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GWR Routes

The Great Western Railway in Warwickshire

To navigate within the history of the Great Western Railway in Warwickshire click the following links.

Broad Gauge Plans and Politics Railway Construction and Gauge Conversion Into the Golden Age
Cut Offs and Direct Lines Improved Stations, Services and Motive Power The First World War and After
1920’s - The Grouping 1930’s - Depression and Resurgence Communities We Serve – Birmingham

Improved Stations, Services and Engines

With the completion of the new routes came an increase in traffic. Even before the North Warwickshire line was built, approximately 400 trains were handled every day at Birmingham Snow Hill Station. As a result Snow Hill needed to be rebuilt again, this time with two huge island platforms 1200 foot long and 88 foot wide, each punctuated by two long bay platforms at their northern end to serve the Wolverhampton, Dudley and Stourbridge suburban traffic and the Cardiff Expresses (see 'gwrbsh81'). The through running lines were retained and a lofty overall glass roof gave the station an impressive feel. Two new signal boxes were provided with innovative electrically powered signalling. The South Signal Box had 224 miniature levers while the North Signal Box had 80. The work took seven years to complete and the new Snow Hill station was finally completed in 1912.

Although the northern approaches had been widened by December 1909, the southern approaches to Snow Hill were constrained by the tunnel, so a new suburban terminus was planned adjacent to the southern portal, at Moor Street. After obtaining parliamentary powers in June 1908, construction progressed rapidly and a temporary station was opened on 1st July 1909. Initially this was a simple island platform with wooden buildings, but by 7th July 1914, when the new Moor Street station was officially opened, it had been transformed with extensive passenger facilities being provided in new buildings adjacent to a covered concourse and two long island platforms protected by canopies (see 'gwrms253'). The limited space at Moor Street Station required a novel way of releasing engines from the new bay platforms and electric transverser tables were employed.

To handle the huge quantity of city centre goods traffic, extensive goods facilities were also provided on the south side of the station. Although the site was compact, Moor Street had been constructed on a widened viaduct, which meant that the space under the station could be utilised as a second level (see 'gwrms1106'), in addition to the 420 foot long, 80 foot wide goods warehouse above (see 'gwrms1108'). Three electric wagon hoists allowed trucks to be moved between the levels and in the sheds below electric wagon transverser tables reduced the need for pointwork in the confined space. Electric cranes were also provided on the upper level, while stables for 67 horses together with provender stores and a shoeing forge was provided on the lower level.

The main line between Tyseley and Olton had been quadrupled by 27th January 1907 and this was extended beyond Tyseley Junction when the North Warwickshire Line opened the following year (see 'gwrt1055'). In 1913, quadrupling was extended up to Bordesley Goods Yard. The Bordesley Viaduct between Moor Street Station and Bordesley was doubled in width at the same time to allow this section to be quadrupled and the new relief lines brought into use on 16th November 1913, together with a new 114 lever frame signal box at Moor Street. The gap between Bordesley and Bordesley Goods Yard was delayed by the need to reconstruct the Midlands Railway overbridge.

To compete with bus and tram services the Great Western railway recognised the need to introduce intermediate stopping places serviced by low capacity trains at more frequent intervals, the result was the stream railcar and unmanned halte. The first of these new services were successfully trialled between Charlford and Gloucester in 1903. With modifications they soon could be seen through out the system. In Warwickshire steam railcars were used on local services from Moor Street. The Halts on the North Warwickshire Line were all built with brick faced platforms (rather than the cheaply constructed wooden platform arrangements normally associated with Halts), but the typical prefabricated corrugated steel waiting rooms provided the only passenger facilities (see Grimes Hill 'gwrgh87' and Spring Road 'gwrsr1112').

Although steam railcars performed well they had a number of inherent deficiencies, which meant that by 1905 they were gradually replaced with auto-trains. These trains consisted of a small tank engine (typically a 0-4-2T ‘517’ class locomotive) connected to a modified trailer carriage. The trailer carriage had a driver’s compartment at one end and mechanical linkages between the engine and the trailer allowed the auto-train to be driven from either the engine or this compartment (see gwryw668a). The increased motive power meant that upto four trailers could be incorporated into an auto-train (limitations of the mechanical linkage prevented more than two trailers being connected together, but a pair could be arranged on either side of the engine). Mixed passenger and good trains could also be formulated (in such trains the goods wagons were always pulled and a brake van added see 'gwrb772').

The Warwickshire suburban service from Moor Street was extensive and complex with auto-trains terminating at several of the intermediate stations along the route. In addition trailers were sometimes detached from one train and collected by another. Along the North Warwickshire Line shuttle services ran from Moor Street to Hall Green; to Shirley; to Earlswood; to Danzey; to Henley in Arden; to Bearley; to Claverdon and to Stratford upon Avon and also along the Main Line from Moor Street to Stratford upon Avon via both the Henley in Arden and Claverdon branches. Other auto-train shuttle services operated from: Lapworth to Henley in Arden; from Hatton to Stratford upon Avon; from Claverdon to Henley in Arden and from Bearley to Alcester.

Following the appointment of G J Churchward as Chief mechanical Engineer in 1902, the Great Western Railway’s locomotives were also transformed by standardisation and superb engineering. The London to Birmingham non-stop two hour express trains were now mainly pulled by the powerful 4-6-0 two cylinder Saint Class engines (see 'gwrls827'), but Birmingham to Bristol expresses were forced to retain 4-4-0 motive power due to weight restrictions on the Midland Railway Line at Stonehouse Viaduct in Gloucestershire. Here therefore the 4-4-0 County Class displaced the older outside frame engines (see 'gwrls181'). Semi fast express trains also ran from Birmingham to Oxford, to the South Coast Posts and to Bournemouth via Reading on the LSWR.

In addition to the auto-trains and fast services, the standard suburban services were also overhauled. Four and six wheel suburban coach stock was gradually replaced with electrically light 57’ toplight carriages operating in four coach sets. These started operating on the main line between Moor Street and Solihull in 1911. New Churchward designed 2-4-2T and prairie 2-6-2T locomotives (see 'gwrls187' and 'gwrbsh69b') replaced the 2-4-0 engines on these trains and would become a standard feature of Birmingham suburban services for years to come.

Robert Ferris

Broad Gauge Plans and Politics Railway Construction and Gauge Conversion Into the Golden Age
Cut Offs and Direct Lines Improved Stations, Services and Motive Power The First World War and After
1920’s - The Grouping 1930’s - Depression and Resurgence Communities We Serve – Birmingham