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GWR Route: North Warwickshire Line

Shirley Station: gwrsh644

Looking towards Birmingham with Shirley station's signal box in the foreground, the goods shed in the distance and on the up side, the platelayer's hut

Looking towards Birmingham with Shirley station's signal box in the foreground, the goods shed in the distance and on the up side, the platelayer's hut in April 1963. The signalman's bike is leaning against the signal box besides the lamppost. A twenty-four hour railway required its staff to work in shifts and whilst most people today have the use of a car up to the end of the 1950s very few workers could afford this luxury. Railway staff could always obtain free travel - officially or otherwise - to their place of work however not many railwaymen lived near their place of work or the train services were not best matched with their hours of work. It was not unusual to see railwaymen use the guards van to transport their bikes from a local station to their place of work.

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