Water Orton Station

London North Western Railway:

Midland Railway:

Stratford Midland Junction Railway

The Shakespeare Route

Water Orton Station

The original Water Orton station was opened on 16th May 1842 on the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway's (B&DJR) section of line between Lawley Street, Birmingham and Whitacre. The station was one of four intermediate stations built when the line from Whitacre Junction to Lawley Street was opened. The station was furnished with a small goods yard and refuge sidings for passing goods traffic. This section of the B&DJR was initially authorised in 1836 with the bill originally envisaging the line running from Derby via Whitacre to Stechford, and then from here, over the London and Birmingham Railway's metals into Curzon Street station. London traffic was intended to run from Whitacre to Derby Junction (later known as Hampton station) at Hampton in Arden and then to be taken forward by London & Birmingham Railway (L&BR) services to Euston. The first section opened was from Whitacre to Hampton where onward traffic to and from Birmingham and London over L&BR rails commenced. However due to the high tolls charged by the L&BR, and also the significant traffic delays experienced by B&DJR travellers using the L&BR's services into Birmingham, the B&DJR very quickly decided to built their own direct line to Birmingham. However because their route needed to be terminated in Birmingham, they elected to run along the Tame and Rea valleys to a new station in Lawley Street rather than at Stechford as originally planned. Also known as the Tame Valley Railway, this and the Birmingham & Gloucester railway were merged in 1846 with other companies to become part of the Midland Railway.

In the early part of the 20th century, the Midland Railway decided to construct a 'cut-off' between Kingsbury and Water Orton. The Midland Railway was not prompted solely by the desire to remove the check to fast running caused by the 24 chains radius Whitacre curve. It was influenced by the need to increase the line capacity between Water Orton and Whitacre which was also the junction where the branch to Nuneaton and Wigston begins. The track capacity having already been augmented between Birmingham and Water Orton by quadrupling the number of lines, it was realised that the same measure of relief ought to be extended as far as Whitacre. Thus the idea presented itself that both objects could be better achieved by the construction of a short avoiding railway for the Birmingham and Derby traffic. Construction of the new route, which provided the equivalent of quadrupling the line, began in April 1907 and is 3 miles 68 chains in length (just short of four miles). Although the total distance saved was only 1¼ miles the speed that trains could maintain through the cut off helped to reduce overall journey times. An effect of the railway was to increase house building in the village. Commuters could now make the journey to Birmingham's Lawley Street and Curzon Street (later New Street) Railway Stations in a shorter time than by road. This made the village an ideal residential area for Birmingham professionals who wanted to get away from the city and live in the country.

The original station was built with two platforms, staggered either side of the footbridge and porter's barrow crossing. The footbridge was the continuation of a drive running from opposite Manor House Lane to New Road, itself a continuation of Birmingham Road. The main station building was on the down (Birmingham) platform and is thought to have consisted of five brick built rooms, three single storey gabled rooms (facing out on to the platform) with two connecting rooms in between (see image 'mrwo121c' and 'mrwo1045'). On the up platform, passengers were catered for by a small timber built waiting room. In all likelihood, the main station building on the down platform would consist of a station master's office, booking office and hall/general waiting room, First class waiting room and a ladies waiting room. At the Birmingham end of this structure was a single storey flat roof building accommodating the gentlemen's urinals. The station master's house was located on the up side of the station adjacent to the goods yard and near to the steps leading down from the passenger footbridge (see image 'mrwo121').

The goods yard, which consisted of a single looped siding, was located on the up (Derby) line. The entrance to the goods yard was located on the corner of Marsh Lane and Station Drive with a weighbridge and office near to the entrance, as denoted by the letters 'W M' seen on the '1886 Ordnance Survey map'. However, examination of the '1901 Ordnance Survey map'shows the absence of these letters and the weighbridge office building, with the entrance now appearing to be relocated off the corner between Marsh Road and Minworth Road. The railway also brought the Meat Industry to Water Orton. There were large stock yards near the sidings and next to the Dog Inn in Marsh Lane. Cattle were off-loaded from rail wagons into pens, then driven two miles down the road to butchers' slaughter houses in Castle Bromwich, when meat was provided for nearby villages.

As was the case with Castle Bromwich, the additional lines of the new route required the station to be rebuilt and thus the new station was located 220 yards to the west of the original station opening on 3rd May 1909. The siting of the new station to the west (Birmingham) side of the bridge carrying Marsh Lane over the railway meant there was no disruption to the services running from the station. Similarly the goods yard was moved from its current position on the up side of the station to the down side and was provided with two sidings, a weigh bridge and office plus a cattle dock, all accessed via an entrance off Birmingham Road which was located on the western side of the junction with Marsh Road (See the '1923 Ordnance Survey Map'). The Railway Clearing House's 1929 Handbook of Railway Stations states Water Orton provided the general public and businesses with the following services. These are recorded as: Goods traffic; Passenger and Parcels traffic; and Live Stock (GPL). There were no cranage facilities provided in the goods yard so merchants would either have to man handle the loading/unloading of goods themselves or, if necessary, bring in a mobile crane. The goods yard remained open until 7th March 1966 when it was closed.

The new station was a two storey brick structure with the first floor being at road level facing out on to Marsh Lane. On the left was a doorway for goods - by this definition the MR would include any item that could be carried in the guards van on passenger services which could large items such as motorbikes - which led into a passage leading into a room containing a hoist. On the right was the entrance to a booking hall with a booking office at its rear. Between the goods elevator and booking office was a staircase which led down to the platform. The ground floor of the two storey building accommodated the station master's office, porter's room, lamp room, store room, coal store and the bottom of the hoist. The covered walkway from the road led down to an island platform upon which were two light and airy timber buildings providing passenger accommodation. The platform canopy was the full width of the island platform and ran the length of the platform from the bottom of the stairs to a good way beyond the last of the two timber buildings. As can be seen in image 'mrwo1761' there was a break in the central portion of the canopy between the buildings. It would appear from the photographs of the station when first opened that the platform buildings contained a general waiting room, a first class waiting room, a ladies waiting room plus one other not identified.

As can be seen on the '1886 Ordnance Survey map', the original signal box was located adjacent to the down line on the western (Birmingham) side of the road bridge. This became part of the goods yard when the station was rebuilt. The second 1909 Midland Railway signal box was erected slightly to the west of a new footbridge which was erected more or less on the site of the original. A new footbridge was required because it needed to span not just four tracks but a space more or less the same width as the island station. This signal box had to be replaced in the 1950s when a freight train derailed and demolished the signal box. As with many other signal boxes on this and other sections of the railway around Birmingham, the third British Railways signal box was closed in September 1969 when the new Power Box at Saltley was opened.

Original Water Orton Station