GWR Route: North Warwickshire Line

Henley in Arden - New Station: gwrha1387

An aerial view of Henley-in-Arden with the North Warwickshire line on the left and the spur to the former branch line at the top of the photograph. Henley-in-Arden was a town with one main road which traversed from the South of the town to the North. The railway bridge seen crossing the road was part of the new connecting line from the North Warwickshire line to the original terminus which can just be seen in the top right-hand corner of the photograph. During the early stages of constructing branch line a locomotive was required for use by the contractors, but as a deep cutting near to the terminus was yet to be completed the contractor adopted a rather novel method of transporting the locomotive. The engine was taken by rail to Bearley station, on the Hatton to Stratford on Avon line and some four miles away, and then driven along the Stratford upon Avon to Birmingham road under its own steam. This was achieved by placing short sections of tracks on the road surface which were taken up from behind the locomotive and placed in front , all the way to the site of the terminus. Roger Carpenter and Chris Turner write, 'The spectacle of a steam engine running through the centre of the town must have been quite a startling site to the inhabitants, many of whom had probably never seen such a machine before'.

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