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Shires & Midlands

A Railwayman's View - BR Western Region by Peter Collins > Shires & Midlands

 

 

The photographs in this collection are from the Shires & Midlands section of Peter Collins' Railwayman's View Book Volume One - BR Western Region.

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Images 1-35 of 35 displayed.

LPPC DSL BW 0918 It’s high summer as one of the through London to Hereford expresses, headed by a Brush Type 4 Class 47, heads past the long-closed Malvern Wells station and is about to join the single-line through Colwall Tunnel under the Malvern Hills. The photo was shot standing on the junction bridge of the line to Tewkesbury and Ashchurch via Upton on Severn. This was closed in December 1952, but the section from Upton onwards remained open to passengers until 1961 and freight until December 1964. That part terminated at Ashchurch, as will be seen later in this collection. Keywords: BR, Western, Class 47, Malvern Wells, Passenger
LPPC DSL BW 1268 Waiting at Malvern Wells’ westbound outer home signal is a three-car Birmingham area WR DMU which has probably formed a Birmingham New Street to Great Malvern stopper via Stourbridge Junction. It will soon draw forward across to the up line to return to Great Malvern to form a service back to New Street. It is some time since the goods loop was last used as there were no longer any booked freight trains running between Worcester and Hereford. The LMS branch to Upton upon Severn and Ashchurch diverged in the far background, just before the loop turnout. The line then ran behind the bushes to the right, to Malvern Hagley Road station which was out of sight behind and to the right of the photographer. Keywords: BR, Western, DMU, Malvern Wells, Passenger
LPPC DSL BW 1298 Slowing for the single-line junction before heading through Colwall Tunnel under the Malvern Hills, is a Hymek Type 3 Class 35 on the Hereford portion of an express from London, which would have been detached from the main train at Worcester Shrub Hill. It is believed that on this stretch of line, from the top of the Malvern Hills, the sight and sound of what was possibly a Saint, or a City, on much the same train as depicted, was enough to inspire Edward Elgar to write the ‘Pomp and Circumstance’ marches. Keywords: BR, Hymek, 1C78, Western, Passenger, Class 35, Colwall Tunnel, Malvern
LPPC DSL BW 1299 Passing the site of the long-closed Malvern Wells station, which was located between the bridge and the signalbox, is a Hymek Class 35 heading an up afternoon Hereford to London Paddington express. It is just about to pass the 130 milepost from the capital. Through the bridge on the hill can be made out, in the far distance, the buildings situated around the Wyche road cutting at Little Malvern, on Herefordshire Beacon, one of the most picturesque of the routes that allow vehicles access over the hills to Herefordshire. Keywords: BR, Western, Hymek, Class 35, Malvern Wells, Passenger
LPPC DSL BW 1267 The mid-afternoon London to Hereford service rattles past the photographer as it heads away from Great Malvern towards Colwall Tunnel, with the Hymek Class 35 D7003 thrumming healthily in charge of a Commonwealth-bogied SK and a B4-bogied BFK. Both are well-filled with passengers, many of whom seem to be interested in the man in the field with a camera. Keywords: BR, Western, Hymek, Class 35, D7003, Colwall Tunnel, Passenger
LPPC DSL BW 1294 By the 1980s, the Hereford line was graced with the presence of cascaded Class 50 Co-Cos made redundant on the LMR by electrification. In Spring/Summer 1983 an immaculate 50 031 ‘Hood’ heads a rake of Mark 2Ds, with a Mark 2B BFK at the front, past the site of Newland Engineers Sidings as it approaches the Malvern Hills in the down direction. In steam days this was a bit of a racing ground for Worcester engines on Hereford ex-London portions. I have recorded well over 80mph at this point behind a Hall and the engineers’ sidings were always busy. So much so, that one of the elusive WR PWM 65X series 165hp 0-6-0 shunters was permanently allocated there for many years. The Class 50 had been ‘twinned’ with the HMS Hood Association on 22nd April 1983 at Old Oak Common, where crests were applied above the nameplate. The locomotive survives today and is based at the Severn Valley Railway. Keywords: BR, Western, Class 50, 50031, 'Hood', Malvern, Passenger
