Steve K Posted November 18, 2009 Author Share Posted November 18, 2009 IN THE MIDST OF ALL THIS THREAD-TRANSFERRING, A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESENT DAY: Before I transfer more of this thread over fom the old forum (and, once again, many thanks to Martin Wynne for his excellent piece of software), I'd like to thank whoever gave this thread five stars! Obviously, I like it, or I wouldn't have started it (or indeed, begun to copy it over), but it's nice to know that at least one other member appreciates some of the stuff I've found on my travels. I do intend to add new stuff to this thread, too, once I've copied over the rest - so far, I've transferred 3 pages out of the existing 7, condensing them to just 1 page on this forum. The transfer utility is designed primarily to copy 1 page on the old forum to 1 single post on the new one, but with a bit of tweaking, and some patience, it's possible to spread the copied text a little wider, so as not to intimidate the casual viewer to a thread like this, Anyhow, thanks for your continued interest - once the transfer is complete (in the next few days, I hope), your further views and comments are invited - nay, demanded! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve K Posted November 20, 2009 Author Share Posted November 20, 2009 ??? posted on Mon Oct 06, 2008 9:29 pm As I said in my last (ed - last but one!) post, after visiting Castle Bromwich I stopped off at Water Orton, a mere mile or so down the line on the way out of Birmingham, and a place I'm slightly more familiar with, as I work just down the road. Water Orton is a small, and not desperately attractive, village on the Eastern outskirts of the West Midlands conurbation, and at first glance, the station there would seem to present little of interest. On closer inspection, though, there are a couple of things about it that intrigue me, and warrant its inclusion in this thread, not least the name of the road down which I headed to take my first photograph. A couple of minutes' walk from the station entrance (of which more later), the other side of some shops, is an almost hidden road called Station Drive. In truth, this is little more than a broad path, leading to just one house, and terminating at a footbridge over the railway line. I climbed up this bridge and, facing West, took this shot of the Station, which sits on the road overbridge a hundred yards or so away. It's tempting to think that, since the road I'd just walked down was named after the station, that the station itself once sat in between the rails in the foreground. Unfortunately, I know of no evidence for that whatsoever, so the road name remains something of a mystery. EDIT: from Rail Around Birmingham Originally opened by the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway in 1842, the current station, opened by the Midland Railway in 1909, is several hundred yards along the line from its predecessor but is still of considerable historical value and interest So that's probably answered that! Equally mysterious at first glance, was the large number of men standing chatting on the footbridge, equipped with Thermos and camera bag. This mystery is partly solved, however, by the view in the opposite direction. An ideal spotting point! The junction is a busy one, as I can attest - in the 10 minutes I spent on the bridge, at least 3 trains passed by, although none stopped at Water Orton itself. Anyhow, to the station itself. As seen above, it's a brick-built structure, sitting on a road bridge, with steps leading down to the platform. It's a once-imposing edifice, now looking rather sad and run down. On entering, there is no ticket office, no rooms at all that can be entered. Everything is boarded up, and all that is accessible of the interior is essentially a short corridor leading to the top of the wooden staircase down to the island platform. If it looks familiar, I know of one, possibly two layouts with a building based on this prototype. Just for the record, that small white blob near the rails on the right is a Network Rail van making its way alongside the tracks. __________________________________________ ??? posted on Tue Oct 07, 2008 8:11 am Now for the rest of my pictures of the station building, showing that a formerly pretty imposing structure is now quite wasted. There was a lot of thought gone into its building, and yet now, it serves as nothing more than the entrance to a shabby covered staircase (painted white, at the left of shot). The arched windows at the bottom look, if it's possible, even more sad than the ones boarded up on the top floor. As for the tower at top left - why? Did they keep fare-dodgers in there, back in the days when Water Orton was actually manned? An attempt to take a picture of a train passing through the station fell victim to the huge shutter delay on my phone's camera, with the result that the end of the DMU is obscured by the signal gantry. This does, however, give a decent view of the platform and station carpark, so I'll include the picture anyhow! For the record, I would guess that the ratio of spotters to passengers, among the people seen on the platform below, was approximately 25:0. Seriously, just about everyone had a camera and a flask, and I felt a bit of a fraud, taking furtive snaps with my telephone! I did, however, sneak onto the platform myself, to get one last shot, looking back at the station building and its wonky staircase. I tried to go for a pleasing geometric effect here, so that the viewer's eye is drawn naturally towards the train whose lights are just visible in the far distance. Not sure if I succeeded - you can only be so artistic with a mobile phone... The green bridge in the middle of the picture is the one from which I took the first photo in the previous post. So there you have Water Orton station - from my evidence (brief, but the kind of thing Dr Beeching relied on!), 90% of trains passing through do not stop there, and 90% of the men standing on the station are not waiting to get on the next train, in any case. Nevertheless, from an historical point of view, a quite interesting spot, but the state of the main building is now very sorry, a far cry from what it must have been 40 or so years ago. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve K Posted November 20, 2009 Author Share Posted November 20, 2009 Comment posted by rugd1022 on Tue Oct 07, 2008 10:54 am Great shots Steve . I had the 'pleasure' of being stuck there for an hour waiting for a taxi ('hes just round the corner mate, won't be long...') after conducting a railgrinder from Washwood Heath a couple of weeks back, its not the nicest place to be hanging round in the dark but I got so bored waitng I fired off a few shots . . . . (hope this works ) http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x38/ ... ton014.jpg http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x38/ ... ton023.jpg http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x38/ ... rton03.jpg http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x38/ ... rton07.jpg Nidge __________________________________________ ??? posted on Tue Oct 07, 2008 10:59 am Nice one Nidge - that third shot makes the place look haunted! Gave me shivers, it did. __________________________________________ Comment posted by rugd1022 on Tue Oct 07, 2008 11:32 am Makes you wonder if trains ever stop there these days, in all the years I've been past I've only seen one unit in the platform. You're right about gricers outnumbering paying punters though, even on nights theres a crowd on the platform eagerly reciting wagon numbers into their dictaphones as we roll by or sit waiting for the road over the Sutton Park line. Its a shame they tore down the olf LMR Signal Box that used to stand just to the east of the station. Nidge __________________________________________ Comment posted by dave47549 on Tue Oct 07, 2008 1:14 pm SteveK wrote: Water Orton 4.JPGThe arched windows at the bottom look, if it's possible, even more sad than the ones boarded up on the top floor. As for the tower at top left - why? Did they keep fare-dodgers in there, back in the days when Water Orton was actually manned? That Tower is over the old lift, so i suppose the top contained the winding gubbins. It's a shame that Water Orton, like so many ornate stations has been left to rot. I remember the platform buildings when the station was still staffed, quite well kept internally, despite the local youth wildlife & the looming inevitability of destaffing. All that's left now is the uninviting 'bus shelter' & the intimidating staircase. Yet whilst the main shell remains, it is still far more attractive than the recently opened & sterile Coleshill Parkway. I don't think any Nuneaton line Trains stop at Water Orton since this opened. It's nice to see that we're still being led by the blind. They build a new interchange at Coleshill, yet it doesn't cross their minds to route any Derby locals via Whitacre __________________________________________ Comment posted by dave47549 on Tue Oct 07, 2008 1:23 pm Incidentally, i stopped off at Coleshill Parkwy one evening recently to find the Booking office unstaffed, but a security guy was patrolling the area & monitoring train arrivals Am i being stupid in thinking having the booking hall manned with cctv to be a better option? In any case, the whole 'interchange' concept falls on it's a**e after 7pm-ish, as the only bus link running after then is an hourly service to either Coleshill or Birmingham. __________________________________________ Comment posted by London Walker on Walker</STRONG> on Tue Oct 07, 2008 1:36 pm I think this photo shows the original station http://www.search.windowsonwarwickshire.org.uk/engine/resource/default.asp?resource=2993 cheers Ken Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve K Posted November 20, 2009 Author Share Posted November 20, 2009 That's a great spot, Ken! I do think you're right. Difficult to spot exactly which way this picture is facing. If I had to guess, I'd go for the straightforward option, and say that the footbridge and roadbridge on that old photo were the forerunners of today's similar bridges. I'm not sure, though - I have a nagging feeling that we're actually looking East, at a now nonexistent road bridge. Can anyone shed some light on this? __________________________________________ Comment posted by jjb on Tue Oct 07, 2008 3:39 pm SteveK wrote: <snip> from Rail Around BirminghamOriginally opened by the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway in 1842, the current station, opened by the Midland Railway in 1909, is several hundred yards along the line from its predecessor but is still of considerable historical value and interest <snip> The junction is a busy one, as I can attest - in the 10 minutes I spent on the bridge, at least 3 trains passed by, although none stopped at Water Orton itself. rugd1022 wrote: Makes you wonder if trains ever stop there these days, in all the years I've been past I've only seen one unit in the platform. You're right about gricers outnumbering paying punters though, even on nights theres a crowd on the platform eagerly reciting wagon numbers into their dictaphones as we roll