Birmingham New Street - Southern Approaches: lnwrbhm_sa2314b

Close up of image 'lnwrbhm_sthn_app2314' showing the bridge carrying the former New Street to Vauxhall line over the slow lines into and out of Curzon Street Goods yard. The complexity of the trackwork is quite apparent when counting the number of signals. On the left is a bracket signal controlling traffic travelling towards the photographer. It has three arms, one of which is much smaller than the other two denoting its use for accessing sidings, a less important role than the others. Immediately in front of this bracket signal is a post with a single arm controlling traffic travelling away from the photographer. To the right of these signals and in the centre of the picture are two other posts carrying signals. One has two arms and controls traffic travelling towards the camera whilst the other post controls traffic travelling away from the camera. This latter post has one arm on the top and might have a smaller repeater arm at the base of the post. On the right of the tracks is a bracket signal which projects outwards two arms, one above the other, controlling traffic travelling towards the camera. Clearly the reason for much of this complexity is due to the location of Curzon Street Goods Station and the difficulty of accessing the yard. Richard Foster in his series of books entitled Birmingham New Street - The Story of a Great Station including Curzon Street, recounts the different procedures the LNWR, later the LMS and British Railways, adopted to minimise disruption to main line traffic whilst maximising the efficiency of the yard. For a view of Curzon Street GoodsStation taken from the viaduct see image 'lnwrcs2316'.

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