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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

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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