by or sit waiting for the road over the Sutton Park line. Its a shame they tore down the olf LMR Signal Box that used to stand just to the east of the station. Nidge For completeness the first station, as you write, was opened in 1842 by the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway on its line into Birmingham Lawley Street from Whitacre Junction. The station was resited in 1909 when the Midland Railway built a cutoff line from slightly further west to a junction at Kingsbury. Although the distance saved was only a mile-and-a-quarter, the junctions at Water Orton and Kingsbury could be taken at a much higher speed than the original one at Whitacre. Apparently the present station is served by XC trains for Nottingham or Leicester but I dont know how many per day. __________________________________________ Comment posted by beast66606 on Tue Oct 07, 2008 3:42 pm The plans for the re-quadrification through Water Orton have been put on hold again so it looks like it has a future (whatever it may be!) I think the service is 2-hourly (as in one every 2 hours) __________________________________________ Comment posted by big jim on Tue Oct 07, 2008 3:44 pm rugd1022 wrote: Great shots Steve . I had the 'pleasure' of being stuck there for an hour waiting for a taxi i had the pleasure of being stuck there while i was road learning and i missed my loco from daw mill which i decided to drive down and pick it up at water orton i also had a bad stomach bug so i had the pleasure of the superloo outside of the station and the added excitement of being sick under the stairs after being hit by the smell of wee around there, in the end i gave up at nuneaton and went home, came back for the van next day!! __________________________________________ Comment posted by rugd1022 on Wed Oct 08, 2008 8:52 am A wise move Jim! When they remodelled the junction at Water Orton (c.1979 I think...?) little did they realise what a bottleneck it can be, especially having one road bi-directional . . . . the hours I've spent sat either side of the place waiting for a Derby or Leicester unit to get by! Mind you it was always a great spot for copping foreign locos off the Eastern back in the banger blue days, lots of exotic machines from places like Immingham, Tinsley etc would show their faces in the West Mids. Nidge __________________________________________ Comment posted by Al on Tue Oct 14, 2008 2:37 pm Water Orton...my pal at New Street's mother worked in the ticket office there back in the days when it was manned...IIRC she evetually went to part time hours, then the inevitable unmanned scenario wasn't too far in coming. And didn't W.O. win a best station award not too many years ago? It was certainly pleasant whenever I used it. I recall the waiting room on the platform had books and jigsaws for the passengers - jeez can you imagine that these days....I always thought the station had a lot of character and to see it like it is is very, very sad. __________________________________________ Comment posted by talyllyn1 on Tue Oct 14, 2008 10:13 pm Hi, Only just discovered this thread - what happy memories. I grew up with the Sutton Park line running at the bottom of my garden. Used to trainspot at Water Orton-it was extremely busy with the marshalling yard providing a constant stream of light engines reversing over the junction to go to Saltley shed. There was even the odd WR "Grange or "Hall" working back to Tyseley via St Andrews Junction. When Penns closed I made friends with the gang who were removing the signs and persuaded them to give me a Penns totem, which I still have. Later, the signal box at Sutton Park was demolished - a very sad event for me as I spent many a happy afternoon in there. I went to photograph it, but too late. I ventured into the disused (no doors) island plaform building and there, propped against the wall, was one of the 2 BR enamel Sutton Park signalbox nameboards! With no-one about, I thought it prudent to save it from the scrapman! I've not read all this thread in detail, but it was rumoured for many a year that the building hidden in the trees on the far platform at Sutton Town housed a private collection of railway memorabilia. You could certainly not get anywhere near it in the 60's and 70's for strong gates, fences and barbed wire. Finally, Sutton Park was established as a mail depot in the World War 2, distributing mail to the visiting US forces. There was a shunter sent from Saltley most days in the early 60's to shunt the sorting sidings - usually a Black 5 or 4F. In the school holidays my mates and I would wait for it to come alongside the platform and would often be invited into the cab for the afternoon. On one glorious day the driver told us we would be driving as he "couldn't be bothered!" Under his supervision, we took it in turns to shunt the vans around the yard - can you imagine the uproar if a driver did something like that today? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve K Posted November 20, 2009 Author Share Posted November 20, 2009 ??? posted on Wed Oct 15, 2008 7:52 am talyllyn1 wrote: I've not read all this thread in detail, but it was rumoured for many a year that the building hidden in the trees on the far platform at Sutton Town housed a private collection of railway memorabilia. You could certainly not get anywhere near it in the 60's and 70's for strong gates, fences and barbed wire. Nothing of value in there now, unless you count the original tiles still on the floor. With the roof finally starting to lose the battle with the elements, the whole building might find its days are now numbered. Very atmospheric, but sad nonetheless. __________________________________________ Comment posted by krhgcrr on Wed Oct 15, 2008 2:46 pm Al wrote: Water Orton...my pal at New Street's mother worked in the ticket office there back in the days when it was manned...IIRC she evetually went to part time hours, then the inevitable unmanned scenario wasn't too far in coming. And didn't W.O. win a best station award not too many years ago? It was certainly pleasant whenever I used it. I recall the waiting room on the platform had books and jigsaws for the passengers - jeez can you imagine that these days....I always thought the station had a lot of character and to see it like it is is very, very sad. Well I can remember back in 1992-1994 when working for Inter City XC and visiting the station the nice waiting rooms with jigsaw's and books to read, also at that point it was staffed on the morning rush hour. At some point the station became unstaffed and then the vandals moved in and I guess this is one of the reasons for the platform now looking like it does, with a bus bus waiting area! cheers Keith __________________________________________ Comment posted by Phil on Wed Oct 15, 2008 5:06 pm Al wrote: Water Orton...my pal at New Street's mother worked in the ticket office there back in the days when it was manned...IIRC she evetually went to part time hours, then the inevitable unmanned scenario wasn't too far in coming. And didn't W.O. win a best station award not too many years ago? It was certainly pleasant whenever I used it. I recall the waiting room on the platform had books and jigsaws for the passengers - jeez can you imagine that these days....I always thought the station had a lot of character and to see it like it is is very, very sad. Hi Al I wonder if the lady you refer to is Chris. I believe she provided the jigsaws. She retired early and now lives in Scotland if it is the same person. __________________________________________ Comment posted by Phil on Wed Oct 15, 2008 5:07 pm talyllyn1 wrote: Hi, Only just discovered this thread - what happy memories. I grew up with the Sutton Park line running at the bottom of my garden. Used to trainspot at Water Orton-it was extremely busy with the marshalling yard providing a constant stream of light engines reversing over the junction to go to Saltley shed. There was even the odd WR "Grange or "Hall" working back to Tyseley via St Andrews Junction. When Penns closed I made friends with the gang who were removing the signs and persuaded them to give me a Penns totem, which I still have. Later, the signal box at Sutton Park was demolished - a very sad event for me as I spent many a happy afternoon in there. I went to photograph it, but too late. I ventured into the disused (no doors) island plaform building and there, propped against the wall, was one of the 2 BR enamel Sutton Park signalbox nameboards! With no-one about, I thought it prudent to save it from the scrapman! I've not read all this thread in detail, but it was rumoured for many a year that the building hidden in the trees on the far platform at Sutton Town housed a private collection of railway memorabilia. You could certainly not get anywhere near it in the 60's and 70's for strong gates, fences and barbed wire. Finally, Sutton Park was established as a mail depot in the World War 2, distributing mail to the visiting US forces. There was a shunter sent from Saltley most days in the early 60's to shunt the sorting sidings - usually a Black 5 or 4F. In the school holidays my mates and I would wait for it to come alongside the platform and would often be invited into the cab for the afternoon. On one glorious day the driver told us we would be driving as he "couldn't be bothered!" Under his supervision, we took it in turns to shunt the vans around the yard - can you imagine the uproar if a driver did something like that today? Interesting stuff Talyllyn No 1, or perhaps I should call you Fletcher or Jennings !!!! Do you stlll have your spotting notes from then ? Did you make note of the trains or just the loco numbers ? Cheers __________________________________________ Comment posted by talyllyn1 on Wed Oct 15, 2008 9:25 pm Hi Phil, It's more to do with me volunteering on the TR from about '65 to '75 - more happy days! Unfortunately I was one of those lazy types who scruffily underlined the numbers straight into his ABC book, so I didn't keep a record, except I've recently found just 1 piece of paper writtten at Water Orton East Junction late on in my spotting "career" - 1st September 1965. All the local passenger services were DMU's which I didn't bother with, and the marshalling yard was winding down by then. Nevertheless, in a period of about 4 hours, which is the maximum time I would spend there, I recorded 20 steam loco's and 31 diesels. There is nothing special about the list other than a "Jubilee" (45694)on a fast passenger train en-route to towards Birmingham from the Tamworth direction which I remember well as it lurched over the points at such a speed that I thought it was going to derail. The driver had a big grin on his face - perhaps his last "fling" with steam. This was a rare event - all the loco hauled passenger trains were hauled by "Peaks". The rest of the steam locos are just Black 5's, 8F's and 9F's. By then we were much more impressed with the diesels, trying to "cop" the first few named "Peaks" (D4 and D10 were seen that day) and the highlight of most days was a block oil train bound for Kingsbury oil terminal hauled by 2 of what we know today as Class 40's. I've got 2 listed for 1/9/65- D304 and D310, but they are