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Dear Sir. Reference photograph lnwrns1686. Described as “Ex-LMS 2-6-4T 4MT No 42331 is seen at the head of a Leicester Railway Society special on the return leg to Leicester on 30th December 1961”. I have recently been researching this rail tour and have great doubts about this photograph being the train described, based on the following facts:

• Rail tour ticket was printed Leicester (London Road) to Rugby (Midland) and back.
• On 30 December 1961 Britain was covered with a thick blanket of snow resulting in 33 football matches cancelled and no matches were played in the Midlands.
• Photo of No 42331 at Broughton Astley Station in deep snow, with head board and train reporting number.
• Why is the train at Nuneaton?
• No snow visible in photo
• No headboard or train number.
• Front coupling hanging down, not on drawbar hook as other photos.
  

I may be wrong, but the facts seem stacked against this being the LRS Rail tour.

Best wishes, Vic Smith

Hi Vic. Many thanks for your observations and comments - it all helps to build a more accurate picture of the county's history. Based on the information you have supplied I too would agree that the caption is incorrect. To be frank its some time since I added the photo to the site and created the caption so I cannot say who supplied the information. Its too precise to be one of my own rambling contributions. Again my thanks for the correction. Best wishes. Mike

Hi Mike - The plates of Lady Godiva can now be viewed at the Herbert Museum and are properly displayed.

Regards Barry McGrory

Glad to hear it. The plates deserve much better treatment than was the case in the late 1970s. The then museum authorities didn't seem to value them.

Hi First of all can I say how interesting your site is, I have spent many a time going through the pages. This is a long shot question, but do you have any photos of Langley Green station on the Stourbridge to Birmingham Snow Hill line in steam days.

Regards Chris

I pointed Chris to Roger Carpenter, Lens of Sutton Association and Kidderminster Railway Museum's Photographic Archive (see Sources of Photographs. Please remember when writing to suppliers that they sell photos around having to work and have a family life so they may take a little longer than you would like. Don't forget the Stamped Address Envelope.

Hello. On the Warwickshire Railways page for Stratford-upon-Avon GWR's station, it says several times the "Evesham Road station". Is this right? The current station, which is the one I think the text is talking about, is on Alcester Road, which several of the photo captions confirms. The Evesham Road is some way away from the station, and the line used to cross it where the large roundabout to Seven Meadows Road is now sited - where Evesham Road Halte and the signal boxes were (now a cycle path). Or was there an earlier Evesham Road station as well? May I just say what an excellent site you have there - its great for doing "then and now" type comparisons whilst out and about on the rail network today.

Yours Intrigued - Jon Knight

Hi Jon. Clearly I got my Evesham Road and Alcester Road mixed up. Many thanks for both the correction and the kind remarks. Regards Mike

My Grandfather, William Frost, nickname Snowy was stationed at Saltley. Passed down the family we were told that he was the first driver to take the Flying Scotsman out of New Street Station. Is this possible? My Dad was based at Monument Lane and was a fireman then driver for 41 years. I am very proud of them both. Thank you for your website.

Sandra Horlick

Thank you Sandra. The Flying Scotsman was both a train and a locomotive with both operated by the LNER who were based on the East Coast mainline. For information about the train seehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Scotsman_%28train%29. The Flying Scotsman locomotive, which has been preserved, was also based on the East Coast mainline although in BR days it was for many years in the 1950s allocated to Leicester Central shed. Based on the Great Central line it was in charge of services running from Nottingham Victoria to London Marylebone via Leicester Central and return.

Whether your Grandfather was the first driver to take the lying Scotsman out of New Street I cannot say for definite. In my opinion its highly unlikely as the locomotive was not based in the region and and the enthusiast specials that it headed in the region would be driven by crews from the its home shed. However, whenever a foreign engine ran over routes its crew would be unfamiliar with then a local driver, who knew the road, would be on the footplate. If the Flying Scotsman ever visited New Street, and I cannot verify this, then its possible your Grandfather acted as the pilot and as such whilst he wasn't the driver he would be the person in charge of the train. I hope this helps - Mike

Great site very interesting. Wondered if anyone can shed any light on Monument Lane Depot/Station, why was it so called when Monument Lane seemed to be no where near the location.

