Guest Book: Page 29

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Hi Mike. Just browsing through your site I noted the comment regarding image 'lnwrmg1593' at Marston Green as to why so many people were about. I don't know if there was anything special going on but I remember visiting Marson Green as a child many times during the period 1954-60. That particular day was a Saturday and if the weather was fine it was a popular walk from Birmingham out via the playing fields to the station. I always remember lots of train spotters whenever I went too. In those days there would have been a lot of pedestrian traffic and quite a number would gather at the gates or if they were 'brave' use the footbridge. The passage of any train seemed exciting in those days. As kids we might play on the field to the south of the station and then rush for the bridge when word came that a train was due. My memory was that road traffic wasn't at all heavy even by the standards of the time so it wouldn't have been at all unusual for people to 'man' the gates.

Best regards - Jim Shaw

Hi Jim - Many thanks for sharing your memories of Marston Green. As I lived near to Tile Hill station in the 1950s and 1960s I too can remember how little road traffic there was at times and how most of us either walked or rode on our bicycles. The weather seemed much warmer and sunnier then!!

I have been going through this excellent site for a few days. When I was at Dunsmore Boys School in the 1960's I had a school friend Bill Brown whose father Bob worked on the railway. The station masters house at Clifton Mill station on the Rugby-Market Harborough line just outside Rugby was the family home. I visited Clifton Mill box many times as my mum's cousin Charlie was a relieve signalman in the Rugby area and could be seen working in many boxes around the area. The large pipe or chimney in picture lnwrclift1568a next to the box is from memory a breather pipe for the sewers. These pipes were also known as stench pipes.

Bob Haddon

Bob - Thanks for the information and memories. It all helps to provide visitors to the site with accurate information as well as making interesting reading. If you have any other information or reminiscences please do not hesitate to let me know.

Can anyone help please ? colour slide required of "Halls" 4901 and 5915 to complete a colour pictorial record of all member of the "Hall" class except for 4911 which doesn't count!

Thanks Alan Sainty - alansainty@aol.com

Hi Alan. My suggestion would be to contact either Colour Rail or the Kidderminster Railway Museum. Both have extensive records of locomotives in both black and white photographs and slides. You might also wish to consider contacting the on-line GWR group at Yahoo. Regards Mike

Wonderful website, I am fascinated by Shipston on Stour. Sadly when I click on 'gwrss1003' I get another view, is it just my wires crossed? Some track diagrams seem to show 3-way points at the entrance to the goods sidings, but these photos clearly show two separate sets of right hand points. Does anyone know if the track layout was altered at some stage, perhaps when the loading dock was built? Keep up the brilliant work.

Adam Moore

Hi Adam. Many thanks for the kind comments and for pointing out the insertion of the wrong link. If you spot any otrhers please let me know. Regards Mike

Mike - May I correct the caption on your images - Inrwcov_gas1478 and Inrwcov_gas1478a. The location is the Longford Generating Station of the Coventry Corporation Electricity Department and not Coventry Gasworks at Foleshill as stated. The locomotive shown is Coventry Corporation Electrical Department No 1 built by Andrew Barclay (Works Number 1942) in 1929. My negative shows the engine in slightly cleaner condition in 1946 with the owner's name and number quite legible on the side tanks.

Best wishes John Hyde

Hi John - Many thanks for the correction. (Visitors might be interested to know that John has an extensive collection of photographic negatives not just from within the county but from across the country. See 'photosuppliers' which list John's contact details). Regards Mike

Hello I have just been looking at image 'lnwrcll107', and just thought I would let you know that this is not an Alvis car. Although it is very similar to an Alvis TD21. I'm not sure which make of car it is, but as I work for Red Triangle in Kenilworth who took over the servicing of Alvis cars from 1968 to the present day, I am confident that it is not an Alvis. P.S. Very good site, keep up the good work, especially the Coventry loop line, which I remember from my childhood!

Many Thanks - Frank Moseley

Hi Mike, just found your site, great browsing. the caption to image 'lnwrcll107' mentions an Alvis car body. This looks to me more like a Humber Hawk of the 1950's.

Yours - Hugh Evans

Amazing that the same error should be spotted and reported within 24 hours of each other. My thanks to both Frank and Hugh for pointing out the error and Hugh for the correct description. I suppose the answer should have been obvious insofar that the Rootes Group were shipping bodies via the yard to Linwood in Scotland in the 1960s and were most likely to have used the facility.