not listed consecutively so I don't think they were running together on that particular working. There was always a steady stream of unfitted coal trains in the hands of "Peaks" with 1 or 2 brake tenders attached. Around this time we would regularly see brand new class 25 and 47 locos coming from the Derby direction light engine to their first depots. I've driven past occasionally and seen the "anoraks" on the footbridge. I always wonder what can sustain their interest with such a comparatively sparce amount of traffic going through there now - I guess I was lucky! There was a regular fast "fitted" freight that went up the Sutton Park line at about 4p.m. known as the "Crewe Freight". This often had unusual motive power as it was a good working for getting locos back to home depots "up North". The father of one lad at school was a driver at Saltey, and he put it about the school one day that a "Brit" was going to be on the "Crewe" that afternoon. It was mid-winter, and it seemed half the school was thronging Sutton Park station in eager anticipation. It was dark, cold and the train was late-very late. Eventually if struggled into view and what seemed like a hundred torches were switched on the see the number (I've often wondered what the driver thought was going on with all that light dazzling his eyes). It turned out to be one of Saltleys' filthiest Black 5's. Needless to say, there was one schoolkid who had no mates for over a week! Cheers! Dave Dave __________________________________________ Comment posted by mikeh on Wed Oct 15, 2008 10:25 pm Some 1960s pics at Water Orton on this site: http://britishrailways.tripod.com/ Regards MikeH Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve K Posted November 20, 2009 Author Share Posted November 20, 2009 Thanks for that link, Mike. It's especially interesting to compare my first two pictures at the top of the current page with the two here on your linked website. The ground between the tracks has been cleared, and the trackwork has certainly been simplified in the last 40 years! __________________________________________ Comment posted by Al on Sun Oct 19, 2008 1:23 pm Phil wrote: Al wrote: Water Orton...my pal at New Street's mother worked in the ticket office there back in the days when it was manned...IIRC she evetually went to part time hours, then the inevitable unmanned scenario wasn't too far in coming. And didn't W.O. win a best station award not too many years ago? It was certainly pleasant whenever I used it. I recall the waiting room on the platform had books and jigsaws for the passengers - jeez can you imagine that these days....I always thought the station had a lot of character and to see it like it is is very, very sad. Hi Al I wonder if the lady you refer to is Chris. I believe she provided the jigsaws. She retired early and now lives in Scotland if it is the same person. Hi mate only recall her surname, her lad at New St and I have been pals for years __________________________________________ Comment posted by big jim on Sun Oct 19, 2008 1:29 pm gonna be on the sutton park line for the next week so if i can i'll get some pictures of the dumped and derailed wagons. i'm conducting the road learning engine from derby to crewe via sutton park walsall, bescot, wolverhampton station, stafford and back via lichfield t.v and alrewas to wichnor got a riviera class 47 too __________________________________________ Comment posted by Phil on Sun Oct 19, 2008 1:38 pm big jim wrote: gonna be on the sutton park line for the next week so if i can i'll get some pictures of the dumped and derailed wagons. i'm conducting the road learning engine from derby to crewe via sutton park walsall, bescot, wolverhampton station, stafford and back via lichfield t.v and alrewas to wichnor got a riviera class 47 too Hi Jim Don't expect you to tell us much about your activities but... has there been much activity in Trafford Park recently ? I notice that the grid fleet is not looking too healthy at the moment and speculated what boxes Fastline are shifting at the moment. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve K Posted November 20, 2009 Author Share Posted November 20, 2009 Comment posted by Al on Sun Oct 19, 2008 4:34 pm Following on from Steve K's intriguing thread about Sutton Town station. As a kid my mates and I used to play around and about the old building, I was amazed to hear it was still standing as it was a wreck back then! So today I decided to pay a visit to it after many years. Have camera will travel so I'm posting some pictures up, sorry if they are similar to those previously shown but I thought you'd be interested to see them. Finding Sutton Town station was easy, it was only a few minutes walk from Sutton Coldfield station, and as previously indicated, the entrance was an innocent looking walkway off the main high street. So, I made my way down... and walked a fair way, wondering where I was going, as the undergrowth started to get heavier.... Untill, literally, after a fair walk through the increasing undergrowth, you come across the station, it really is difficult to see untill you're right on top of it! I walked towards the right front of it, trying to take in the scale of the desolation, I'm sure there was another room just here which has obviously gone, I *think* this was the toilet, which was still in there years back I recall Anyhow, I continued walking along the front untill I came to the end of the buildings, where I turned round and took this one Then just turning left slightly, I pointed the camera over the tracks towards the Midlands Drive part of the station, these have been converted to offices by the looks of things. Pity there was very little platform evidence on the up or down... After this it was time to have a look at the station itself, going right to left. First part I came to - I can't work this room out, there was nothing in here to look at and no roof at all, just the 4 walls! It must have served a purpose once. Continuing along, I noticed what looked like the work of yobs, knocking a hole in one of the bricked up areas So being the nosy sort, I poked my head through, and found out I could get inside...so I did. Essentially, Sutton Town has the three rooms inside, a large 'hallway' type area in the middle with two smaller rooms either side. I remember there were doors there when I was small, one had the sign 'Ladies waiting room' on it, alas all gone now. Righto, well I climbed through (so I'm in the right side 'small' room) so I turn to the right and take this shot - Then I turned round to take this one looking towards the main 'hallway' - And carried on walking through Looking down I was amazed to see some floor tiles still around! Although I remember black and white floor tiles, maybe those were in the long-gone loo Before going into the left side 'small' room I turned back and took a picture of where I 'd just walked from - Then poked the camera into the left 'small room' And slightly to the right My last shot is the perilous state of the roof! All in all it was a very interesting little visit. It's quite an evocative place, and like Steve suggested, a little eerie for some reason. I'd be very careful if you go there because it's in a poor state of repair and you can easily imagine the roof coming down or the huge chimley collapsing right onto somebody! If there's anyone with any more info on the place I'd be interested to hear, was it just boarded up and left in 1925? We need the ex railway chaplain Rev. John Bassett guy, he knew a bit about the place as I recall! Anyhow, hope this has been of interest, regards Al Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve K Posted November 20, 2009 Author Share Posted November 20, 2009 Comment posted by F-UnitMad on Sun Oct 19, 2008 5:28 pm Al wrote: If there's anyone with any more info on the place I'd be interested to hear, was it just boarded up and left in 1925? I know one thing... the men who built it and worked there are spinning in their graves at the state it's in now... It's amazing isn't it how sometimes railway infrastructure is completely torn down and obliterated within years if not months of closure... and still other places like here are just abandoned to rot over decades- almost centuries...? Makes no sense to me, either way... Thanks for the Expedition, Al ! __________________________________________ Comment posted by big jim on Sun Oct 19, 2008 9:16 pm Phil wrote: big jim wrote: gonna be on the sutton park line for the next week so if i can i'll get some pictures of the dumped and derailed wagons. i'm conducting the road learning engine from derby to crewe via sutton park walsall, bescot, wolverhampton station, stafford and back via lichfield t.v and alrewas to wichnor got a riviera class 47 too Hi Jim Don't expect you to tell us much about your activities but... has there been much activity in Trafford Park recently ? I notice that the grid fleet is not looking too healthy at the moment and speculated what boxes Fastline are shifting at the moment. you know as much as i do regards the trafford park job, may restart before the end of the year thats all i've heard, hope so, need a bit of grid action, it should have been 56303 this week round sutton park but as you say its not looking very healthy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve K Posted November 20, 2009 Author Share Posted November 20, 2009 Al wrote: Following on from Steve K's intriguing thread about Sutton Town station... today I decided to pay a visit to it after many years. Have camera will travel so I'm posting some pictures up, sorry if they are similar to those previously shown but I thought you'd be interested to see them. Anyhow, hope this has been of interest, regards Al Brilliant, Al - I'm glad to have inspired you to take a trip down memory lane, and to document it so fully. You obviously weren't as spooked as I was by the place, as you hung around long enough to take quite a few more pictures than me! Just as a reminder, because you mention the building on the other side of the tracks - yes, you're right, it's an office building now (called Station House), and I posted some photos of the road-facing side of it early on page 1 of this thread. Anyhow, excellent work all round! And please don't think that I feel I have some monopoly on posting photos in this thread. If anyone else has been tempted into visiting some of these rather sad, but fascinating, old stations, I want to see pictures! __________________________________________ Comment posted by Al on Mon Oct 20, 2008 1:21 pm Oh yeah I was there about 45 minutes poking around, I took about 100 pictures because you never know that when you return if you'll come back to a pile of rubble or a 12 foot high metal fence next time. Like I say an eerie place but not in a 'spooky' way, more sort of if the local pervs/drug addicts/axe murderers turn up then you're a bit on your own there! I suppose the station has got a bit of a 'Blair witch' feel, tho I thought it was a bit more like the ruined houses from Saving Private Ryan! It's quite an overgrown area and difficult to get around because there's a steep slope one side, railings anonther side and lots of bushes, trees and nettles everywhere, I