Birmingham New Street Station: lnwrbns_str1862

Looking down Queens Drive from the junction with Worcester Street whilst on the right is the LNWR parcels offices and the steel girder forming part of the wall to the depot. When the extension was erected the new approach lines required to pass under the corner of the original station and the newly formed Queens Drive at a fairly shallow depth. The weight of Cowper's train shed's roof required substantial support and this meant there was no room underneath the original building's foundation to install sufficiently strong girders to form the tunnel. The LNWR therefore adopted the clever strategy of re-building a section of the wall above ground level as a complete steel girder to carry the weight of the structure. The circular plates seen between the intermediate ribs are though the to correspond with the columns that once carried the roof.

The entrance to the parcels offices is lit by a large gas light hanging from above the door way with another lamp positioned further down on the right above the entrance for road vehicles. The draymen and dray belong to the LNWR as indicated by the uniform on the man on the right. On the left is a wheelbarrow which would have been used to collect the considerable amount of horse manure generated each day by the considerable number of horse-drawn vehicles using Queens Drive. 7th July 1909

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