Dave W

Dave - In his book 'Monument Lane Loco Shed' Tony Higgs states that its a mystery as to why Monument Lane station and shed were so named. Monument Lane was sited over half a mile away from the site which actually lay alongside St Vincent Street and Sheepcote Street. Tony writes that in 1878 Monument Lane later became Monument Road but neither the station nor the engine shed had their name changed to suit. I noted from his book that when first mooted the shed was initially identified as the 'Crescent' but within a month it had been named Monument Lane. Therefore my guess is that Monument Lane was the nearest thoroughfare of consequence and therefore the shed and station was so named. St Vincent Street and Sheepcote were probably built later or if they were in existence they were not of any note. Mike

I was at the time perusing the record for the account of the 1955 derailment of Gresley 2-6-2 60828 at Barby (which I found - I had also visited the actual site of the accident as the recovery operation was in progress), but there is so much to see that my interest inevitably wandered on. For interest here is an image of the same loco, 60828, seen approaching Rugby with a down freight on 11 April 1963.

Tony Newman

I regret to inform you that Geoffrey Kingscott has passed away. He was diagnosed with cancer last October and died peacefully at home in Sawley on Wednesday 2nd March 2011.

Roger Kingscott

Geoffery was a well known author being responsible for some of the books in the Lost Railways series of which 'Lost Railways of Warwickshire' was his final book. He will be greatly missed by his friends, family and colleagues.

Dear Mike. It is a very long time since you and I met when I use to frequent Modellers World back in the early 1980's. Barry fired many of us with enthusiasm for the hobby and I started producing turned brass parts for his 'O' Gauge range moving on to run my own hobby business, Ultima Models. Thirty years on I now work for Bachmann as a Design Engineer. One of our Graphics team came across your website and advised I should have a look. I use to live close to Three Spires Junction and I can see you are limited on images taken at this location. Re-calling I had some old images stashed away which are starting to fade I have had them scanned to help preserve them. Most were taken in 1971 when I was learning to work with B&W film and a few are by my late father. I have attached a few to see if you are interested?

Regards, Colin Allbright, Bachmann Europe Plc

Many thanks for the old photos of Solihull Station. I've been thinking of doing something similar for many years before the information was lost forever but you have now saved me the work. The photos are priceless. The Solihull signalbox nameplate is now in the Thinktank in Birmingham.

Chris Barber

Nice site, lots of memories. Regarding photograph mrcgy698, this was 58283 at Harborne Station, not Central Goods. The factory in the background was Chad Valley Toys. 58271 was on the other end, with the different reporting number board, and the SLS headboard. Seehttp://www.sixbellsjunction.co.uk/50s/590530sl.html

Charles Steele

Charles. Many thanks for the correction which I have to say had been pointed out to me previously but I had failed to correct. I have a number of new photos of Harborne to add and thought that by now I would have been working on the Harbourne line. I promise to action this soon.

My grandfather was a driver on the Midland Railway between the wars starting work in Sheffield at a steel works. He went out to Argentina when they were starting their railways and later the family moved to Stockingford. So I was thrilled to find your photo of the station there, as far as I remember a somewhat draughty place. All the best, I'll be back.

SE Haseltine

I would like to ask you a question about Flecknoe Station. You say that the station closed to passenger traffic in 1952 but that there was a school service that ran from Warwick to Flecknoe in the mornings and afternoons until passenger services were withdrawn in 1958. Did this service still continue to Flecknoe after 1952 or did it terminate at Napton & Stockton Station after Flecknoe was closed. I've always been interested in this line when I was a youngster in the early 1970s some friends and I walked the whole length of it on two separate occasions we lived in Rugby so we walked down the old Great Central to where the lines crossed each other near Braunston and then got on to the line there.

The trackbed was still negotiable but all the lines stations had been dismantled until you got to Long Itchington where the line was still being used for cement traffic. A friend I use to work with told me that on one occasion in the early sixties when the West Coast Main Line was being electrified his train from Euston to Rugby was rerouted along there. On another occasion around 1987 after the cement traffic had finished I visited the line at Long Itchington and came across some Irish navvies ripping up the track I found this rather ironic as it was probably their ancestors that built the line.

