LMS Route: Rugby to Wolverhampton
LMS Route: Birmingham New Street to Lichfield
LMS Route: Birmingham-Soho-Perry Barr-Birmingham
LMS Route: Nuneaton to Birmingham New Street
LMS Route: Birmingham New Street to Tamworth
LMS Route: Evesham to Birmingham
LMS Route: Bournville to Birmingham New Street

Birmingham New Street Station: lnwrbns_str397

An extremely early photograph. Access to the station in the early years was only via the footbridge (this footbridge is the narrower, less robust predecessor of the later version which was topped by the signal box) and then via steps to the centre platform where passengers then used the barrow crossing to cross the track to gain access to the other platforms. The low height of the platforms seen in the photograph were a common feature of many early railway stations.

As can be seen there are no signals in the photograph as in the very early days of railways, policemen, nicknamed "bobbies", used green and red flags to start and stop trains. On the line the distance required between different trains was obtained by compelling trains to depart at fixed intervals, normally a minimum of ten minutes. The unreliability of a system which could not cater for breakdowns and unforeseen delays etc. inevitably led to accidents compelling Parliament to act by forcing the railway companies to adopt signals and the block system.

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