GWR Route: Banbury to Wolverhampton
GWR Route: North Warwickshire Line
Hockley Station: gwrhd3891
Extract from GWR Diagram No 104639 which shows their
private water mains at Hockley, with inserted an annotated Ordnance Survey Map
from 1913. The diagram shows the Power Station (this is marked in Green on the
OS map, see also 'gwrhd3892') adjacent to which was
the turbine pump room where the water was extracted and pumped through a 15
15inchinch main water pipe to the primary tank (which was partitioned and is
marked as Tanks No 1 and No 2) on the other side of All Saints Road. There were
five water tanks at this end of the Hockley site and these are all numbered and
marked in Red on the OS map, while a sixth (No 5) was located at the other end
of the Hockley Goods yard. Details of these water tanks are given as
follows:
No 1 & No 2 (partitioned) 70 foot x 30 foot x 8
foot = 98,430 gallon capacity at 7 foot depth
No 3 31 foot x 21 foot x 8 foot = 30,000 gallon
capacity at 7 foot depth (see gwrhd681)
No 4 25 foot 6 inch x 17 foot 6 inch x 8 foot 9
inch = 25,000 gallon capacity (see gwrhd3893)
No 5 16 foot x 15 foot x 8 foot = 12,000 gallon
capacity
No 6 13 foot x 13 foot x 4 foot 6 inch = 4,750
gallon capacity
In addition to water pumped from the artesian well on
site, two metered connections are shown to the Birmingham City public water
mains in All Saints Road and Pitsford Street. Water was supplied from the water
tanks via gravity water main systems to the various water cranes, hydrants,
station and office facilities. A 12 inch water main pipe was laid alongside the
quadrupled railway track to Snow Hill station (gwrbsh2598), from where a 10 inch water main pipe
continued to Bordesley yard and an 8 inch water main pipe to the water tanks at
Tyseley Engine Shed. Prior to the introduction of electric motors, machines
were powered by hydraulic pressure and at Hockley this included; the large 25
ton gantry crane in the Round Yard (gwrhd2617), the
dual 30 ton wagon hoists which provided rail access to the canal basin (gwrhd720),
powered capstans and probably many other cranes and lifts around the Goods
yard. This equipment was gradually converted or replaced with electrically
powered equipment which reduced the need for all of the water tanks.
Robert Ferris
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