Birmingham New Street Station

LNWR Locomotives: lnwrbns_pg447

View of LNWR 0-6-0T No 3253 standing on the down centre road between Platform 1 and 2 whilst acting as station pilot circa 1900. Because many trains started or terminated at New Street station the coaching stock needed to organised either to take them away to the sidings for cleaning or to marshal the stock for another service. In addition, some through trains would need to be strengthened by the addition of coaches to accommodate passengers boarding at Birmingham or at later stops. In the very early days of the station, the strengthening of trains by adding coaches would have been undertaken by horse power leaving the steam locomotives to move entire trains. By the 1880s, the increase in the size and weight of coaches meant that this operation could only be undertaken by locomotive power. The LNWR, in common with other railway companies, used 0-6-0T locomotives to shunt inside the station, an operation known as performing pilot duties.

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