Yours sincerely Graham Cox

Hi Graham. I cannot answer your specific question relating to the school service as I do not have the information to hand. However the withdrawal of a regular passenger service may not have prevented the school service from running if passenger trains were still scheduled to stop at other stations on the line. There are numerous instances of workmen trains running without these being included in standard timetables. The route Rugby to Leamington to Birmingham (via the Kenilworth to Berkswell branch) was indeed used as an alternative route during electrification as was the Coventry to Nuneaton route (see Pete Squire's entry below). Regards Mike.

Dear Mr Musson I'm researching the history of the Warwick Fire Brigade, with a view to producing a web site history of the Brigade, and I wondered if you knew the whereabouts of a photo or illustration of the original GWR station that was situated in the Coventry Road. I believe it was built in the 1850s. As you may know, the station was destroyed by fire on 19th May 1894, and a new station was constructed in its place. I attach a scan of an Edwardian postcard which shows the new station, which you can add to your site if you wish. If you are able to help, or point me in the right direction, I would be most grateful.

Sincerely Derek Parsons

Derek - Many thanks for the photograph which is now on the website awaiting a caption by my colleague Robert Ferris. I had not realised that the station was rebuilt because the original had been damaged by fire. I will see if there are any photographs of the original station to be found and will keep you up to date with my efforts. Regards Mike.

I have just "bumped into" your website, excellent. I have quite a number of photo's taken by my late father John Gain in the 40s & 50s. I will sort out some & you may like to use them. Be in touch.

Graham Gain

Graham - I look forward to seeing any photos that you may kindly offer to add to the website. Best wishes Mike.

I am after many years trying to build my model railway. I have decide to base it on a Warwickshire station, most likely Leamington Ave or Coventry. I am trying to collate some old photo's and site plans, my buildings may not be accurate but I hope to emulate the basic lay out. Many thanks for your website.

Pete Eden (Wellesbourne). Warwickshire born and bred.

Hi Pete. It was always my ambition to build a scale model of Coventry station which I started but never got beyond the tracklaying stage. I think you will find that the layout will be over 30 feet long and that you will need to provide a non-prototypical scenic break near to the shed. Leamington Avenue would be simpler but there again its close proximity to the GWR station does in my opinion require this too to be included in any layout. If I was to model a LNWR station then I think I would try Tile Hill station or Berkswell as both had express services passing through combined with a goods service. Berkswell obviously has the Kenilworth branch to add some variety of traffic. Best wishes - Mike

Hi Mike. - I have really enjoyed looking at your site. I grew up in the early 60s around Stoke in Coventry. I went to watch the sky blues play at Highfield Road one afternoon and can clearly remember being more interested in the steam emanating from the Coventry loop line around Gosford Green than the football. I can also remember walking down to the footbridge at Gosford Green with my grandad and watching for movement in the signal box to tell us something was on its way!!! As I grew older the steam disappeared to be replaced by diesels predominantly on car trains to either Gosford Green or Bell Green. I have some quite good records of these and some pictures – it is just a matter of finding them! There was another siding on this loop line up by Barras Heath that served the fruit and veg market there – it was visible from the Burlington Road overbridge and sometimes in the late afternoon banana vans would arrive hauled by a Class 25.

Some other good reference books which include some info on the area (and other places you cover) include:- LNWR Branch lines by Geoffrey Hurst (ISBN 0947796169) includes good signal box shots on the line; John Boynton's London and Birmingham Railway between Birmingham and Coventry (ISBN 0952224879); British Railways Past and Present No5 has a cracking photo of an 8F at Foleshill, also in Branch Lines of Warwickshire by Colin Maggs (ISBN 0750903171). Lastly the Signalling Record Society's Layout and Plans Volume 11 has some great plans to bring back old memories. I was lucky enough to spend a little time in Gibbet Hill box on the Leamington line whilst young – a box I have been unable to find a photo of! When I find my records and pictures I will drop you a line (includes a class 37 at Gosford Green on the day the wires were down on the WCML and Westerns were running through Coventry to Paddington (also photos somewhere). I will also drop some notes on the guest book shortly.

Thanks, Pete Squire

Thanks for letting me surf around the LMS. As a locomotive fireman at Rugby '2A' from 1953 to 1963 it gave me great pleasure to to look at some of the old stations, some that no longer exist. good luck, and thanks again. PS: would love to find more pictures of the testing station at Rugby.