LPPC DSL BW 1295 The Class 50 (50031, 'Hood') races away towards Malvern Link station whilst the Hills tower above. On the left is Worcestershire Beacon, at just over 400 metres the highest point of the range. On the right is North Hill. Standing on the summit of the Beacon it is easily possible to watch the progress of a train from Malvern Link station all the way to the site of Malvern Wells. If you stand on the summit of the Beacon and look due east, there is no land of the same altitude until the Ural mountains in Russia. Keywords: BR, Western, Class 50, 50031, 'Hood', Malvern, Passenger
LPPC DSL BW 0618 Local spotters gather round the front-end of a Hymek Class 35 (possibly 7001) at Worcester Shrub Hill’s down main platform end. Having arrived from Paddington, the signal would suggest the loco is about to go on-shed. The line to the right is for Kidderminster and Bromsgrove whilst to continue to Hereford would require the left signal arms to clear. Keywords: BR, Western, Hymek, Class 35, D7001, Worcester Shrub Hill, Passenger, Spotters
LPPC DSL BW 0788 A smart Peak Class 45 number 44 (later 45035), with even smarter Mark 1 stock rounds the curve from Droitwich into Worcester Shrub Hill station with the 1V67 Leeds to Paignton service, a North and West route train – Cross Country today. Most of the expresses on this route by-passed Worcester. Behind the train is Worcester locomotive depot 85A, whilst on the right is the site of Worcester loco and carriage works. Keywords: BR, Peak, Class 45, 44, D44, 45035, Worcester Shrub Hill, 1V67, 85A
LPPC DSL BW 0789 A Hymek Class 35 thrums away outside Worcester loco depot between Cotswold route workings, with an adjacent three-car Metropolitan Cammell Class 101 DMU waiting its booked working to Birmingham. For the spotter, the traffic on view at Worcester was always an eclectic mix of WR and LMR passenger and freight. Keywords: BR, Western, Worcester Shrub Hill, Hymek, Class 35, Class 101, DMU, Shed, Depot 85A
LPPC DSL BW 0630 Worcester loco depot – 85A - is busy in this scene, with a Brush Type 4 Class 47 (1647 - later 47063) flanked on both sides by Hymek Type 3 Class 35s. These latter capable and attractive locos ended their Class 1 days working trains on the London/Oxford/Hereford Cotswold Lines before final withdrawal. They were also adopted at this time as Lickey Incline bankers. If you substituted WR Castle and Hall 4-6-0s for the diesels, the scene would look much the same as the 1960s. Keywords: BR, Western, Worcester Shrub Hill, Depot, Shed, 85A, Hymek, Class 47, Class 35, 1647, 47063
LPPC DSL BW 0631 From the driver’s seat of a WR Cross Country Class 119 DMU in the down Hereford bay at Worcester Shrub Hill, we see a Hymek Type 3 Class 35 going on shed after working in on an express from London. 85A is, typically, bustling with movements and stabled locos, with Classes 45 and 47 visible in addition to the Hymeks and a DMU, whilst a light Sulzer Type 2 Class 25 is creeping round the goods line on the right. Keywords: BR, Western, Worcester Shrub Hill, Class 25, Class 35, Hymek, Class 47, Class 45, Class 101, DMU, Shed, Depot, 85A
LPPC DSL BW 0619 As suggested previously, if it wasn’t for the Hymek Class 35 in rail-blue it would be difficult to tell that this shot wasn’t taken in the steam era. The train is a Saturday working, the 10.05am 1B28 from London to Worcester, arriving at Worcester Shrub Hill in 1972. The yard pilot Class 08 on the right is probably locked up and stabled ready for Monday morning’s restart. Keywords: BR, Western, Class 35, Hymek, Worcester Shrub Hill, 1972, 1B28, Passenger
LPPC DSL BW 1271 The Lickey Incline was a mecca for enthusiasts in steam days and actually didn’t lose a lot of its appeal thereafter. The sight and sound of a Class 47 working at its limits on a miserably wet Friday afternoon with over 1000 tonnes of oil hung behind it as it headed laboriously towards Blackwell was actually pretty impressive. Even better, Hymek Type 3 Class 35s (and Class 37s) took over banking duties after the 94XX Pannier tanks had all gone. If you thought one Hymek on full power sounded good, you just had to experience three in multiple. Here, in time-honoured fashion, they roll back down to Bromsgrove afterwards to wait for the next big push. D7023 leads this formation. Keywords: BR, Western, Lickey Incline, Hymek, Class 35, Bankers, D7023, Light Engine