A thoroughly inspirational website. I am too young to remember steam, but many of the locations are familiar and it is fascinating to see how things looked in the past. It has inspired me to build a model railway layout based around Kenilworth. Between this wonderful site and Robin Leach's books I have more than enough reference material to keep me going for years. Congratulations and keep up the good work.

Mark Barnes

Mike - Enjoyed the site which I found whilst doing some railway research. Might I suggest that the photograph: Rugby Station: lnwrrm732, is in fact Jubilee 45673 Keppel (not 45573 Newfoundland) as it appears to have a very small nameplate.

Good luck, Vic Smith

Vic - Many thanks for the correction and kind words.

A hugely interesting and enjoyable site, even to a dyed in the wool 'Swedie'. I think I will spend a lot more time in the future just browsing! By the way - there is a broken link in the Alcester section 'alcester_gwr.htm'. The first image, referred to as 'mra453' actually tries to load 'gwra435'. I have tried a couple of different things to get it to load and I think it should actually point to 'mra453.htm'.

Graham Roper

Graham - Many thanks for the kind words, especially from someone who is a GWR enthusiast! Thanks too for pointing out the broken link. I think it must have occurred when I revamped the GWR part of the site - hopefully I have now fixed the problem. However it did make me realise that I needed to upgrade the MR section of Alcester station, so that was Bank Holiday Sunday gone. If you see any others please let me know.

May I congratulate all involved in putting together a highly entertaining package for us old ultra-mature railways enthusiasts. I could go on but, suffice it to say, I can not find on any other geographic allocation capable of producing such an enthralling package. Hasn't Lancs or Yorks or even the South- East come up with anything comparable.

Best Regards - Paul Longhurst

Paul wrote an article in Issue 214, April 2005, Steam World 'An Old Boy Reminiscences'. Steam World did not use even 10% of the photographs submitted, and he would like to find them a home - Paul describes them as a mixed-bag of appreciation photographs of steam. My advice to anyone wishing to find a home for their collection depends on whether they are the photographer or where they own the copyright compared to just having collected photographs taken by others - as in my case. If the former and a little extra income would help then you could consider loaning the negatives to Roger Carpenter or someone similar in return for a percentage of the sale of prints. If however you wish to donate them then you should consider the HMRS, RCTS, Kidderminster Railway Museum or a society. All of the organisations I have named will make the photographs available to enthusiasts at very reasonable rates whereas the NRM or other public sector organisations often charge ten times as much and therefore few people will be able to benefit from your foresight to have taken the photographs.

What a wonderful website. Brings back many memories of days spent at Rugby and Shilton. So informative many of the scenes I had forgotten but thanks to all the hard work and effort they are fresh in the memory. Problem is that once on this website I don't want to come off it. Seeing old locos like 41902 and 41909 takes me back to the days of the 1950s when short cab rides were not beyond a friendly driver. How those days were taken for granted, nothing was ever going to replace steam, something else I got wrong. Please keep up the excellent work.

Peter Cox

Hi. I spent a whole afternoon and part of the evening browsing through your web site, and as others have stated, it most certainly brought back many memories of my younger life spent in the midlands. I was born in Birmingham in the mid 1930s, I lived and worked there until early 1970 when I finally moved south to Dorset. I was absolutely enthralled with what I found, to such a degree that it has inspired me to do something I have always wanted to do for many years now. That something, is to fine scale model Birmingham New Street Railway Station circa 1938. The information your web site exhibits is most informative and the photo's are delight to observe. Although one particular picture did bring tears to my eyes, however , that is a personal matter and I shall not go into it any further. Thank you for such an entertaining afternoon, I will most certainly keep an eye on your web site from time to time.

I do have one question though, and that is can you possibly tell me where I might get a full size copy of one of your images? The image in question is 'lnwrbns_str1310' the 1950 layout plan of Birmingham New Street station, as this will then be the initial basis of my modelling. Needless to say I need as large a size of this drawing image as I can get in order to be able to accurately scale from it. A further point, if the drawing is taken from a book, would you be kind enough to let me know which book so that I may be able to trace the original source drawing to obtain a large copy for scaling purposes. Thank you so very much.

Kindest regards, Brian Nicholls.

