LMS Route: Stratford Midland Junction - The Shakespeare Route

Stratford on Avon Station: smjsa261a

Close up of image 'smjsa261' showing the entrance to the former SMJ goods yard and on the right, the yard crane. The crane was fixed in the location but could operate on a 360° arc thereby serving the lines on either side of it. It was manually operated which would have required a great deal of 'elbow grease' on the part of the yard labourer. According to the 1894 and 1929 editions of the Railway Clearing House Hand-book of Stations the crane capacity was increased from 4 ton to 13 tons over these years. Interesting to note is that the GWR's crane located in its yard near Birmingham Road remained rated at 5 tons from 1894 to 1929, the last date the author has information on.

back