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London North Western
Railway:
Midland
Railway:
Stratford
Midland Junction Railway
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LMS Route: Birmingham New Street to Lichfield
LMS Route: Birmingham New Street to Soho and Perry
Barr
Curzon Street Good Station: lnwrcs2162
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An 1888 diagrammatic plan of Curzon Street showing Lawley
Street Junction and Curzon Street Wharf sidings. At this time there were only
two tracks into the east end of New Street station. The sidings leading into
the main goods yard were divided into four groups, each with distinctive names.
The name 'Cattle Sidings' was a reminder of the days when the cattle sidings
were alongside Banbury Street. When the Excursion station was built, the cattle
wharf was transferred into Banbury Street Wharf (occasionally referred to as
Fazeley Street). Possibly it was the transfer of the cattle sidings that caused
the new yard to be called Banbury Street even though the canal and the Proof
House separated it from Banbury Street proper. The lines into Curzon Street
from the L & B line crossed the main lines from Vauxhall (the old GJR
lines) on the level, and must have been an endless source of delay and
inconvenience. A large part of the Top Yard on the north side of Curzon Street
was roofed over at an early date. In the absence of any proper covered
wholesale markets in Birmingham, the Top Yard became effectively Birmingham's
main potato market and a number of potato merchants had offices in the yard.
The arrangement had distinct advantages, there was no cartage to be paid for
and the potatoes could, if necessary, be sold almost as soon as they had been
unloaded from the railway wagons.
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