |
Warwick (up) |
1 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
Total |
7 |
10 |
12 |
9 |
1 |
In tandem with the service acceleration, the
passengers facilities were also improved; firstly with the provision of
corridor trains from March 1892. These were steam heated and were advertised as
fitted with reserved compartments for Ladies, Smoking Saloons and Lavatory
compartments accessible to all three classes ~ this was a first for the Great
Western Railway and any other UK railway. In addition an electric bell system
was provided in each compartment by which passengers could summon the
guard.
Secondly, dining cars were provided on the Warwickshire
expresses from 1904, following the introduction of the Dreadnought (dia H8)
Dinning cars. These were the first Great Western Railway mainline stock to be
built without a clerestory roof. They had a central kitchen with an elegant
first class saloon on one side and a combined second / third saloon on the
other. Lighting was electric and there were electric fans in the saloons and a
refrigerator in the kitchen. By 1910 all classes of passenger facilities had
improved to such an extent that it was no longer justified to have three levels
of service and Second Class compartments were abolished.
Stories about the quality of the permanent way and the
smooth riding of the coaching stock also circulated; the gentleman who
regularly shaved during the journey in the end lavatory compartment, using a
cut-throat razor but without cutting himself once, the sovereign coin dropped
at Paddington, but found again at Birmingham Snow Hill resting on the
coachs running board after a journey of 129 miles. The stories may be
factual, but even if they are urban myths they would not have circulated if
there was not an element of truth regarding the comparative smoothness of the
ride.
The faster trains and heavier coaches required an
improvement in motive power and coupled driving wheels of the bogie 4-4-0
locomotive provided the adhesion and power requirements necessary, while
keeping the axle weights and wheelbases within the limits of the day. The
result was a series of Great Western Railway 4-4-0 express locomotives
culminating in; the Badminton class which introduced the raised belpaire
firebox, the larger Atbara class with their austere lines and domeless boiler
and the City class with their tapered boilers and record breaking speeds (see
'gwrls159').
Robert Ferris
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