was hoping to get a good overall look at the place and try to see where access would have been etc and trying to imagine it, but it's too overgrown for that. There did seem to be quite a long wooden fence around it that vanishes off at somepoint. From what I could see, this would have been a very pleasant station in its day, the workmanship was of good quality and the fact its still standing (tho for how much longer) after nearly 130 years is testiment to that. I'm intrigued to know what happened after it shut, because although theres a lot of debris inside, there are still floor tiles in place and benches to sit on, would these have been the originals from all those years ago, or from somebody who was using the place afterwards? I agree with unitmad, and the only things I can think of why its been left to rot for 80-odd years is either it was being used for something, or its too difficult/expensive to flatten it - they'll have to do something soon tho, reckon they'll wait until its collapsed onto the track first! Al Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve K Posted November 20, 2009 Author Share Posted November 20, 2009 Well, hello again! It's been a while since I visited any of the many bits of abandoned railway in the West Midlands, but I had to pop over to IKEA the other day (it comes to us all, eventually), and an opportunity to do a bit of exploring presented itself. IKEA, as anyone who's driven through the West Midlands via the M6 will have noticed, is situated just off junction 9, within sight of the yard at Bescot. It wasn't Bescot which beckoned me, however, but the nearby town of Wednesbury. I say "town" although Wednesbury, like many other places in the area beginning with "W", is part of the homogeneous spawl of the West Midlands. If you look at a up-to-date map, you will see, in fact, that Wednesbury is shown as having a working station, and this is it: Wednesbury Great Western Street is part of the Metro light rail system, though the name of the road on which it sits hints at a rather more illustrious past. You don't have to go far from the current station to find evidence of that past. Incidentally, in the following couple of posts, I intend to liberally sprinkle the text with street names. This is not intended to confuse those who don't know the area, but my hope is that those who want to can follow my meanderings on a map. Anyhow, turning right out of the station above, I came very soon to a mini roundabout. Taking a right on to Potters Lane, after not much more than a couple of hundred yards, I came to a disused level crossing: Turning through 180 degrees and poking my camera-phone through a fence, this was the view, looking approximately South West: My apologies for that last picture - my phone doesn't seem to like taking pictures of undergrowth. I can't explain it, but the colours go a bit mad. I thought that the picture was worth including, all the same, as an example of some of the extensive trackwork still remaining in the area. The bridge in the previous picture but one carries the Metro rail over the old tracks. Anyway, to business. Swivelling around again, this time I poked my camera through the fence on the North-East side of the level crossing and, although it's not easy to make out through the undergrowth on this photo, I saw a platform, which seemed to be in excellent condition: Sadly, there is not any particularly good angle to photograph this platform from. By way of comparison, this photograph of Wednesbury Town station, taken from the Rail Around Birmingham website (which has been a major inspiration all through this thread) was taken from the footbridge which previously took pedestrians over the level crossing, and it was taken from a position about 20 feet directly above where I was standing in that last picture! Sadly, the sturdy fence through which I poked my camera prevented me from getting any closer from this side, so I would have to pull out the A-Z to see if there was likely to be an alternative way in... __________________________________________ ??? posted on Sat Jan 31, 2009 4:51 pm Heading back up Potters Lane with a view to circling around the other end of Wednesbury Town station, there is a bit of a bonus for fans of old railway architecture - a business which seems to specialise in dismantling lorries quite clearly sits on the site of an old rail yard. Look where this truck is parked - right under the street! And this building looks an awful lot like an old goods shed: Incidentally, the site of the old station is just beyond the square grey industrial unit at the top right-hand corner of this photo. Anyway, I turned right onto Victoria Street, away from the current station and over the disused bridge-cum-garage, then right again onto Stafford Street. I drove along the side of the shed above, and just at the end of Stafford Street, where Albert Street merges from the left, a tall wall on the right-hand side gave way to some rotten-looking fencing. Through a huge hole in this fence, I spotted, as I had expected, a steep embankment leading down to a railway cutting... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve K Posted November 20, 2009 Author Share Posted November 20, 2009 Comment posted by jim s-w on Sat Jan 31, 2009 5:01 pm Great Thread I dont suppose you took better shots of the lorries did you? Cheers Jim __________________________________________ ??? posted on Sat Jan 31, 2009 5:50 pm Sorry Jim, but I didn't. Maybe next time I'm at IKEA, I'll take another look. What is it you're particularly interested in? __________________________________________ Comment posted by big jim on Sat Jan 31, 2009 6:02 pm found this website the other day, don't know if it been mentioned within the thread but there are some good pictures and references on there http://www.railaroundbirmingham.co.uk/index.php i was looking for info on the sutton park line (which i found) and to be honest i was amazed to find that aldrich used to have a junction!! __________________________________________ ??? posted on Sat Jan 31, 2009 6:22 pm big jim wrote: found this website the other day, don't know if it been mentioned within the thread but there are some good pictures and references on there http://www.railaroundbirmingham.co.uk/index.php i was looking for info on the sutton park line (which i found) and to be honest i was amazed to find that aldrich used to have a junction!! Yes, I'm well aware of that site - in many ways, it's been the inspiration for this whole thread. You'll see on one of my pictures above, I've referenced Rail Around Birmingham as a point of comparison. Some great pictures on that site, but also some tantalising gaps, which have tempted me to explore a little further, as you will see when I post the rest of my Wednesbury photos, maybe tomorrow... With reference to Aldridge, it's amazing how much there used to be on what might be loosely termed the "Sutton Park Line" - of Aldridge and Streetly stations there is now practically no trace, but as you'll see if you go through this thread, there's a lot left of both of the old Sutton stations, Sutton Park and Sutton Town. __________________________________________ Comment posted by F-UnitMad on Sat Jan 31, 2009 7:39 pm SteveK wrote: ... I came to a disused level crossing: As I go over that crossing sometimes whilst at work I have to say the term "Level crossing" has to be understood in it's loosest sense...! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve K Posted November 20, 2009 Author Share Posted November 20, 2009 ??? posted on Sun Feb 01, 2009 9:33 pm F-UnitMad wrote: SteveK wrote: ... I came to a disused level crossing As I go over that crossing sometimes whilst at work I have to say the term "Level crossing" has to be understood in it's loosest sense... Well, until they invent a better name...! Anyhow, as promised, the tale of Wednesbury station continues. Where was I? Oh yes, I'd just parked at the junction of Stafford Street and Albert Street, and was looking through a large gap in a rather decrepit fence... The embankment below was wet and a bit muddy, so I descended carefully, vaguely aware that it mightn't be quite as easy to get back up again. I reached the bottom of the cutting, and found myself on the rail bed, no more than 200 yards NE of the not-so-level crossing pictured above. First off, I headed to the right, back towards the station site, and it wasn't long before I came across the other end of the platform. As you can see, I was in the midst of undergrowth, which contrived to untie my laces every other minute, but the struggle had been worth it; not only were the rails themselves (mostly) present and correct, but the platform itself was virtually intact. It's worth pointing out that the two lines visible had a very large gap between, and indeed, photographic evidence of the station when in use shows that another line once ran between the two shown above. Furthermore, it was not just plain track - turning around and crouching in front of one of the birch trees seen above, I took this picture which shows that a bit of pointwork remains in good condition, too. Also shown is an electrical junction box of some kind (I'm sure someone will tell me the correct name for such things): there were two or three of these things on the opposite side of the track to the platform. Of the other platform, or the station buildings, I could see no sign, although it's quite possible that some foundations may still remain amongst the brambles. By this point, though, my laces were doing my head in, so I trod gingerly as I made my way back the way I'd come. Before I clambered back up the slope to my car, though, I carried on to the NE for a while, towards a couple of bridges... __________________________________________ ??? posted on Sun Feb 01, 2009 10:03 pm To the North-East of the station site, the railway is crossed by two roads - Holyhead Road and then (at an angle) Lower High Street. Seen from a car driving along the roads above, these two bridges are quite innocuous, but the view from rail level is quite poignant in a way: The Holyhead Road bridge is the one in the foreground. As you can see, there is yet more evidence of quite intricate pointwork still in place, including, if I'm not much mistaken, at least one single slip, which must have fed onto sidings alongside the station: Looking further along towards Lower High Street, the retaining wall is both impressive and rather sad. At this point, I felt I'd seen about all there was to see, and trudged back to the car, thankful that the threatening clouds hadn't yet delivered the promised rain. Wet, the embankment that I'd parked by would have been treacherous, but as it was, I reached the warmth of my car without incident, where I pulled out my A-Z of Birmingham to plot my way home. As I looked at the map, though, I noticed something quite odd: the abandoned lines that I'd just been exploring were still shown as if they were in use. Indeed, if you look at the Google Maps view of the area, the same is true, to the extent that, even though the current Metro station at Wednesbury is correctly shown, the old and new lines seem to get a bit confused. If you do look at Google Maps, in fact, you'll clearly see this old line marked, and will also note that it continues for some distance, 8 miles or more in fact, eventually joining up with the "real" railway just to the North of Stourbridge Junction. I didn't have time to explore the entire disused rail network of the Black Country, but I did notice that, a mile or so to the SW of the former Wednesbury Town station, the railway passed beneath the Black Country New Road. Since there seemed to be an industrial estate located conveniently nearby, it would have been rude not to take a look, wouldn't it? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve K Posted November 20, 2009 Author Share Posted November 20, 2009 Comment posted by jim s-w on Sun Feb 01, 2009 10:09 pm SteveK wrote: Sorry Jim, but I didn't. Maybe next time I'm at IKEA, I'll take another look. What is it you're particularly interested in? Hi Steve The Ford Cargo in the foreground along with what looks like a volvo in 'starsky and Hutch' livery in the distance, The backs all look interesting too Cheers Jim __________________________________________ Comment posted by F-UnitMad on Mon Feb 02, 2009 8:20 am SteveK wrote: As I looked at the map, though, I noticed something quite odd: the abandoned lines that I'd just been exploring were still shown as if they were in use. ... If you do look at Google Maps, in fact, you'll clearly see this old line marked, and will also note that it continues for some distance, 8 miles or more in fact, eventually joining up with the "real" railway just to the North of Stourbridge Junction. As far as I'm aware (I can't remember how I've come across this info) the whole line is supposedly just "mothballed" as opposed to closed down altogether, in case of re-opening in the future... it's present state does rather push the boundaries of the meaning of 'mothballed' (just like the "level" crossing!!) but I think that's why the track is still there, more or less. Part of the line further past Dudley heading for Stourbridge is possibly where another branch of the Metro tramway is to be built, to serve the Merry Hill shopping centre as well. This is similar to the situation around West Bromwich where although the line shut in the late '60s (I think) the then Council, with remarkable foresight, laid in law that the trackbed couldn't ever be sold off (even though I think the track was lifted, and the station was levelled), in case West Bromwich ever needed it's railway back... decades later the trackbed was put back in use, albeit for the Trams.... __________________________________________ Comment posted by krhgcrr on Mon Feb 02, 2009 1:38 pm Seem to remember many times in the past its been mentioned about building a station for Merry Hill, judging my the success of the ones for The Metro Centre and Meadowhall I think it would have been a big winner. Problem is now, with the line in this state, who would pay. At the minute no one I guess so things will not change! Pitty. Very shortsighted moth balling this section and closing Walsall-Lichfield again daft. Just think of the passinger service there could have been, let alone the frieght that could have taken a more direct route to Bescot yd etc... cheers Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve K Posted November 20, 2009 Author Share Posted November 20, 2009 Comment posted by Sinistermisterman on Mon Feb 02, 2009 4:51 pm Ooooh wow. These photos are fantastic. You wouldn't have thought that track would still be in place when it's that abandoned and overgrown. Any chance you could stick a link to google maps so I could figure out where these are...? Might go and have to have an investigate! __________________________________________ Comment posted by Fat Controller on Mon Feb 02, 2009 5:07 pm SteveK wrote: Heading back up Potters Lane with a view to circling around the other end of Wednesbury Town station, there is a bit of a bonus for fans of old railway architecture - a business which seems to specialise in dismantling lorries quite clearly sits on the site of an old rail yard. Look where this truck is parked - right under the street! W05.jpgAnd this building looks an awful lot like an old goods shed: W06.jpgIncidentally, the site of the old station is just beyond the square grey industrial unit at the top right-hand corner of this photo. Anyway, I turned right onto Victoria Street, away from the current station and over the disused bridge-cum-garage, then right again onto Stafford Street. I drove along the side of the shed above, and just at the end of Stafford Street, where Albert Street merges from the left, a tall wall on the right-hand side gave way to some rotten-looking fencing. Through a huge hole in this fence, I spotted, as I had expected, a steep embankment leading down to a railway cutting... Steve- looking at the stone building with four doors in the gable end, I would suggest either a loco shed or wagon repair depot. Most goods sheds I've seen tend to have one or two entrances offset to one side, with the rest of the building being occupied by unloading platform. They would also normally have had road access doors, sometimes with awnings, in the side, whereas the visible side of this building seems to have brick-filled arches with windows in them. I know the roof hasn't got the ventilators associated with a loco shed, but it does look as though the roof may have been reclad. __________________________________________ Comment posted by DavidBelcher on Mon Feb 02, 2009 5:17 pm SteveK wrote: Anyway, I turned right onto Victoria Street, away from the current station and over the disused bridge-######-garage, then right again onto Stafford Street. I drove along the side of the shed above, and just at the end of Stafford Street, where Albert Street merges from the left, a tall wall on the right-hand side gave way to some rotten-looking fencing. Through a huge hole in this fence, I spotted, as I had expected, a steep embankment leading down to a railway cutting... The long-defunct Darlaston Loop line, maybe? Or a connection to the extensive internal rail system at the Patent Shaft works? David __________________________________________ ??? posted on Mon Feb 02, 2009 9:16 pm Sinistermisterman wrote: Ooooh wow. These photos are fantastic. You wouldn't have thought that track would still be in place when it's that abandoned and overgrown. Any chance you could stick a link to google maps so I could figure out where these are...? Might go and have to have an investigate! No problem - just click here! The line I've been describing is the one running NE to SW. As I said before, Google Maps erroneously suggests that all the lines shown are part of the same network. They're not - the line from the NW in this view crosses the old line, rather than joining it. __________________________________________ Comment posted by Sinistermisterman on Tue Feb 03, 2009 9:57 am Thanks for that link. I am amazed! I thought abandoned lines with no use ran from nowhere in particular to nowhere in particular! Here we have a line which runs through a highly urbanised area with (I'm guessing) the potential for massive passenger traffic, and yet its left to rot. What a shame. __________________________________________ Comment posted by DavidBelcher on Tue Feb 03, 2009 10:03 am Sinistermisterman wrote: Thanks for that link. I am amazed! I thought abandoned lines with no use ran from nowhere in particular to nowhere in particular! Here we have a line which runs through a highly urbanised area with (I'm guessing) the potential for massive passenger traffic, and yet its left to rot. What a shame. Its big plus-point was that it allowed freight to avoid the Lickey Incline, by running via Stourbridge Jcn. and Kidderminster, rejoining the ex-MR route to Cheltenham and beyond just south of Worcester. Some clay traffic between St. Blazey and Stoke passed this way in the years just before the route fell out of favour, and before the demise of Speedlink, Bescot-Severn Tunnel Jcn. was a regular turn. David __________________________________________ Comment posted by Gravy Train on Tue Feb 03, 2009 12:51 pm Stevek, ( Water orton station building ), is that the one that Bob Essary has in model form on his scale 7 layout and i think constructed by Bill Hudson, i know it was featured in a back issue of MRJ and a very nice model it was and a drawing of it too. Cheers __________________________________________ ??? posted on Tue Feb 03, 2009 2:23 pm I'm don't know - certainly, after I posted the pictures on here, someone mentioned that the Water Orton building had been modelled once or twice. So the answer is "probably", but someone else will know for sure... Fat Controller wrote: Steve- looking at the stone building with four doors in the gable end, I would suggest either a loco shed or wagon repair depot. Most goods sheds I've seen tend to have one or two entrances offset to one side, with the rest of the building being occupied by unloading platform. You're almost certainly correct, of course - I was simply too lazy to work out the proper description, so I tried to err on the vague side! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve K Posted November 20, 2009 Author Share Posted November 20, 2009 Comment posted by Mile on Tue Feb 03, 2009 5:54 pm This line is scheduled to become line 2 of the Metro. As this is in the "capable hands" of Centro it might be mothballed for some time yet. __________________________________________ ??? posted on Thu Feb 05, 2009 9:10 pm Last Sunday night, I wrote: I didn't have time to explore the entire disused rail network of the Black Country, but I did notice that, a mile or so to the SW of the former Wednesbury Town station, the railway passed beneath the Black Country New Road. Since there seemed to be an industrial estate located conveniently nearby, it would have been rude not to take a look, wouldn't it? Sorry about the large pause (no polar bear jokes, please!) - it's about time I finished off the story of my visit to the Wednesbury area. As I said, I headed SW, and parked up in a spot about a mile from where my previous shots were taken. I parked in Bagnall Street - if you look at most maps, this street appears to run under the Black Country New Road and join up with Eagle Street, Great Bridge. It doesn't - it's a dead end in a quiet corner of an industrial estate, although a footpath continues where the road doesn't. I walked along this path for no more than 100 yds until I came to the track bed. Turning to my right, I walked NE as I followed the tracks along an embankment. This is the view NE, with the former Wednesbury station approx 1 mile ahead: From this distance, it looks as if there is an electricity pylon smack in the middle of the permanent way. In actual fact, the track is not quite as straight as it looks, veering first one way and then the other. Standing in this spot, I was aware of a fizzing sound coming from somewhere nearby. Finally, I realised that this was simply the sound of very fine drizzle hitting the nearby power lines! This is the view in the opposite direction. The road over the railway line is the Black Country New Road. Depending on the age of the map you're using, this may not appear on it, but for the benefit of anyone attempting to follow this with a map, my car