Mike

Mike - So would I. For some reason I have had little luck in finding much information on the Testing station. Regards Mike.

What a fantastic resource! I was searching for "platform mounted signal cabins", hoping to justify placing one on my single line branch model. Perfect. I wonder if there are sister sites for other areas?

George Speller

Hi George. I understand there are some 'county' websites but they do not enjoy the wealth of photos thatwe have. Regards Mike.

Hello Mike, we are a number of modelers in the Birmingham area that have decided to to start a model club in the south of the city. Having chosen on the name of Bournville Model Railway Club we thought a model of Bournville shed would make a good start with you web site being an inspiration to a number of our members (the flattery touch). We would like to include a couple of pictures uploaded from your site on a flyer we will be placing in a local model shop and local libraries. If we need permission to use the photos will you please let us know who and how we need to get in touch with the owners. I have enclosed a copy of the proposed flyer. Thank you for your time.

Chris Barker, Bournville Model Railway Club.

Hi Chris. May I wish you all of the best luck in starting your new club. Once you have formly launched the club I would be most willing to promote it on the relevant webpage. As you know I have sent you the contact information in order to obtain permission from the owners of the photographs. Best wishes Mike.

Dear Mike. Thank you for providing such a wonderful resource. You and your fellow contributors are to be warmly congratulated. I grew up in Warwickshire, from Brummie parents though we moved to Earlswood before WWII. So I know first hand many of the places you have documented, including the original Snow Hill and New Street Stations. Unfortunately I never owned a camera otherwise what wonderful photos I could have taken to add to your rich resource! I do remember standing at the Up end of New Street, before the demolition and looking across the LNWR tracks. This platform end was the favorite among trainspotters. I also remember asking an older trainspotter why we never saw any LMS Pacifics in New Street. I remember his reply, he suggested that they had found the Worcester Street tunnel too tight. In fact there was a story going around that it was City of Birmingham that actually got stuck in the approach tunnel. Personally I have always doubted this but wondered if you had ever heard the same?

With my very best regards, Paul Ashton

Hi Paul. I never heard that story myself and whilst it was very tight in Worcester Street tunnel it did not prevent LMS Pacifics from entering New Street as can be seen from lnwrbns_br2003.htm. It is true that very few were evident at New Street but I suspect that this was due to them being rostered on much longer and heavier services (Liverpool and Carlisle) than those found at New Street. Regards Mike.

Found your site whilst browsing the net for information on Private Owner Wagons during the Christmas break. Got carried away browsing through all the images on the site, but did find a lot of interesting photos with Private Owner wagons in them, thought not possible to read all the detail on any of them due to pixel size. But I will be contacting the credited supplier to obtain photo quality prints, I know some of them personally. I am particularly interested in Private Owner wagons from a railway modelling aspect, primarily those of the Midlands.

I was also interested in the Images of Monument Lane Shed & Station, as these were my local trainspotting locations during school years. If only I'd had a camera then. There is a minor error with the Caption to Image 'lnwrmlsh1508', listed under Monument Lane Station, it should be under the Shed. The locomotive has, has the caption states just left the New Street Tunnel, and the Shed is immediately on the left has the train leaves the tunnel, ie. the Shed is immediately on the right of the loco looking at the photo. Still looking for a photo of the Station from the road. I'll be returning to browse this site on many occasion. Keep up the excellent job you are doing on this task.

David J. Hudson

For somebody that never knew steam on the main lines this is a wonderful glimpse into a special time in transport history. Thanks for all the hard work and time you have put into this amazing site. Not to mention the porthole it provides in a part of England that my family came from; a delight to view from my home in Canada.

Matthew Jones

Just found your site. I was fireman at Saltley from 1946 until 1953 minus 2 years on National Service. I have a photo of Black 5 44747 at New Street if you are interested. Keep up the good work.

