The Great Western Railway in Warwickshire
To navigate within the history of the Great Western Railway
in Warwickshire click the following links.
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 drivers 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 Railways 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
|