Brian - I am very pleased that you enjoyed the photographs and are inspired enough to build a layout of New Street in the 1950s. I trust you have plenty of time on your hands! The plan is not accurate enough to use it for scaling if you want a perfect representation of the station but if its only to capture the look and feel it should be good enough. I will contact you via your email. You should refer to the excellent books on Birmingham New Street Station by Richard Foster and an article by Mike Hitches in British Railways Illustrated Volume 2 No 5 June-July 1993 published by Irwell Press. If still available try their back order facility on 01525 861888. Let us know how you get on with the layout.

Following my response to the above email Brian wrote the following:

Hi Mike, Thank you kindly for the prompt response and included information. As you say the image copy may or may not be large enough to accurately scale from however, as they say, every little helps. I will investigate further into the information you have provided. My intention is to produce an accurately scaled working model of the station in what is referred to as P4 Fine Scale Gauge, which is scaled at 4mm to 1ft. I will keep you posted from time to time on the progress of the modelling, perhaps even send a few photos. However, as you may conclude, I am at the research and planning stage at this time. Clearly it is not a five minute job and is going to take some time before any recognisable form emerges. Who knows one day it may be exhibited! Bye the way, a fellow called Jim Smith-Wright whose web site may be found at p4newstreet.com has modelled a very fine example of this station in its current modern state (electrification and all), and his attention to detail is very admirable. I have spoken to Jim and he stated that he new little of the older station (prior to the 1964 re-construction) but has kindly offered some drawings and information on certain parts of the station that have remained, relatively speaking, as was. Incidentally, if I come across any interesting information or photos during my research I will keep you in mind and pass on to you what I can. Finally I would like to say again, that I really did enjoy your web site, and I sincerely hope it will flourish and go on for many years to come.

Kindest regards, Brian Nicholls.

Hi. Just been having a look at some photos, and can clarify a couple of points. Photo 'lnwrrm850'. The bridge in the distance is Clifton Rd bridge (275). However the lines from the left are: Up Northampton Goods, Up Northampton, Up Fast. Down Peterborough, Down Northampton (both at higher level). Down fast coming out of the hole, and the Down Goods extreme right. The signal on the right of the picture on the gantry reads off the Down Peterborough, This signal, along with two other colour light signals off the Down Northampton and Down Fast which are out of view, replaced the massive gantry provided by the GCR at Rugby South. Photo lnwrrm888. This photo shows the up platform line (Up Slow), and siding 6 under the roof. The Up fast line (commonly known as the Up Through) is to the right of the roof supporting columns. Siding 6 was known as the 'Up Pilot', and in later years usually held a Black 5 which was for shunting duties, and to assist trains that were in trouble. There was a similar siding, the Down Pilot (Siding 4) at the North end of the Down platform. Another Black 5 would be kept there for shunting and standby duties.

Hope this info clarifies. Andy Taylor. Operations Manager South. West Coast Railways.

I can only offer my congratulations to all those involved in creating this site. I'm in the process of researching my first large model-railway layout and I find it wonderfully comprehensive with regards to information both written and visual. It's a great resource and enjoyable to peruse just for enjoyment. I especially like the idea of links along the route to stations and sheds etc.. Do you have anywhere that viewers can offer contributions to it's upkeep? I'd be happy to donate a few pounds to this end..

Regards, Kevin Riches

Kevin - Many thanks for both the kind comments and offer of financial support. Because 'Powweb', who host the site, do not charge a lot for their hosting service - despite it having more than 6500 pages - I am able to finance the cost myself. However as retirement looms - possibly enforced within a year after the election as I am a contractor in the public sector - I might have to look for financial contributions. At the moment what would help is identifying sources of information and photographs on the Coventry to Nuneaton line and most routes out of Birmingham towards Tamworth and Lichfield. Books which contain photographers names and information on the stations on these routes are very rare indeed. Mike

A superb site, the two Jubilees on Coventry shed in the 1960s solved a 45 year old mystery for me! Arthur Flowers and I corresponded in the early 1980s and he kindly sent me copies of his Birstall photos for exhibition at my library. His and all the rest of the photographs are excellent.

Ken Wheatley

Ken - I am pleased you like the site and that its helped to solve a mystery for you. Arthur was a gentlemen of the old school very helpful to me. For about a year I was fortunate enough to work in Foleshill near to where he lived and spent many a pleasurable hour listening to his stories and looking at his photographs. He was taken into care by the council some years later and I have no idea as to what happened to his negatives. Someone said his sister might have them but that's speculation. I thought Pat Whitehouse was going to be the beneficiary but apparently not. At least some of us have prints as testament to his photography.