is parked at the stub end of Bagnall Street about 50yds behind the bushes at left of shot. As has often happened at the places I've visited for this thread, I was impressed by both the quality and quantity of what remained. If this line really is to be used for a second phase of the Midland Metro system, it's even possible that some of the old tracks might be re-used. Maybe I exagerrate a touch... __________________________________________ ??? posted on Thu Feb 05, 2009 9:28 pm Next, I headed towards the bridge to see if anything more remained of the railway line beyond the overpass. Under the flyover, fences had been erected at some point to keep people from going any further. Fortunately for me, these fences had also been largely demolished at some point in the past, so I proceeding forward, cautiously... Beyond the Black Country New Road, the undergrowth became heavier, the trackwork more sparse, and I soon came to another bit of fence. Once again, though, this had huge holes, and after a bit of ducking and diving, I picked up the track once more. The reason for the latest bit of safety fencing was immediately clear, because I had stumbled across (almost literally!) a bridge over a canal. As you can see, there's not a lot to stop the unwary from plummeting into the water, 10 feet below! A lovely bit of weathering on that metalwork, I trust you'll agree! The combination of limited space and tangly bushes made this a difficult site to get a good picture of, so I scrambled back the hundred or so yards to where the road passed overhead, and then turned left (SW once more) along the footpath that links Bagnall Street to Eagle Lane. As I'd expected, there was a path down to canal-side, so I was able to get a better shot of this bridge. Who was it that was looking for a narrow bridge span the other day? I reckon this one spans no more than 20 feet - certainly, the canal can be no more than a couple of inches more than the 7ft width of a narrowboat. Anyway, that's as far as I got - as you can see, the tracks had disappeared by the time they would have crossed this bridge, and this time, strong fencing prevented me from getting any further on, so I'm afraid I can't comment on the condition of the tracks beyond. Still, I hope that this has been of interest to some of you, whether you know the area or not. As ever, I do not claim to have the last word on any of this, so if anyone else has pictures of this, or any other such site, I'd love to see them here! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve K Posted November 20, 2009 Author Share Posted November 20, 2009 Comment posted by THEWORRALLS on Fri Feb 06, 2009 1:01 am Wow! One beauty of a thread, I just discovered it with SteveK's recent posting throwing the spotlight back onto it! As a Suttonite I can confirm that all of the locations featured have been forensically investigated over the years - yes, frequently in company time! If you would indulge me, here are some random initial observations: Sutton Town reopened for a short time many years after its closure. I'm pretty sure I read this in Rev Bassett's work, and it was either during a particularly harsh winter that closed the Cross City, or after the '50s Sutton crash... hmmmm Sutton Town Birmingham platform buildings. Discovered these with a mate circa 1990 - they were not bricked-up then, and the original (?) green paintwork was still in good nick. We contacted the Land Regsitry with a view to getting hold of it for a 'barn conversion,' but the trail seemed to go dead after the owner into the '70s, one Mr Cadwallader IIRC, emigrated. We too heard that a treasure trove of railwayana had been housed here once. The local yoof hadn't discovered it then, only courting couples. A heavily rusted gate accessing this platform can be discerned behind chain-link fence on Rectory Road by the rail overbridge wing wall. Before Pages Close etc came into existence this area - we think - had a coaching approach to the Birmingham platform - fence lines on a very old map we found in Sutton Lib'y indicated as much. Got loads more gen on this location but it's late and I need to move on... Sutton Park Sta - threat of redevelopment for housing lifted (for now). Walsall platform bldg - home to a house-coal merchant just into the '80s - was demolished circa 2005 IIRC. I watched D1015 on its test run back on the main line, running past here with the green Riley 37 inside, and the building was bricked-up but still standing then. If you persist on the north, Mulroy (?) Road side (too late and snowy to dig out the A-Z) and double back, you can access the island platform at the site of the former footbridge that used to provide direct access to Sutton Park for Sunday trippers.... Streetly - south west corner, again visible behind chain-link - a somewhat askew MR gatepost complete with gate to the old footpath down to the Walsall platform. Ryecroft - check out the steam/ DMU depot/ stabling point pits amongst the trees, and also the part that was cleared and levelled for the abortive EMU depot that never was - discernible by the less mature trees on this part of the site... Granville St/ Somerset Road/ Five Ways - I checked all this out only last Monday in the snow, from the adjacent towpath (having detrained at University to see daughter off to school). I too was shocked at the apartments that nave been shoehorned next to the alignment near Bath Row. Glad to have walked from Stanier House all the way to Five Ways back in 1991 (having passed the site of the junction every day for years on the way to school c/o University Sta). Wednesbury/ Dudley - again the Blowers Green station bldg was completely open until about two years ago - even to the point that you could acccess the stairs down to the platform site, albeit overgrown and slippery. This reminds me of the unbelievable survivor at Corstorphine (I think) near Edinburgh Zoo, again in an idyllic backwater, last checked out 30 years after closure (?) in 1999. Does that timber survivor with its light blue SCR details still exist, I wonder? Close to the Black Country Route causeway, I too braved that scary span over the canal - there was a scrap yard close to this point that torched loads of steam locos - I think it may have been Cox & Danks. Maybe one of the LMS twins 10000/1 ended its days here too? If you explore back towards Wednesbury there's another disused LC here - only the road too has been decommissioned to a footpath only! Coleshill/ Maxstoke - the stretch between the A452 and the River Cole, much frequented by fishermen had, at least last time I scythed my way through the undergrowth, at least two cast MP still on their posts - in a sort of what I can only describe as faded claret and blue. Like others, this thread has got me really fired up. But as a recent sign-up I won't labour the point or overstay my welcome. When I figure out how to, I'll post a few pics and some key links. I can still hear the exhaust clatter of idling 24063 on the Sutton Park parcels.... __________________________________________ ??? posted on Fri Feb 06, 2009 11:05 am THEWORRALLS wrote: Like others, this thread has got me really fired up. But as a recent sign-up I won't labour the point or overstay my welcome. When I figure out how to, I'll post a few pics and some key links. Thanks for the kind words, Ian. I'm glad that I've fired up a few memories. You'd better get learning how to upload pictures, because I want to see them! Some interesting observations you make (mmm... like Yoda I sound) - I have looked at Sutton Park from the Mulroy Road side, but after following the footpath for a few hundred yards behind some very large gardens, it seemed that it was leading nowhere fast. If I'd realised that the platform could have been accessed from that side, I'd have gone further, although I'm amazed that there's no fencing to prevent access. Not having approached Sutton Town from the other side, it hadn't occurred to me that there might be a blocked-off footpath on Rectory Road. Another visit required, I reckon! As for Streetly, I had no idea that any trace of the station remained. By "SW corner", are you referring to the junction with Foley Road? If so, I'll try to sneak a photo of the gate, or anything else that remains. Thanks for the tips! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve K Posted November 20, 2009 Author Share Posted November 20, 2009 Comment posted by Al on Sun Feb 08, 2009 12:26 pm Thanks to The Worralls very interesting posting I have just a bit more to add on Sutton Town station after a bit of swotting up! Apparently it was initially known as Sutton Coldfield (Midland), then Sutton Coldfield Town from 1923, then renamed just Sutton Town - only months before it was shut on new years day 1925! The up side building on Midland Drive, in use today for offices, was the location where the booking office was situated. The down platform building, thesedays looking like it's nearing collapse, had "single sex waiting rooms at each end, plus toilets, joined by a general waiting room 44 feet long....a glass canopy extended for the whole frontage of the building, 106 feet..." Sutton Town did apparently reopen briefly during the Sutton derailment in 1955 when services were disrupted for 3 days. I did have a look to see if access was attainable to the down side, from Jerrad Drive, but after walking through a garden area I found it to be fenced off and I got the feeling lots of suspicious eyes were looking down at me from nearby flats! I did notice that old bit of fencing on Rectory road, I'll have another look at it. Regards Al __________________________________________ ??? posted on Sun Feb 08, 2009 9:02 pm Al wrote: The down platform building, these days looking like it's nearing collapse, had "single sex waiting rooms at each end, plus toilets, joined by a general waiting room 44 feet long....a glass canopy extended for the whole frontage of the building, 106 feet..." I did have a look to see if access was attainable to the down side, from Jerrad Drive, but after walking through a garden area I found it to be fenced off and I got the feeling lots of suspicious eyes were looking down at me from nearby flats! I did notice that old bit of fencing on Rectory road, I'll have another look at it. Thanks for those extra snippets, Al - most interesting! I suspect that the best way to find another access point to the down side would be to approach it once again, as we've both done, from the Police Station end, and have a mooch around from there. Certainly, standing behind the building, it looked as though there ought to have been a way down the bank and past the flats. As for the Rectory Road gate, I'd suggest carrying a sickle! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve K Posted November 20, 2009 Author Share Posted November 20, 2009 ??? posted on Mon Feb 16, 2009 10:33 pm </FONT> Well, I asked for this thread to be moved into "Photography", so I really ought to post a few more pictures. I had the misfortune to travel to Wolverhampton the other day - actually, I ought not to be so snotty, but hand on heart, I can say that the city centre was dismal. I hadn't been for years, apart from the odd concert at the Civic Hall, and I was shocked at how grim the shopping centre was. OK, maybe I caught it on a bad day - the grey, overcast skies didn't exactly put the place in the best light. Anyhow, shopping quickly done, it was time to explore a little... I've been aware for some time, as are many of you, no doubt, that Wolverhampton has two railway stations, almost literally one on top of the other. The station now in current use was formerly known as High Level, and the now-disused one next to it, on the lower level, was known as... well, you're clever folk, and I can see that you're ahead of me already! For many years, Wolverhampton Low Level station has been in a state of genteel decay. Although I'd never been before, pictures I'd seen showed an overgrown frontage, and impressive remains of platforms, canopies, rail, and even a footbridge. Well, I was in for a bit of a surprise, because what I found was less, but in some ways, more, than I was expecting. To the left of the current station entrance is an underpass leading below the current tracks. Emerging from this tunnel into a smart tiled open gallery, this is the immediate view looking towards the right (roughly SW): Far from being overgrown, the old frontage of Low Level has been considerably spruced up. This, needless to say, is the view from a couple of hundred yards further down, looking back the way I'd come. It became apparent that some serious redevelopment was under way. The bad news is, as you will see, that little or nothing now remains of the rails, but the good news is that part of the redevelopment is to be called "Bluebrick", which suggests that much of this magnificent station building will be preserved. __________________________________________ Comment posted by dave47549 on Mon Feb 16, 2009 10:45 pm Steve, i trust you partook in the 'Great Western' afterwards? I know the view from the gallery & ramp very well (see reference to the Great Western, above ), although i'm more used to an after dark view... I take it the path has now been re-opened to Sun Street? It's a crying shame that that lego hotel has been built on the site. I remember attending a beer festival that was held on the down platform sometime in the late 80's. I really should have taken some pictures... __________________________________________ ??? posted on Mon Feb 16, 2009 10:54 pm dave47549 wrote: Steve, i trust you partook in the 'Great Western' afterwards? Sadly not, although I did notice that the pub had a set of GWR gates! The footpath is open all the way around, so it would be possible to walk a complete circle around the site. From just a little further on than the last photo, the end of the station canopy is coming into view around the side of the building: Walking past the afore-mentioned pub for a few yards, and pointing the camera straight back towards the station, this is currently the view (although, with the building work going on, this will probably change from week to week): The current station is on the left, the small red-brick building in the middle is part of Dave's "Lego" hotel, I believe, but the most encouraging sight is that the footbridge and canopy appear to have been freshly painted! You can also see a pair of rails embedded in the pavement, but I suspect that these have been put there "artistically", since they seem to be a good 6 feet higher than the trackbed under the bridge. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve K Posted November 20, 2009 Author Share Posted November 20, 2009 Comment posted by dave_long on Mon Feb 16, 2009 10:58 pm Hi Steve Just going back to this photo it is definately an old goods shed, it was Walsall side of the Wednesbury town station but off the main line on the even older Darlaston branch. Incidentelly my next project needs a goods shed and this will be the basis of that shed. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve K Posted November 20, 2009 Author Share Posted November 20, 2009 ??? posted on Mon Feb 16, 2009 11:08 pm This is the same view, but from much closer - as close as I could get without climbing over the fence, in fact! The NW-bound platform is still clearly in place: Continuing around, this is the view through the builders' site entrance, taken from a position at the right of the picture above: New buildings are springing up all over the place on this site, and it won't be long at all before most of these views are difficult, if not impossible, to attain. As I said, though, all the signs are that the historically important stuff is being kept for the developmant, which has to be good! This wider shot, standing somewhat further away, gives you some idea of the scale of operations on this site: The old will surely soon be dwarfed by the new. In a way, I've been very lucky to get these few pictures - a few months earlier and the frontages would have been overgrown, a few months later, and all the interesting stuff would have been impossible to see from a distance. It's somewhere, perhaps, to revisit in a few years' timee, and seen how it's all panned out! __________________________________________ Comment posted by DavidBelcher on Tue Feb 17, 2009 4:34 pm I'd still like to know what bright spark decided to name the pub on the Low Level site 'The Bluebrick', even though it's made of red brick! You can sort of see what they're getting at, but maybe they should have chosen building materials which would blend in nicely with the existing structure.... David __________________________________________ ??? posted on Tue Feb 17, 2009 4:54 pm DavidBelcher wrote: I'd still like to know what bright spark decided to name the pub on the Low Level site 'The Bluebrick', even though it's made of red brick! You can sort of see what they're getting at, but maybe they should have chosen building materials which would blend in nicely with the existing structure... Well, quite! You can't see it so well from this photo, but the ugly red-brick building sprouts directly out of the old blue-brick station, like some monstrous boil. Not exactly sympathetic design, is it? __________________________________________ Comment posted by DavidBelcher on Tue Feb 17, 2009 5:07 pm SteveK wrote: DavidBelcher wrote: I'd still like to know what bright spark decided to name the pub on the Low Level site 'The Bluebrick', even though it's made of red brick! You can sort of see what they're getting at, but maybe they should have chosen building materials which would blend in nicely with the existing structure... Well, quite! You can't see it so well from this photo, but the ugly red-brick building sprouts directly out of the old blue-brick station, like some monstrous boil. Not exactly sympathetic design, is it? WLL2.jpg Agreed. The flats going up in the background (reminds me of the Kaiser Chiefs lyric "Over the town there are a lot more cranes, stacking blocks for young professionals to stay in" [1]) don't help matters either! David [1] OK, that was Leeds city centre not Wolverhampton, but you get the idea.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve K Posted November 20, 2009 Author Share Posted November 20, 2009 Comment posted by pilkko on Thu Feb 19, 2009 1:42 am Interesting thread, would like to see what info you can dig up about the other stations east of water orton towards nuneaton. i know the station that is next to abbey st jnc is still there with platfom. i belive this to be stockingford station and now very hard to see unless on a train. There are also a couple of stations still in everdence on the nuneaton to coventry, chilvers coton only has platforms which had to be cut back when testing 158s and coundon rd which still has a small building. On the old track bed from just north of nuneaton on the wcml where the line to the battlefield line is now a footpath and the base to the box for the jnc for the lines from the wcml and the line abbey st jnc met before continuing to ashby. Hope this has wetted your appetite to go abit more afield in your quest for closed stations and so on. __________________________________________ ??? posted on Thu Feb 19, 2009 2:44 pm pilkko wrote: Interesting thread, would like to see what info you can dig up about the other stations east of water orton towards nuneaton. i know the station that is next to abbey st jnc is still there with platfom. i belive this to be stockingford station and now very hard to see unless on a train. Blimey, Wayne, you set me a task there! I don't really know much of the Nuneaton area, but a bit of a trawl through the murkier regions of the interweb has thrown up some interesting stuff. In fact, I think the station to which you refer was actually known as Nuneaton Abbey Street. Slightly confusing, all the same, because a lot of the old photos of this station show a road overbridge, which I assumed were Abbey Street itself, and I searched the length of Abbey Street (virtually, that is) for some sign that tracks had been lifted, but in vain. As it turns out, it's Midland Road which goes over the tracks, in fact, so the station was probably named after the junction, rather than the street itself, if you see what I mean. Anyway, I went on Google Earth, and about 60m SW of the present Midland Road bridge, and on the NW side of the track, I think I've spotted the waiting room in someone's back garden! The shape is exactly the same as that shown in this old photograph. Nothing appears to remain of either the buildings on the opposite platform, or of the MR goods yard on the other side of the bridge, though. Unless you can tell me differently, of course... __________________________________________ Comment posted by pilkko on Fri Feb 20, 2009 7:53 pm Thanks for the update steve, was never quite sure the name of the station. I don't see it too well when powering up the bank towards arley with a heavy ballast train,but i don't recall much of a platform on the down sided and access is limited to the up building you can see as the owners of the house don't like people on there drive. Abbey st box was sat in the triangle of the jnc you can now see with the line that now goes over the main line to the new platforms. This formation was the line that when to midland jnc on the leicester line avoiding nuneaton staion. The yard you speak of was next to this line at abbey box where all the porter cabins are and under the footbridge. Also at abbey jnc is the line the when on to what is now the battlefield line that i talked about which meets a the remains of the the box base. It's interesting looking on google satilite maps, take the line from whitace jnc to hampton, it is very visable and easy to follow as is from abbey st jnc to the battlefield line and then past shackerstone and on to coalville. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve K Posted November 20, 2009 Author Share Posted November 20, 2009 ??? posted on Sat Feb 21, 2009 1:34 pm THEWORRALLS wrote: Sutton Park Sta - threat of redevelopment for housing lifted (for now). Walsall platform bldg - home to a house-coal merchant just into the '80s - was demolished circa 2005 IIRC. I watched D1015 on its test run back on the main line, running past here with the green Riley 37 inside, and the building was bricked-up but still standing then. If you persist on the north, Mulroy (?) Road side (too late and snowy to dig out the A-Z) and double back, you can access the island platform at the site of the former footbridge that used to provide direct access to Sutton Park for Sunday trippers... After that last sentence, I just had to sneak back to the site of Sutton Park station to try to reach the island platform! I parked, as before, at the bottom of Mulroy Road, and doubled back (to the left) on foot, on the footpath which is erroneously marked on many maps as being part of Midland Road. Maybe this was a road at some point in the past, but nowadays, it's just a slightly muddy path between the railway fencing on the right, and the backs of some nice gardens on the left. For those interested in following this on a map, here is a link to the relevant spot on Google Maps. Clicking on the "Satellite" view will give you a pretty good idea of the lie of the land. I persisted along this path for as far as I was able, and it's worth noting that the fence to the right was unbroken - what's more, it is a modern steel fence, with spikes on top to deter any climbers! The Royal Mail buildings were visible through the trees on the opposite side of the tracks, and after a while, as the path rose steadily, I could also see what was left of the platforms below me. However, there was, as I say, no way through the fence, and in any case, below me was a murky-looking ditch, just this side of the platform. Not terribly inviting! Anyway, I finally came, after a total distance of some 400 yards from my car, to a point where the path simply entered a small allotment, separate from any other garden, but clearly private property. I stepped in just far enough to peek around a greenhouse - any further and I would have felt like a tresspasser - and could see that the metal fencing extended all the way to the back of some more gardens. There was certainly no more path. At this point, I could have taken some pictures of the platform remains, but they wouldn't have been terribly inspiring, looking down a small embankment through trees, so I returned to my car. I didn't come away completely empty-handed, photographically speaking, because near my car, I spotted something mildy interesting, so I walked a hundred yards or so in the other direction, along what really is Midland Road, and took a quick snap: A pair of wagons (Grampus? I have no idea about this sort of thing, I'm afraid) are sitting on their own little stretch of track, completely separate from the rest of the rail network, and full of rubbish, with weeds growing out of the top. Funnily, I'd not noticed these before, but they've clearly been there some time. I'll use the excuse that the vegetation was a bit thicker on my previous visit! Not a very interesting photo in itself, but two or three things worth noting: Firstly, you can see the type of fencing (the green stuff) which runs along this side of the track from the end of the gardens which I'd just visited, all the way back to Sutton Park itself, at the end of Midland Road. This is definitely not a fence with crawlable gaps, or one which says "climb me!". Secondly, the area to the right of this photograph, the car park of the Royal Mail depot, looks as though it has been cleared out recently. I had heard suggestions that one or more items of rolling stock had been abandoned there, but I now think that this is very unlikely. Thirdly, the building behind the wagons is the very same shed which I photographed in the first post of this thread, which brings the thread neatly full circle, which is apt, since I'm now running out of ideas! I think now might be a good time to throw this thread open to everyone else. Lots of you have a lot more knowledge than me about the history of this area's railways, and I'd love to see your own pictures of abandoned stations and infrastructure. So come on, don't be shy! __________________________________________ Comment posted by 10800 on Sat Feb 21, 2009 1:42 pm There's a good feature article on Wolverhampton LL in the March 'Steam Days'. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve K Posted November 20, 2009 Author Share Posted November 20, 2009 Comment posted by big jim on Fri Feb 27, 2009 7:14 pm SteveK wrote: In fact, I think the station to which you refer was actually known as Nuneaton Abbey Street, I went on Google Earth, and about 60m SW of the present Midland Road bridge, and on the NW side of the track, I think I've spotted the waiting room in someone's back garden! Nothing appears to remain of either the buildings on the opposite platform, or of the MR goods yard on the other side of the bridge, though. Unless you can tell me differently, of course... how strange, purely by chance this morning i passed the site of the old station at abbey street and spotted said waiting room in the back garden as well as what appears to be the station masters house set back and up the bank a bit, i've been driving over that line for just over a year now and thats the first time i've ever noticed it!! then i come on here and its mentioned in this thread, if i get a chance to fott it when i'm passing tomorrow i will give it a go, today i was pulling away from a red so was only going slow, normally i'm doing 40mph past the site __________________________________________ Comment posted by big jim on Sat Feb 28, 2009 9:55 pm managed to get a quick shot of the waiting room at abbey jn station when i passed this morning __________________________________________ ??? posted on Mon Mar 02, 2009 7:48 am Nice one, Jim! I don't know that area particularly well, but it's clear, from comparing with Google Earth and the photo sites I've seen, that this is indeed the building that Pilkko was talking about. As with some of the sites I've managed to visit myslf, it's impressive just how much remains of this abandoned station building. Even the roof seems to be bearing up well. Wouldn't it be great to make friends with the current residents, and get a closer look, especially if, as you suggest, there are more buildings in this garden? Anyhow, it's great to have a driver's eye view of this site. Of course, now I'll be expecting you to keep up the good work - I look forward to seeing more! __________________________________________ Comment posted by pilkko on Mon Mar 02, 2009 8:07 pm This is the one i was talking about. Have been working up and down the coventry to nuneaton branch and they are in full swing with the resignaling and have dug up part of one of cound rd's old platforms for a new rely room. If i get chance (now that i have bourght some battires ) i will try and get some pic's __________________________________________ Comment posted by F-UnitMad on Mon Mar 02, 2009 8:39 pm I didn't realise such a lot was going on at Wolves Low Level... at least the original GWR building hasn't been swept away completely, which is what would've happened years ago... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve K Posted November 20, 2009 Author Share Posted November 20, 2009 Comment posted by big jim on Mon Mar 02, 2009 9:22 pm F-UnitMad wrote: I didn't realise such a lot was going on at Wolves Low Level... at least the original GWR building hasn't been swept away completely, which is what would've happened years ago... just a shame the new bits aren't in keeping with the old bits, it looks a real mish mash, there are some shells of new apartments on the birmingham end of the site near the royal mail entrance which appear to have come to a standstill work wise, i think they are barratt homes, anyone know if they are derelict? __________________________________________ Comment posted by jonhall on Mon Mar 02, 2009 10:10 pm SteveK wrote: Sutton Park.jpgA pair of wagons (Grampus? I have no idea about this sort of thing, I'm afraid) are sitting on their own little stretch of track, completely separate from the rest of the rail network, and full of rubbish, with weeds growing out of the top. Funnily, I'd not noticed these before, but they've clearly been there some time. I'll use the excuse that the vegetation was a bit thicker on my previous visit! They are a pair of ZCA Sea Urchin/Sea Hare there are three more halfway down the bank further up - apparently derailed during an engineering possesion, they were never fully recovered, a couple were moved, but one had the corner that was foul of loading guage simply chopped off! http://bp0.blogger.com/_9i0qh7LBeLE/Ry8 ... 07+133.jpg I'd be VERY inetersted in a positive id of the one that's sticking up in the air - we have a theory, but would like to confirm... Jon __________________________________________ Comment posted by F-UnitMad on Tue Mar 03, 2009 7:21 am big jim wrote: ... it looks a real mish mash, there are some shells of new apartments ... i think they are barratt homes, anyone know if they are derelict? They will be once they're occupied... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve K Posted November 20, 2009 Author Share Posted November 20, 2009 ??? posted on Wed Apr 15, 2009 4:31 pm I've not had cause (or desire!) to update this thread for a while, but I was passing Lichfield the other day, and I noticed a lot of new road-building going on. Some of this was in the form of a bypass under construction, so I took a bit of a diversion to see how, if at all, this affected the railways. As I mentioned back in the early pages of this thread, there is a hardly-used (if at all) line running Westwards from Lichfield City station - yes, Lichfield really is a city! - through Hammerwich, petering out into nothingness just short of Brownhills. I've posted pictures of a disused signal box on this stretch of track, although the best one is probably this one which Andy Y uploaded. Anyway, I'm waffling already... I followed the road past the box to see how the road-building was affecting the old line. You can hopefully see from this rather gloomy picture that the new road will be cutting through the railway embankment. The new cutting is directly below the 3 spires of Lichfield Cathedral: Strangely, the lifted track is being stacked neatly to either side of the new cutting (you can see the dark, low, rectangular shapes of the piled-up rails & sleepers), as if it is going to be replaced after the work is done. Unless the track is going to be reopened, though (and I can't see this, because it doesn't go anywhere), I don't see why a bridge would be favoured over a cutting. Retracing my tracks, and meandering through a couple of miles of lanes and various diversions, I came to the other side of this site. It was now very obvious that the builders are, indeed, preparing to build a new bridge to carry a disused line over the new Lichfield Southern Bypass (I've given it capitals, because that's what it says on the orange panel of the sign on the right!). Quite bizarre - the builders clearly know something I don't. Looking to the right from the same position, this is the view back towards the old level crossing and signal box: You'll never believe me, but I'm pretty sure that the signal box is the tiny off-white blob just to the left of the large white barn! This magnified (and rubbish!) enlargement may or may not convince you - actually, I'm not sure it convinces me... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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