LMS Route: Water Orton to Walsall

The Water Orton to Walsall route was opened in the late 1870s, connecting the Midland Railway's Wolverhampton and Walsall Railway line to their Birmingham to Derby line. The building of the line was highly contentious as it bisected Sutton Park which was both an area of noted beauty as well as being a very prosperous and wealthy area.

The Midland Railway had however, promised cheap local coal for the area which somewhat pacified local objections and began its construction of the line by buying a 2 mile length of the proposed route through Sutton Park for £6,500. The route was used not only for local passenger trains but also for summer excursions and diverted trains when engineering work was being carried out elsewhere. Today the route remains open used by goods traffic avoiding central Birmingham.

Select a station or subheading to view associated images. Numbers in [brackets] specify the number of photos on each page.

		Water Orton [11]
		Penns Goods Yard [0]
		Penns [3]
		Sutton Town [3]
		Sutton Park [10]
		Streetly [3]

The route then continues on to Alridge where there was a junction to either Brownshill or Walsall.