John Matthews

I have now done some work on my new NWL section and have pasted a link to it below. There is more to do, including some interior shots of Henley box taken by one of the signallers on the day that it was demolished and I hope to put these up over the coming few days, but you can get a feel for the past 20 odd years from what is currently there. See http://www.petertandy.co.uk/nwl_2010.html

Kind regards Peter Tandy

Peter - Thanks for sharing your photos of the signal box at Henley just prior to its demolition. Regards Mike

A fascinating site with many photos of things I repaired, or sadly, removed in my 28 years with the British Rail Civil Engineering Department. We completely refurbished the central section of Rugby station roof a few years before they decided to remove it completely, and I have spent many shifts in Kilsby tunnel. I understand it was dug from both ends, and in both directions from the two large air shafts. Digging from one of the shafts met an underground river, drowning many men, and delaying the tunnel build until after the railway was opened. People and goods were transferred around the gap by horse and carriage. One of the castellated towers at a large shaft suffered serious damage in the October 1987 storm, and we rebuilt the top, with advice from English Heritage, as they are listed buildings. The painting of Kilsby Tunnel is one of the many small ventilation shafts, the large ones have a diameter greater than the tunnel width. There was a story that they are 60' diameter to allow rails to be turned, and it's not true. You don't need to rotate a rail to use the other side, you just swap right and left rails, quite apart from which, when it was built the rails weren't 60' long.

Stephen Blyth

Fantastic, very informative, a good resource.

Daniel Spraggett

Hi. At the turn of the 20th century my great uncle was a engine driver for the L.M.S. I am trying to research him as I work on the railway as a track inspector. I was wondering if you could help. His name was Arthur Holland, I think he drove engines in the Birmingham area from around 1910 to ? This is all I know and would be over the moon if you could shed some light on my search.

Thank you Paul Riley

I came across your site whilst I was looking for a photo of an Ivatt Mogul running in reverse with a passenger train, and your site provides such a photo (Ref mra134 Ivatt at Alcester). It is a good photo too. What is the copyright position on this photo? I act as a sub-editor for the journal issued by the Hornby Railway Collectors' Association (HRCA), which is an Association of enthusiasts who own and run old Hornby Trains. We are non-profit-making organisation, run by volunteers. I am thinking of asking the Editor of our Journal to include this photo in an article that I am in the process of sub-editing. Are there any copyright problems that I ought to know about? Would be enough simply to acknowledge the source of the photo, or would I need to do more than that? If I am 'cleared' to use it, is it available as a denser, higher-quality image? Thank you for your help in this matter.

Robert Wilson

I put Robert in touch with someone who could supply the photograph.

There have not been any updates since the end of July. I am concerned that the webmaster has become ill. If so I wish you a speedy recovery and I hope that you can continue to contribute to this fine site.

Barry Purslow (EX Birmingham now in California)

I am pleased to report that its the amount of work I am having to do at the moment which is stopping me from populating the website. I work for an Regional Development Agency focused on trying to improve the ICT regional supplier industry. The annual conference & awards being held in November have coincided with the closure of the RDA by the government so I am trying to do my job in parallel with trying to launch a new business. I appreciate your kind words both about the website and my health. By the way - I have been working on Kings Heath station and its now complete.

Absolutly wonderful and top of the line with details. Keep up the fantastic work.

David Moss

I came across your website by accident, but am entirely bowled over by the quality and quantity(!) of content. I can easily see me spending many hours just browsing the atmospheric and educational photos you display - and all for free! A brilliant site, well done indeed.

Mike Lence

Very interesting site, superb photos. My grandparents lived either side of main line bridge in Albany road Coventry, so I know the area well. Excellent work. Thanks.

Keith Poynton

Wonderful photos that bring back a lot of memories.

Matt Little

Love your web site. I will be back to continue looking at all the great information you have and the historical, well-captioned pictures. Only wish there was a site like this for Notts & Derbys. Thanks for all your work on keeping this up.

Tim Holmes

What a truly wonderful site! It has given me hours of pleasure already as well as many modelling ideas. Keep up the good work - it is very appreciated.

Will Finn

I've just discovered your website. I was brought up in Leicester and my father and I visited Nuneaton a number of times in the early 1960s. Your pictures are a fantastic resource that I will come back to often. Are you looking for more photos for the site? I do have some good quality shots taken by my father at Nuneaton on those trips. One correction if I may - the following photograph is at Leicester (London Road), not Nuneaton. BR Standard No 70014 is hauling 'The Palatine' and is entering the station from the north.

Cheers for now, John Clayson

Hi John. Many thanks for the correction - the photo is now deleted. Regarding the offer of some photos they were superb and are now on the website. See 'lnwr_tam2103', 'lnwrns2104' and 'lnwrns2105'.

