LMS Route: Water Orton to Walsall

An Act of Parliament was passed in 1872 for the building of the Walsall, Wolverhampton and Midland Junction Railway. This line, which was absorbed by the Midland Railway in 1874, became better known as the Sutton Park line. It was built to connect with three other lines at Ryecroft and from there to the Wolverhampton & Walsall Railway. The line was also intended to link to the Birmingham to Derby main line. The building of the line was highly contentious as it bisected Sutton Park which was both an area of noted beauty as well as being a very prosperous and wealthy area. The Midland Railway had however, promised cheap local coal for the area which somewhat pacified local objections and began its construction of the line by buying a 2 mile length of the proposed route through Sutton Park for £6,500. The route was used not only for local passenger trains but also for summer excursions and diverted trains when engineering work was being carried out elsewhere. Today the route remains open used by goods traffic avoiding central Birmingham. Local people opposed the new Midland Railway line's passing through Sutton Park, which had been given to Sutton Coldfield by Bishop Vesey in 1528. After much argument and planning, the line, costing £400,000 (instead of the projected £175,000) opened on 1st July 1879 with stations at Penns, Sutton Coldfield, Sutton Park, Streetly and Aldridge.

Select a station or subheading to view associated images. Numbers in [brackets] specify the number of photos on each page.

		Water Orton [40]
		Penns [14]
		Sutton Town [4]
		Sutton Park [20]
		Streetly [10]

The route then continues on to Aldridge where there was a junction to either Brownshill or Walsall.