Adderley Park Station

LMS Route: Rugby to Wolverhampton

Adderley Park station was opened on 1st August 1860, a small two-platform on the outskirts of the centre of Birmingham and was used by passengers to access local factories as well as local residents travelling to Birmingham. The passenger platforms were located to the east of Bordesley Green Road, which was crossed the line by overbridge. Access to the platforms was via steps from the roadway with a booking office being provided on each platform. The platform on the Birmingham bound side is backed by the approach to Adderley Park goods yard, a once busy and thriving yard handling considerable freight from this area of heavy industry. However for many years its main function was to collect and to inspect tickets from all trains travelling in to New Street. The reason being was that New Street was an open station which had no ticket barriers and to prevent fraud this process was handled at the last stations before New Street. Monument Lane on the Stour Valley line to Wolverhampton performed the equivalent function for trains from the North. In 1895 there were nine down trains and twelve up trains calling at the station. By 1944 the number had increased to fourteen trains in each direction. The station's signal cabin closed on 4th June 1966 after the commissioning of New Street Power Box. A second but smaller signal cabin, Adderley Park No 2, existed at the western end of the sidings on the up side but had removed by 1929.

Goods traffic was first handled in 1877, and the yard, marshalling sidings, and carriage sidings were to the east of Bordesley Green Road. Access to the sidings and yard was off the up goods loop, which ran from Grand Junction (where the MR/LNWR routes into New Street station converge) to Adderley Park. Factories in the area included Morris Commercial and Arthur Holdens Paint, the finely detailed frontage of which still survives. The goods yard was home to many coal merchants whose carts could be seen clattering up the granite sett paved road from the the yard to Bordesley Green Road. In addition to the marshalling sidings which accommodated 246 wagons and the coal yard which accommodated a further 60 wagons, there were a number of private sidings. These included the Garrison Farm Brickworks (later Midland Brickworks) and Adderley Park Brick Works both being accessed off the up goods loop. However the sidings serving Brown Marshall's Britannia Railway Carriage Works, once one of the leading carriage and wagon manufacturers in the country, actually came off the up main itself. The site later passed on to Wolsey Motors and then to Austin Motors. The up loopline was eventually converted into a bidirectional siding, a facing lead being laid into the down main.

Adderley Park Station buildings

Ref: lnwr_add1483 DJ Norton Looking towards Coventry with the station just beyond Bordesley Green Road with the up platform on the left

Ref: lnwr_add1483a DJ Norton Close up showing the porter's barrow crossing which ran between the two platforms beneath the road bridge

Ref: lnwr_add1482 DJ Norton Looking towards Birmingham from the Stechford end of the up platform with the extensive sidings on the right

Ref: lnwr_add1484 DJ Norton View of the main station building located on the up platform with a station porter entering the booking office

Ref: lnwr_add2860 DJ Norton Looking along the deep cutting towards Coventry from Bordesley Green Road bridge on 4th June 1960

Ref: lnwr_add2860a DJ Norton Close up showing Adderley Park signal cabin and the short head shunt protecting the down main line

Ref: lnwr_add4093 P Shoesmith A seven-car Diesel Multiple Unit arrives at Adderley Park station on a Coventry to New Street service

Ref: lnwr_add2865 R Powell-Hendry A 1971 view of Adderley Park station's down platform waiting room seen after the line had been electrified

Ref: lnwr_add2864 R Powell-Hendry View of Adderley Park station's up platform building accommodating the booking office and waiting rooms

Ref: lnwr_add2863 R Powell-Hendry View of Adderley Park station's down platform passenger waiting room after the line had been electrified

Ref: lnwr_add2868 DJ Norton Looking towards Curzon Street with the former Wolsey Company's motor works seen on the right on 5th June 1961

Ref: lnwr_add2868a DJ Norton Close up showing some of the eleven sidings located off the down line south of Bordesley Green Road bridge

Ref: lnwr_add2870 DJ Norton View of the departure signal via the goods loop to the up line to the west of Adderley Park station

Ref: lnwr_add1273 RS Carpenter LMS 4-6-0 Patriot class No 5902 'Sir Frank Ree' passes through the station at speed on an up express

Ref: lnwr_add2869 M West Ex-LMS 2P 4-4-0 No 40690 is seen shunting wagons on the loop line into Adderley Park sidings

Ref: lnwr_add4094 G Dowling Looking towards New Street station with the scrap yard on the extreme left of the photograph

Ref: lnwr_add4092 G Dowling Class 50046 'Ajax' speeds towards Adderley Park with the 13:25 Birmingham to Paddington service

Ref: lnwr_add4110 M Morant Ex-LNWR 4-4-0 Precursor No 5217 'Knowsley' on a six coach service heading towards Coventry

Ref: lnwr_add4394 M Morant Wolsey Motors with a couple of rakes of LNWR carriages and PO open wagons on the adjacent sidings

Maps showing the layouts of Adderley Park station and exchange sidings

Ref: lnwr_add2866 R Powell-Hendry An Ordnance Survey map showing the layout of Adderley Park station and the passing goods loop

Ref: lnwr_add2867 R Powell-Hendry An Ordnance Survey map of the layout of Adderley Park extensive reception sidings on 26th May 1926