LPPC DSL BW 0929 You can almost feel the thrumming of its Maybach engine as a Hymek Type 3 Class 35 charges through the then-closed Honeybourne station ready to attack the climb to Chipping Campden tunnel. The train is the 14.15pm 1A26 from Worcester to London Paddington and was photographed in late 1971. On the right are the Engineers’ Sidings known as Honeybourne Tip and the train is about to pass over the GW Stratford-upon-Avon to Cheltenham line. Keywords: BR, Western, Hymek, Class 35, 1A26, Honeybourne, Passenger
LPPC DSL BW 0876 Saturday afternoon activity at Honeybourne Tip as a single Bogie Bolster is loaded ready for Sunday engineering work with a Class 08 350hp shunter, D3964 (later 08796), on hand to marshal the wagons. What would today’s automated Engineers’ staff and vehicles make of the assorted wagons in use here, along with the classic or vintage Ruston Bucyrus crawler crane? Keywords: BR, Western, Class 08, D3964, 08796, Honeybourne, Freight, Shunter
LPPC DSL BW 0930 D3964 (later 08796), a Worcester allocated Class 08 350hp shunter, is on duty at Honeybourne Tip on a Saturday afternoon assembling an engineers train ready for a working trip on what is now known as the Cotswold Line. It is a sobering thought that the changes that have taken place on Britain’s railways mean that the sight of one of these engines, despite hundreds being built, is now a rare and noteworthy occasion. Keywords: BR, Western, Class 08, Shunter, D3964, 08796, Honeybourne
LPPC DSL BW 0583 Hymek Class 35 D7073 stands in the rain in the reception sidings of Long Marston Army Depot with an enthusiasts’ special titled ‘The Western Trooper’. The train ran on 16th October 1971 and had started in the morning from London Waterloo headed by the Western Class 52 (D1033) of the same name and travelled to Oxford via Staines. There, it diverted onto the remaining, freight-only, part of the Universities Line as far as Bicester Town. After shunting into the Army Depot there, the passengers were treated to a ride on the private railway plus a visit to the Army loco depot before departing with the Western for Oxford (reverse) and then Banbury, Leamington, Stratford on Avon before heading south for Honeybourne, but stopping short at Long Marston where a steam-hauled special was laid on to take participants round the circular private line within the depot. In the meantime, the Western had been replaced with the Hymek for the return journey to Waterloo via Toddington, Cheltenham, Gloucester, Swindon and Reading. A fascinating day’s rail travel. Keywords: BR, Western, Hymek, Class 35, D7073, 'The Western Trooper', Railtour, Passenger, Long Marsden, 1971
LPPC DSL BW 1270 I had been camping in the field from which this shot was taken as I was attending a vintage car event at Prescott hill climb. It had been a beautiful weekend with clear skies and sunshine and being the second weekend in August 1976, it was light by soon after 05.00am. After delaying getting up for an hour or so I could hear what sounded distinctly like a train coming. At this time I assumed the Cheltenham to Honeybourne line was closed, but onward came the sound, so I picked up my camera and this English Electric Type 3 Class 37 powered into sight. The location is between Gotherington and Gretton on what is now the Gloucester & Warwickshire Railway. Less than three weeks later a massive derailment took place only 2 miles further along the line and trains never ran again under British Rail auspices. Keywords: BR, Western, Class 37, 1976, Honeybourne, Engineers
LPPC DSL BW 0786 Emitting that once so-familiar Sulzer Type 2 Class 25 ‘clankety clank’ engine tick-over sound, two late members of the class without corridor connections pause at the end of Gloucester Central’s long main platform. Having crossed the formation from the adjacent Horton Road 85B loco depot, the driver has to change ends before moving off. The lead loco is 7625 (later 25275) which was withdrawn some ten years after this photo was taken, finally broken up at Swindon works in 1984. The headcode would suggest that the locos are due to pick up a special Freightliner, or similar class of traffic. Keywords: BR, Western, Class 25, Gloucester Central, Light Engine, 7625, 25275
