 |
|
London North Western
Railway:
Midland
Railway:
Stratford
Midland Junction Railway
|
|
Marston Green Station
Marston Green station is located on the London and
Birmingham main line between Hampton in Arden and Lea Hall. The decision to
open a station at Marston Green, then serving a tiny village community, was
officially sanctioned by the newly formed LNWR in October 1844 with a platform
and booking hut authorised the following month. The station layout was built
from the outset with two platforms to the west of the level crossing and not in
the staggered formation with one platform either side as seen at Tile Hill and
originally at Berkswell stations. The station was built on the Birmingham side
of a level crossing, the crossing marking the change of road name. On the
'south' side was Elmdon Lane whilst on the 'north' side it became Holly Lane.
Station Road, which ran from the centre of Marston Green, is shown on the
1937 Ordnance Survey map to enter Holly Lane just
a few yards short of the level crossing. The entrance to the station's goods
yard was off this section of road as was the dropping off of passengers
accessing the station.
The goods yard facility was provided with two sidings, a
weighbridge and office and mainly catered for mineral traffic with coal and
coke being its primary source of traffic. The Railway Clearing House's 1929
Handbook of Railway Stations states Marston Green station provided the general
public and businesses with the following services: Goods traffic; Passenger and
Parcels traffic; Horse Boxes and Prize Cattle Vans; and Livestock (GPLH). There
were no cranage facilities provided up to 1929 although in image 'lnwrmg2819b' the jib of a truck mounted crane can be
seen. This might have been brought in specially to undertake some work or a
crane had been provided at a later date. The 1894 edition of The Railway
Clearing House Handbook of Railway Stations did not provide information to the
same detail e.g. the number of categories listed, and only recorded (GP). This
would appear to indicate that the facilities were slightly less in that no
furniture loads or livestock could be readily handled at the station until some
time in the 20th century. The goods yard closed to traffic on 6th July
1964.
In addition to the goods yard there was a refuge siding
built opposite on the down line. This refuge siding finished just short of the
original L&BR crossing keeper's house which was located adjacent to the
down line on the Coventry side of the level crossing (see image 'lnwrmg3921'). The crossing keeper's house appears to
have been demolished post World War Two as it is present on the
1937 Ordnance Survey map but not evident in any of
the British Railways era photographs we have seen. Had the quadrupling of the
line between Coventry and Birmingham been carried out the station as seen today
would have been swept away. It would have been replaced by two platforms set
either side of four tracks with the main lines passing through the middle. The
level crossing would have been replaced by an under bridge to accommodate
Elmdon Lane. The existing building would have been replaced by a modern booking
office facing the road with inclined approaches leading to the two platforms.
The goods yard was to be expanded with four sidings accommodating 36, 21, 21
and 32 wagons respectively with a landing stage to accommodate both cattle and
other traffic. The proposed revised layout can be seen in image 'lnwrmg2815'.
As the line passed close to Elmdon aerodrome a short
distance to the east of the station, emergency colour light signals were
installed. These were normally out, but in the event of the down line becoming
obstructed or damaged by aircraft, the emergency colour light signals could be
illuminated by the signalman to stop any Down train. These signals, when lit,
gave yellow and red aspects, and should a train be stopped at the emergency
stop signal, the driver was not to proceed until the light had been
extinguished and permission had been received by telephone from the signalman.
One result of electrification was the modification of the various station
structures including the footbridge and canopies. The lower half of the former
is pure LNWR, as evidenced by the design of the lower stairway railings. The
upper half is BR. The trimming back of the awning on the up side gives one the
opportunity to study the window frames and ornate iron spandrels fitted in the
central opening (see images'lnwrmg2814' and 'lnwrmg2821').
Marston Green station
Marston Green goods yard and the southern
approaches
Aftermath of railway accident crashed wagons June 1963
Below are a series of photographs showing the aftermath of
the derailment of wagons at Marston Green. Essentially the accident was caused
by a dragging coupling shackle on one of the wagons and not a broken rail as
sometimes claimed. It smashed along the sleepers from a position near to where
Birmingham International is now sited and when it got to the level crossing it
snagged up on the crossing and derailed the rear of the train and demolishing
part of the signal cabin and station. It happened at around 0500 hours. It was
very fortunate to be that early as there were no passengers on the platform at
the time because, as is evident from Dr Alan Smyth's photographs, the casualty
rate would have been very high. Apparently despite the noise of the crash the
sleepy villagers of Marston Green never heard a thing. The signalman on duty
was Mr Joe Hubbocks. The colour photos are from an unknown source and show the
station after the site had been tidied up but not repaired. The black &
white photographs were taken by Dr Alan Smyth. Most of the photographs are not
as sharp as we would like but as they show the immediate aftermath and the
effort of the railway workers to sort out the problem we thought they should be
included. As we often say, 'you cannot go back and have another go'. Our
thanks to Dave Wilson for providing information on the accident and for
arranging access to these and other photographs taken by the late Dr Alan
Smyth.
The following extract is from the publication 'Marston
Green: From Olden Days to the Present Day; courtesy of Mike Whitehead
The chaos that came in with the 4.27
Marston Given Station was virtually wrecked when wagons from
a fast freight train were derailed and flung both sides of the Station.
Fortunately, no one was hurt in the accident which happened at 4:27am on
Thursday 27th June 1963, but trains between Hampton in Arden and Birmingham
ceased running. The derailed wagons at the rear of the 12:15am 'Willesden to
Curzon Street' train, were dragged along by the train and one wagon removed
brickwork from the Signal Box. Another hurtled over a platform, down an
embankment on to the Marston Green Municipal Golf Course. The wooden canopy
over one platform was wrecked, one wagon finished on the platform and another
wagon crashed into the booking office at the 'City' side of the Station. The
train was laden with meat carcases which were left strewn along the track and
platforms. The level crossing was blocked to road traffic and a diversion was
set up through the village to reach Elmdon Line.
Marston Green station after the line had been
electrified
Schematic maps showing actual layout and proposed
modifications to Marston Green station
Locomotives and trains seen at Marston Green
|
Donate
Facebook
Search