Ref: lnwr_add2862 DJ Norton An Ordnance Survey map showing the late 1960s layout of Adderley Park station after modification to trackwork

Ref: lnwr_add2861 DJ Norton A schematic diagram of Adderley Park Signal Cabin's signal diagram the approach to the station and sidings

Ref: lnwrmap102 M Hollick A 1930s LMS Control strip map showing the various sidings to the East and West of Adderley Park

Ref: lnwr_add4091 National Library of Scotland An 1887 25 inch to the mile Ordnance Survey Map showing Adderley Park Station and its sidings

Ref: lnwr_add4090 National Library of Scotland A 1903 25 inch to the mile Ordnance Survey Map showing Adderley Park Station and its sidings

Ref: lnwr_add4089 National Library of Scotland A 1913 25 inch to the mile Ordnance Survey Map showing Adderley Park Station and its sidings

Ref: lnwr_add4478 Binns & Clifford and Wood An updated version of an 1841 map of the sidings - not too dissimilar to the layout still in existence in the 1960s

Ref: lnwr_add4479 Binns & Clifford and Wood An updated 1841 map of Adderley Park station with the sidings on the left and the station on the right

Ref: lnwr_add4500 Birmingham Library Artist's impression of Britannia Railway Carriage Works and the L&BR line which can be seen in the foreground

Ref: lnwr_add4501 Birmingham Library Another artists impression of the Carriage Works looking towards Birmingham as a LNWR train heads south

1920 and 1921 Aerial Views

Ref: lnwr_add4109 Britain from Above A 1920 aerial view of the sidings occupied with both a variety of goods wagons and LNWR carriages

Ref: lnwr_add4108 Britain from Above A 1921 aerial view of the sidings occupied with both a variety of goods wagons and LNWR carriages

Ref: lnwr_add4108a Britain from Above Close up showing the sidings occupied with both a variety of goods wagons and LNWR carriages

1930 Aerial Views

Ref: lnwr_add4104 Britain from Above One of several 1930 aerial views of Adderley Park station, its sidings and the environment within which it was located

Ref: lnwr_add4105 Britain from Above One of several 1930 aerial views of Adderley Park station, its sidings and the environment within which it was located

Ref: lnwr_add4106 Britain from Above One of several 1930 aerial views of Adderley Park station, its sidings and the environment within which it was located

Ref: lnwr_add4107 Britain from Above One of several 1930 aerial views of Adderley Park station, its sidings and the environment within which it was located

1931 Aerial Views

Ref: lnwr_add4102 Britain from Above One of several 1931 aerial views of Adderley Park station, its sidings and the environment within which it was located

Ref: lnwr_add4102a Britain from Above One of several 1931 aerial views of Adderley Park station, its sidings and the environment within which it was located

Ref: lnwr_add4102b Britain from Above One of several 1931 aerial views of Adderley Park station, its sidings and the environment within which it was located

Ref: lnwr_add4103 Britain from Above One of several 1931 aerial views of Adderley Park station, its sidings and the environment within which it was located

Ref: lnwr_add4103a Britain from Above One of several 1931 aerial views of Adderley Park station, its sidings and the environment within which it was located

1934 Aerial Views

Ref: lnwr_add4095 Britain from Above One of several 1934 aerial view of Adderley Park station, its sidings and the environment within which it was located

Ref: lnwr_add4096 Britain from Above One of several 1934 aerial view of Adderley Park station, its sidings and the environment within which it was located

Ref: lnwr_add4097 Britain from Above One of several 1934 aerial view of Adderley Park station, its sidings and the environment within which it was located

Ref: lnwr_add4097a Britain from Above One of several 1934 aerial view of Adderley Park station, its sidings and the environment within which it was located

Ref: lnwr_add4097b Britain from Above One of several 1934 aerial view of Adderley Park station, its sidings and the environment within which it was located

Ref: lnwr_add4098 Britain from Above One of several 1934 aerial views of Adderley Park station, its sidings and the environment within which it was located

Ref: lnwr_add4098a Britain from Above One of several 1934 aerial views of Adderley Park station, its sidings and the environment within which it was located

Ref: lnwr_add4098b Britain from Above One of several 1934 aerial view of Adderley Park station, its sidings and the environment within which it was located

Ref: lnwr_add4099 Britain from Above One of several 1934 aerial views of Adderley Park station, its sidings and the environment within which it was located

Ref: lnwr_add4099a Britain from Above One of several 1934 aerial views of Adderley Park station, its sidings and the environment within which it was located

Ref: lnwr_add4099b Britain from Above One of several 1934 aerial views of Adderley Park station, its sidings and the environment within which it was located

Ref: lnwr_add4099c Britain from Above One of several 1934 aerial views of Adderley Park station, its sidings and the environment within which it was located

Ref: lnwr_add4100 Britain from Above One of several 1934 aerial views of Adderley Park station, its sidings and the environment within which it was located

Ref: lnwr_add4100a Britain from Above One of several 1934 aerial views of Adderley Park station, its sidings and the environment within which it was located

Ref: lnwr_add4101 Britain from Above One of several 1934 aerial views of Adderley Park station, its sidings and the environment within which it was located

Ref: lnwr_add4101a Britain from Above One of several 1934 aerial views of Adderley Park station, its sidings and the environment within which it was located