The web site links will allow me to research GWR in the West Midlands. From my first look I'm going to enjoy this.

Mike Turner

Mike - I hope you make use of the Bibliography too as there are a number of journals and books that will help.

Hi, I enjoy your great site, my special area of interest is the Monument Lane/Harborne Junction part of the Stour Valley line. I was wondering if you have access to all of Peter Shoesmiths photos? As he seems to have taken many in this seemingly overlooked area. If you do have any photographs of this area other than those already posted I would be grateful if you could let me know on the given email address.

Kind regards Peter Quigley

Peter - I have some of Peter Shoesmith's photographs but not necessarily of the Monument Lane/Harborne route. I have a number of interesting photographs yet to upload on the Harbourne Line which I hope to do soon. I am just completing the Stratford on Avon to Pebworth section of the GWR's line to Honeybourne after which I will be returning to the Leamington to Coventry line (just three locations) followed by revisiting the lines emanating from Birmingham.

Hi Mike - You may or may not be able to help. My wife's grandfather (Archibald Cook ) was a driver of a LMS train during WW2 where by acts of bravery driving his train full of munitions he was awarded the George medal. I have attached the London Gazette with the story for your perusal (pasted below - Mike). I am in the process of trying to locate records of this incident, Including which train he was driving at the time, the route etc. Eventually we would dearly love to obtain a copy of his service records. So if you can help us with any of the above or put us on to others that may help we would be appreciated.

The following appeared in the London Gazette on Friday 18th December 1942
Awarded the George Medal:— Archibald Cook, Engine Driver, London, Midland and Scottish Railway Company. George Herbert Simkiss, Fireman, London, Midland and Scottish Railway Company.
Awarded the British Empire Medal (Civil Division): — Richard Edward Barrett, Kitchen Porter, Birmingham. George Carter, Warden, Civil Defence Wardens Service, Birmingham. William Eric Deakin, Machinist, Birmingham. Henry Jacob Harrison, Length Ganger, London, Midland and Scottish Railway Company.

Incendiary bombs set fire to a train which was carrying high explosives. Driver Cook brought it to a standstill but could not extinguish the flames. He decided to isolate the burning van and, with the help of Simkiss, uncoupled it and drew the front portion of the train forward. It was then found that a second vehicle in the rear portion was on fire and Simkiss isolated this also. Carter, Deakin and Barrett, although they were warned of the contents of the wagons and understood the danger, rendered every possible assistance to prevent the fire from spreading. It was eventually brought under control by the National Fire Service, and it was then found that boxes of explosive would have to be unloaded. Carter and Deakin helped to pull open the door of one of the vans.

As it opened, flames and smoke were emitted from the interior of the truck and Carter, Deakin and Barrett sustained burns to the face and eyes, and all three had to go to a first aid post. Ganger Harrison entered another van and threw out boxes on to the line. Whilst so doing, one of these fell and pinned him down by the leg but, with help, he freed himself and continued to work until the van was emptied. The lines were blocked with heaped up boxes of explosive and Harrison, though wet through by water from the hoses and suffering from an injured leg and burnt hands, continued to work alone for thirteen hours to clear the lines and allow traffic to proceed. All the men showed great courage and devotion to duty. Enemy--^aircraft were operating, a heavy anti-aircraft barrage was in progress at the time and the men were fully aware of the danger from the explosives to which they were exposed.

Kind Regards David & Margaret Young (Maiden name Cook)

David and Margaret. A really wonderful story of bravery on the home front by people just going about their everyday business. I will contact a number of people that might be able to help but hopefully if anyone reading your request can help with any information then if they send it to me I will certainly forward it on to you. If you do find out more please let us know as I would love to put your grandfather's story on the website. Best wishes Mike.

Colin from the Birmingham On-line Forum replied, 'The incident is recorded in the book Heroes of the Birmingham Air raids by Michael Minton :- At about 1:45am Thursday 30th July Driver Cook , Fireman Simkiss and Guard James Reynolds arrived at goods yard ..proceeding from Bordesley Junction toward Lawley Street...and shortly after passing Coventry Road Bridge two wagons were hit by incendiary bombs There follows a detailed report and includes a picture of Harrison, Cook and Simkiss. It also mentions that details were taken from the book Heroes of Road and Rail by George C Curnock'.