LPPC DSL BW 0881 In largely original condition a Peak Class 46 D165 (later 46028) negotiates the tight trackwork of Gloucester Horton Road depot – 85B. Behind it is an ex-GW Fruit D long-wheelbase van in use for the movement of locomotive spare parts between works and depots. The city enjoyed two motive power depots in steam days, the other being Barnwood, which was used by the MR locomotives in the area, both for main-line traffic and the extensive dock lines and sidings. Keywords: BR, Western, Gloucester, Class 46, Peak, D165, 46028, Horton Road, Shed, Depot, 85B
LPPC DSL BW 0977 Another view of Peak Class 46 D165 (later 46028) as it prepares to go off-shed at Gloucester, whilst Class 45 D109 (later 45139), recently repainted in rail-blue, relaxes for the weekend. Keywords: BR, Western, Gloucester, Horton Road, Shed, depot, 85B, Peak, Class 46, Class 45, D165, 46028, D109, 45139
LPPC DSL BW 0880 Spotters discuss the occupants of Gloucester Horton Road depot on a Saturday morning. In steam days all these locos and sidings would have been within 85B’s main shed building. With the Cotswolds behind, there are two Sulzer Type 2 Class 25s, two Peak Class 45s (the front one is a ‘namer’) and three Class 08 350hp shunters waiting for Monday morning. 6V86 must have been a local freight service as the headcode appears on the Peak in this shot as well as the previous one. Keywords: BR, Western, Gloucester, Horton Road, Shed, Depot, 85B, Class 45, Class 08, Class 25, Peak
LPPC DSL BW 0976 A sunny Saturday morning around 1970 and a visit to Gloucester Horton Road motive power depot finds a Hymek Class 35 D7098 stabled with a Peak Class 45 number 74 (later 45051). A further Peak rests in the depot yard beyond. The locomotives are all in fine fettle and look not long out of works. Once steam was eliminated from British Rail, in the fever of modernisation all remaining locomotives had their D or E prefixes deleted, even to the crass lengths of painting over the cast Ds on Hymeks! This was an initial step at renumbering before the computerisation heralded by TOPS required a totally new numbering scheme for the whole BR motive power fleet. At this time Gloucester still boasted two stations, Central, which coped with what were essentially ex Western Region services and Eastgate which was still very much Midland Region focussed, hence the mixture of WR and LMR locos. Keywords: BR, Western, Gloucester, Horton Roadm 85B, Depot, Shed, Class 35, Hymek, D7098, Class 45, 74, 45051, 1970
LPPC DSL CO 00970115-Edit Two of the BR’s Type 2 classes of diesel nestle together for company outside the original motive power depot building of Gloucester Horton Road some time in 1973. On the left is a Brush Type 2 Class 31 5828 (later 31295/31447/31547), originally intended for Eastern Region mixed traffic services. At first fitted with Mirrlees 1365hp power units they were mostly rebuilt with 1470hp English Electric units and spread their wings to venture to the Western and Midland Regions. On the right is an example of British Rail’s most common freight and local working Type 2 diesel, a Sulzer Type 2 Class 25 5202 (later 25052), a type that was also often seen in multiple on passenger relief services and in Scotland. In effect they were Derby’s standard Type 2 diesel locomotive. 5828 would later be the first Class 31 to visit Cornwall during its time at Laira depot for Type training for rail crews. Keywords: BR, Western, Gloucester, Horton Road, 85B, 1973, Class 31, Class 25, 5828, 5202, 31295, 31447, 31547, 25052, Shed, Depot
LPPC DSL BW 0975 A North and West route semi-fast makes its station call at Gloucester Eastgate heading north behind an inevitable Peak Class 45; soon it will be climbing the Lickey Incline. Note the incongruous sight of a Gresley Full Brake BG at the rear of the train. Eastgate was later closed on 1st December 1975 and traffic concentrated on the rebuilt and lengthened Central station. Keywords: BR, Western, Gloucester Eastgate, Class 45, Peak, Gresley, BG, Passenger
LPPC DSL BW 0787 One of the WR Brush Type 2 Class 31s, 5826 (later 31293), that seemed such an inadequate replacement for the Hymeks, gingerly creeps through Gloucester Central with an engineer’s train of ballast from the Parkend or Tintern Quarry in the Forest of Dean. The track layout at the rebuilt and remodelled Central station had been greatly simplified and the train is here joining a reversible through line that enabled, through a set of crossings halfway along the platform, two trains to be berthed in the one long platform at the same time. Keywords: BR, Gloucester Central, Western, Class 31, 5826, 31293, Engineers, 8Z37
