GWR Route: Banbury to Wolverhampton

Olton Station: gwro4009

Locomotives standing south of Olton Station facing Solihull (location at 123m 70c). This is just beyond the lattice girder bridge over the Warwick Road at Olton. The locomotives are:

• Great Western Railway 2-6-2T 3150 class Prairie tank No.3163 on the new Up line with a Great Western Railway 4-6-0 6000 (King) class locomotive and another Prairie tank locomotive behind.
• Great Western Railway 2-6-2T 3150 class Prairie tank No.3158 on the new Down line with a Great Western Railway 4-6-0 6000 (King) class locomotive and another Prairie tank locomotive behind.

The new lines here were built on the north-east side of the original track. These would then become the Main running lines, with the original track becoming the Relief running lines. The Relief running lines were used for the slower traffic; such as freight services, and when necessary suburban passenger traffic was also routed along them when this would otherwise delay the express services. This photograph is Solihull Central Library record reference No.1796, courtesy R Waring.

Robert Ferris

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