I came across your website by accident, but am entirely bowled over by the quality and quantity(!) of content. I can easily see me spending many hours just browsing the atmospheric and educational photos you display - and all for free! A brilliant site, well done indeed.

Mike Lence

Hi Mike. I must say how great it was to find your site! I was born a stones throw from Monument Lane railway in Shakespeare Road and it formed most of my childhood, I spent many happy hours train spotting there in fact it was my childhood! The only regret I have is that I do not have my Train spotters books they would be worth a fortune now! the engine shed and other pictures are intriguing because they were my playing ground, in fact me and my chums at the time were always being told to "get off the railway" I have a good knowledge of the area and lived there until my family were rehoused in the slum clearance programme of the sixties, In one 'photo of the carriage works there is a shot of a saw mill which later became part of Frank Moseley's garage, dealing with Armstrong Siddley motor cars! I worked there from 1957 to 1963, my favorite train was Polyphemus which was G W R 55678 Jubilee class, I saw this loco all the time shunting and such at the local shed, there was a significant storage capacity at 3F (Monument Lane) and why I didn't become a railway man I shall never know! I could write a book of my experiences in Ladywood during my time there! but that's another story!

Graham Wigley

Very interesting to see the pictures of Kenilworth. A sad state of affairs today.

Ken Chitty

Mike - have just come across your site. I bought a reproduction of the 1899 / 1901 OS map for my area (Ilmington) and was Googling to learn more about the Moreton to Stratford upon Avon Tramway and the branch to Shipston-on-Stour, so I was really pleased to find all the information and photographs on your excellent site, and equally pleased to look at Kenilworth where I was brought up. It prompted me that somewhere, I have some photos of Kenilworth Station circa 1970 that were given to me by the late Walter Whiteman who ran his business from the station site - they stem from a school project which I managed to persuade my teachers to permit as a rail enthusiast! Thank you, great site.

Tim Allen

Mike. I must begin by saying a huge thank you for the Warwickshire Railways site; I'm a Coventrian now living in Cardiff and it so takes me back. I was educated at Bablake and lived not that far from the Coventry loop line both of which have always fascinated me. As your sit proves, the Warwick railway scene was amazing, where else could you see three of the big four. I always think to have seen A3s on the GCR, Kings on the GWR and Duchesses on the WCML must have really been something-oh, I was born far too late! Anyhow just in case they are of interest I was photographing in the 70s and early 80s and took slides on Kodachrome of Newdigate's Sidings box just before (and I do mean just before!) closure and demolition. When these were taken, the Newdigates colliery branch had already been lifted. I was also extremely fortunate to cadge a footplate ride from Marton to Southam cement works and back and was able to capture this on slides too. I'm enclosing a couple of scans to see if they are of interest. If you would like to see more, please let me know. I appreciate they are relatively recent but in another sense they are ancient history now. Just like those Class 25 that trolled up and down past the windows of my Bablake classrooms for years those rakes of 16 ton minerals that went on for ever! Very best wishes and many thanks again.

Martin Kavanagh

Hello, excellent site, as a kid I grew up opposite the railway at Willenhall, Coventry. Witnessing the electrification and demise of steam. Is it possible to advise me of the following, a) The last steam workings through Coventry. b) Any contacts you may have re photos in the area of that period 1965 - 67.

Regards, Alistair Durham.

The Casserley photo at Bournville ref 'mrb18' shows a STOP sign on the wall at the entrance to the shed. I would like to know the exact wording of this sign - can you assist please? Alternatively have you a good resolution copy I can purchase in order to enlarge the section with the sign? Photo ref 'mrb685' shows the position of the sign following removal at closure of the shed.

Kind Regards - Robin Whittle

Robin - I have sent you a close up of the sign but it is too indistinct to help much. The photo was scanned at 300 pixels so it is the best image possible. I have copied John Dews into this email as John has written many off the captions on the shed and he might be able to help you further. All the best - Mike

Great site. I am attempting to create a model of the GWR (set 1935-9) around Hatton. I lived at Lapworth in the Seventies and recall the ex-GWR locos climbing Hatton Bank on Sunday afternoon specials. Good memories.

Jerry Wray

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