I hope the following will be of help. When I was a boy in the 1940s & 1950s I lived near the Coventry Loop line. In the 1940s I lived near the Bell Green good yard and from my bedroom I could watch the shunting engines working there. I recall there being various 0-6-0s and 0-8-0s, being used as the main engines. During the war, when Coventry was being subjected to regular bombings, I remember seeing a train going regularly along the line with a large anti-aircraft gun mounted on a long flat wagon. I think it was being used to defend the large factories in the area, (e.g. Alfred Herbert, Morris Engines, etc.). During the above time I recall that every lunchtime, a small freight train used to leave the Bell Green yard and head to Gosford Green yard. On route it would stop at the Morris Engines factory to shunt wagons into the factory and collect wagons from there. The Morris factory had a small 0-4-0 diesel to marshal the wagons around the factory. There would also be a pickup and exchange of wagons at this stop from sidings on the other side of the main line which were used by the Royal Ordinance factory. Their factory was about half a mile from the main line and they had a spur line from the sidings to the factory. There main motive power was provided by a small 0-4-0 steam tank engine. If I recall correctly the line went right through the factory, across the Stoney Stanton Road, via a level crossing, to a large scrap yard at Priestly Bridge. I think that the line may have continued to Courtaulds factory, and perhaps link up with the Coventry – Nuneaton line near Foleshill Station. After this round of shunting the freight train continued onto Gosford Green Yard. I am sorry if the above is a bit vague but it is now my memory trying to drag back events from 60 years ago!

R A Walford

Many thanks for sharing your memories of both the the war and immediate post-war period, the latter when I was wearing short trousers. Vague or not they are still very interesting and unless someone like you commits pen to paper, they will be lost forever. Best wishes Mike

Great website with plenty of foresight. Keep up the good work it is appreciated.

Patrick O'Sullivan

Many thanks for the excellent site. I spent many a happy hour on the Trent Valley Line and The Wolverhampton to Rugby route in the late 1940s and the 1950s and the photographs, some of which I had never seen before, were a real nostalgia trip. Just one observation regarding print 'lnwrbw536' taken at Brandon and Wolston. The locomotive cannot be either Phoenix or Comet, or indeed any of the rebuilt Patriots, but is one of the Scots as only these had the small footsteps on the front of the inside cylinder cover. Also, the gap between the top of the cover and the bottom of the smokebox was less on the Scots than it was on the other two classes. Hope I have won the 'anorak of the month award, but this is the way we could recognise a Scot from a distance when we were spotting at Rugeley TV. Many thanks for the fine site.

Regards Pete Kibble

Many thanks for the corrections to the two photographs. The photos are in print as being Rebuilds of Jubilees and Patriots but I cannot blame this error on others as I should have made the same observations as you did. 'Anoraks' are much abused people today. There is nothing wrong in trying to get something right for the sake of accuracy which is how we stop dumbing down to the lowest common dominator. If you see any more please let me know.

Mike. The unidentified 4-2-2 at Somerset Road 'mrsr27' on your excellent Warwickshire Railways site is one of the piston valve 115 series with the distinctive front end framing (similar to the 60 class 4-4-0s) Nos 126-8/30-1 built in 1899 were based at sheds on the west road so this engine would be from this batch. The headlamp code is that used by the Midland for express trains before the introduction of the RCH codes on 1/2/1903. From the composition of the rolling stock I would put the date around 1899-1900. I will check through the other Midland related images to see what I can add.

Peter Witts Information Officer Midland Railway Society

Peter - Many thanks for the information on the photograph and your offer to add other information to other photographs on the website. It all helps to make the website a better resource for enthusiasts, historians and anyone interested in the railway heritage of the county which has now long disappeared.

An excellent site with great contributions both photos and captions. I am particularly interested in north of Birmingham and would like to see more contributions of Bescot, South Staffs., Walsall, Cannock Line etc, if possible. Keep up the good work.

Mike Shaw

Mike - Many thanks for the kind comments on the website. Unfortunately I am going to have to disappoint you regarding adding more contributions of Bescot, South Staffs., Walsall, Cannock Line etc. I believe that Great Barr is the last station in Warwickshire nearest to the area that interests you. I still have several years of work ahead to revisit sections completed several years ago. They need to be upgraded with larger and clearer photos and better captions plus I need to add many new photos of other stations. The task is therefore too great for me to extend the remit of the website to go beyond the border of the County of Warwickshire.

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