TheSignalEngineer

Or a very rusty one with a replacement end door

The North-South divide. We were still riding in Portholes behind 86s. Quite entertaining going through Betley Road on the Down Fast when the driver was trying to make last orders at The Royal and had forgotten they were only passed for 90mph.

An interesting shot. I think it must be the wood going to Glossop for the Olive and Partington paper mill. Note the old coach at the back of Dinting shed, also the cable and rodding run down the middle of the triangle from the signal box on the main line platform. The boxing where it went under the station approach is still in situ.

The 1808 Tipton Owen St to Walsall would have gone via Princes End. There seems to be a leg missing between Walsall and Dudley in the morning. I wonder which way the 0755 Dudley to Wolverhampton went?

You need an olive green gang lorry.

The Class 128 Gloucester units locally were W55993/4. One of their jobs was the Wolverhampton - Snow Hill local parcels service which brought the mail order stuff from Beldray at Bilston Central into Snow Hill during the afternoon for transfer to services around the country. This sometimes had tail traffic. It was known as 'The Dustbin' by some of the trainspotters as that seemed to be its main cargo. There's also an early shot on Flickr of a Chester one at Swan Village. I don't know when they were transferred away as I don't recall seeing them after Snow Hill effectively closed in March 1967. Both classes could have worked into Wolverhampton from Chester. I think that most of the Birmingham local parcels trains ceased on the opening of Curzon St PCD, which was first used for the Christmas specials in 1966, with other parcels traffic being distributed from Coventry, Wolverhampton and Walsall after that.

A more legitimate 'Black Country Green' would have been M55998 on the local parcels run. That did daily turns on the LNW lines around Birmingham in the early 1960s.

The one that got to Saltley was a different occasion. This was how 34102 got back http://www.flickr.com/photos/44544845@N08/8495170740 http://www.flickr.com/photos/44544845@N08/8471705196 Meanwhile, back to 34079 passing Pleck, http://www.flickr.com/photos/deltic_baggie/7948404378

But it did on the way back, 34079's route was Crewe - Rugeley - Walsall - Wednesbury - (via Princes End branch) - Tipton - Birmingham New Street - Gloucester Eastgate - Bristol Temple Meads Diversions also regularly did Abbotswood - Stourbridge - Galton - New St.

Peter Handford did a nice recording of one on the Preston Docks Banana Train up the 1 in 29 on the Ribble Branch IIRC

I don't think 30925 got to the Bescot area but I did see it some years later parked up at Tyseley.

Actually 40646 worked more than 1 special at that time, In 1962 it did Nottingham - Darlington double headed with 30925 and Birmingham- Northampton-Bedford. For these it was in shiny black late totem. In 1961 it had done some Birmingham - Preston runs and at that time was dirty black early crest.

Probably not, but I've got another gem for you. 40646 was at Bescot from 5/60 to 5/62 when it worked a Crankex on its last day of service. I've seen it pictured as the Walsall Pway Yard loco, so could well trundle through with a bit of vintage stock on the engineers trip, or even a Saloon Tour.

Jan Ford listed one as being the banker on 9/2/1963. Although previously listed as a Nuneaton loco www.brdatabase.info had it down as Mollington St by then. "(32) The Horwich ‘Crab’ which banked T47 up to Dudley returns downhill. It’s 42859, absolutely filthy."

I don't think Bescot had any Fowler 2-6-4 tanks but again Saltley and Stafford had plenty. The latter regularly worked to the Birmingham area. Bescot did have some 3Fs around 1959/60, but they usually had 4Fs and quite a few old Midland 2Fs Could have gone via Trafalgar Sidings for a photo opportunity. BTW are you going to let Chris loose with Spam 79 on the Warwickshire Railway Society tour from 1964? It ran via Walsall, Princes End and Tipton Curve due to engineering works at Wolverhampton.

There is mention of a Crab in one of Jan Ford's articles on Sedgeley Junction. Bescot didn't have many, an odd one or two in the 1950s, but there were several at Burton and Saltley, and IIRC one or two at Aston.

Not backdating but has Damian seen this 50 on a Crankex passing Eagle Crossing? http://www.flickr.com/photos/geoffsimages/8830449326/

Another Round Oak loco - http://www.flickr.com/photos/78911862@N06/7319708274/in/photolist-c9PqfN-bbGTia-etzzSV-bbGTCX-bbGTHt-bbGTfi-7DALX3-bN2Rnk-c5hqbU-kjJriK-9dUkB4

Round Oak went diesel in 1963. One of their steam locos up to then was a Barclay 0-4-0ST works number 2115. It carried the name Princess Margaret.

Most of the locos were from Bescot or Stourbridge, with odd ones from Bushbury, Saltley, Monument Lane, Nuneaton, etc. The Gloucester - Bescot run used to throw up a 4F at times and the Eckington - Round Oak should normally have a Barrow Hill engine. 'Foreigners' also put in an appearance, Jan Ford reporting a WD on the Eckington and a Jubilee on the Stourport coal. By the 1960s most of the passenger trains were DMUs, although Tyseley Prairies worked into Dudley from Snow Hill, as did 14xx and 64xx tanks on Auto trains in previous times.

In the early 1960s the likely stock on the South Staffs Line would have been mainly Black 5s, 8fs, Super Ds (pre'65), Ivatt 2 tender loco, occasional WD, Stanier Mogul, Stanier 2-6-4T worked the Palethorpes, Canton 9f on the Regent tanks to Soho Pool. Great Bridge shunt loco was sometimes an LMS diesel shunter, early type. Besides the County at Walsall the only reference I have seen to GWR tender locos was on the southern end of the line for Dudley excursions.

Quite a lot of it was due to clearance issues with the width across the cylinders being a big problem. They tended to remove the copings from platform ramps on non-GW lines. That being said, we used to get Halls working into the Saltley area on freights quite often. A County reached Walsall on one occasion and Prairies worked into Dudley from Snow Hill via the Souith Staffs. I saw a picture of a 94xx tank heading through Galton Jn witn a footex for Witton, and the Leamington-Nuneaton service at the other side of Birmingham is said to have produced the odd Large Prairie and a Collett Goods.

The work would be covered under permitted development rules.

Shunting and the branch could still be controlled from the front. It would probably need CCTV so the operators at the back could get stopping at the signals right.

West Midlands steam officially finished in March 1967. Ex-GWR types were virtually gone a couple of years earlier. The back scene would probably need more industry for the steam era, but the railway itself would probably have changed little on a backwoods branch from 1966 to 1975. It would have lost its telegraph wires about 1975/6 although the poles would still be standing as they are on the layout now. In 1966 there were electrification trains parked in odd sidings everywhere and rakes of old 5-planks full of concrete troughing and spoil from deep-ballasting jobs. Engineers stock in the area at 1967 included a Birdcage brake, ex-Oswestry Signal Gang IIRC, and conversions from pre-grouping stock.