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GWR Routes: Banbury to Wolverhampton

GWR Routes: North Warwickshire Line

Moor Street Station: gwrms1206

View of the concourse area leading to the platforms at Moor Street station showing the ground level goods yard to the right of the release road for locomotives

View of the concourse area leading to the platforms at Moor Street station showing the ground level goods yard to the right of the release road for locomotives. On the left is a ticket inspector's cabin whilst to its right are the two gated entrances and exits to the platforms. Moor Street station was built on the site originally allocated as the terminus of the North Warwickshire Railway before the said company was taken over by the Great Western Railway. The locomotive is probably one of the 517 class (note the boiler size / position and the squarish shapes either side above the buffer beam and compare with mra467). There were 156 locomotives in this class and a large number of these had autogear fitted from 1904 onwards (8 in 1905, at least a further 45 before 1922, while 34 were fitted after grouping). If this locomotive is about to use the traverser it is most likely one without autogear, since the autogear enabled these locomotives to operate from either end of an adapted coach (an auto-trailer), or even a pair of auto-trailers, so there was no need for them to run round to the leading end of the train, so therefore no particular need to use the traverser'. The traverser is clearly extended to expose three sets of rails, one the locomotive is standing upon with the other two on the right; the third set of rails being in front of the buffers on the right. The buffer stops protected the traverser from wagons standing on the siding that runs through the goods shed. The traverser was designed as a space saving device by moving a locomotive bodily sideways from the platform to the release road in lieu of a crossover thereby shortening the length of platform required. The space seen under the platform in front of the locomotive is where the traverser would move when only two of the traverser's set of rails were aligned with the platform and release roads. The concrete buffer stops can be seen inset into the edge of the concourse whilst on top are the oil lamps used to denote their location at night.

Robert Ferris

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