GWR Routes: Banbury to Wolverhampton

GWR Routes: North Warwickshire Line

Bordesley Viaduct: gwrbg1716a

Close-up showing the work involved in extending the viaduct from two to four sets of tracks. A temporary narrow gauge contractor’s railway was installed to transport the required materials. In the foreground is one of a pair of bitumen boilers. A thick layer of bitumen was applied to the top of both the main and subsidiary brick arches to provide a waterproof membrane. This was intended to prevent water from seeping down into the masonry and causing damage to the structure. Snow Hill station was still being reconstructed at this time and the temporary Moor Street Station had opened on 1st July 1909 to relieve traffic there. The lower bracket stop signal with the route indicator controlled access from the down main line to the two station platform roads and sidings at Moor Street.

Robert Ferris

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