LMS: Birmingham New Street to Tamworth

Kingsbury Junction: mrk1109

Looking towards Whitacre as an up goods train is seen working very hard on a freight to Derby on 30th June 1959. Whilst the slow line was the natural route for freight trains travelling to and from Birmingham, express freights were given access if timings allowed it. This could have unforeseen consequences as a story recounted by Bob Essery demonstrates, 'One Saturday night in early 1949, Bob's regular Driver Charlie Smith was with another fireman on freight from Water Orton to Lincoln. All was well when they departed and took the fast line, but soon the fireman noticed when looking back that sparks could be seen coming from a wagon's wheel situated half way between the locomotive and the guard's van. Charlie decided to wait until they got to Kingsbury Station Junction Signal Box where they could seek refuge in a layby before investigating the problem. On arrival and after blowing the whistle to attract the guard, they inspected the train to find that a covered van had derailed and that the sparks were caused by the wheels bouncing off the chairs that held the rails in place. When it had crossed the junction the wheels had righted themselves but were in such a poor state that the wagon was detached and stabled in the layby. All following traffic had to be sent by the slow line whilst the damaged chairs, over 1,000, had to be replaced. Unlike today's modern railway, the work was completed very quickly and without fuss with the line being ready for business by the following Monday'.

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