LPPC DSL BW 0877 Heading north from Gloucester towards the Lickey Incline the line passes through Cheltenham and soon reaches Ashchurch, which once boasted a triangular junction and platforms as well as a rail flat crossing. On an autumnal Saturday afternoon, a Peak Class 46 thunders at over 90mph through the then-closed station with a southbound North and West Route express. The station closed in November 1971, but has since reopened to serve nearby Tewkesbury. Keywords: BR, Ashchurch, Western, Class 46, Peak, Passenger, Disused
LPPC DSL BW 1126 A special freight, probably conveying perishable traffic from Devon and Cornwall, heads north through Ashchurch behind a Peak Class 45. A new station was built on the site in 1997 enabling it to reopen (on 1st June), but without any of its original branch lines diverging. It is named Ashchurch for Tewkesbury. Keywords: BR, Ashchurch, Class 45, Freight, Peak
LPPC DSL BW 1127 A Brush Type 2 Class 31 number D5823 (later 31291/31456/31556) heads a loose-coupled freight north through Ashchurch. This is exactly the type of traffic of which British Rail was trying obsessively to rid itself of. At the point where the crossover is visible there were originally two converging branch lines. From the left was a loop line from Barnt Green via Evesham and from the right the line from Malvern Wells that came via Upton upon Severn and Tewkesbury. The locomotive appears to have been involved in some sort of front-end collision given the large dent in the right-hand nose door. Keywords: BR, Western, Ashchurch, Freight, 8M99, Collision Damage, D5823, 31291, 31456, 31556, Class 31
LPPC DSL BW 1128 Another split-headcode Peak, Class 45 83 (later 45142), heads north through Ashchurch with another perishable goods train from the South West heading towards the Midlands, although this train appears to also include some mineral wagons. Keywords: BR, Western, Freight, Ashchurch, Class 45, Peak, 83, 45142
LPPC DSL BW 1193 Passengers in this southbound North and West express have just spent a Sunday lunchtime becoming very familiar with the location of the long-closed Bredon station, about two miles north of Ashchurch on the Birmingham-Bristol main line, after their Peak Class 45 failed. Help has arrived in the shape of an English Electric Class 37, presumably from the Gloucester direction on the engineers’ train seen in the far background. Rail ground staff are waiting for the train to cross to the northbound line to pass it by running wrong line. Meanwhile, the theatricals are being enjoyed by a local taking a break from his allotment. The hill on the left takes its name from the village and is Bredon Hill, after which A E Housman wrote his poem On Bredon Hill, after he finished A Shropshire Lad. Keywords: BR, Bredon, Ashchurch, Class 37, Class 45, Drag, rescue, Failed, Passenger
LPPC DSL BW 1144 With the now closed Ford works in the background a Brush Type 4 Class 47 heads into Leamington Spa with a Birmingham New Street to London Paddington semi-fast via High Wycombe. These trains, at the time, were of limited load and operated to very tight timings, with speeds often in excess of 90mph required between stops. On the left is one of the long-lived and numerous Birmingham area three-car suburban DMUs waiting to depart, on a stopping train, for the second-city’s Moor Street terminus. Keywords: BR, Leamington Spa, Western, Class 47, Passenger, DMU
LPPC DSL BW 1146 A Brush Type 4 Class 47 heads a varied assortment of freight wagons south through Leamington Spa on one of its centre roads. The loaded bogie Lowmac in the make-up would suggest that it is to be shunted out at Fenny Compton for the Kineton Army Depot, which is also now used to store disused DMUs, EMUs and rolling-stock. Leamington Spa station itself has been restored to some of the art-deco glory originally designed by the GWR, in particular the up and down station buffets. Keywords: BR, Western, Leamington Spa, Freight, Class 47, Lowmac
LPPC DSL BW 1147 Two Sulzer Type 2 Class 25s pause at the north end of Leamington Spa station. 25259 seen on the far platform is on a parcels working and is soon to take the branchline to the east towards Coventry and beyond. Classmate 25272 is the leading Class 25 of a pair on a timetabled summer extra which will head to Birmingham New Street and further via Solihull. The loco has a recess in the side of the cab for the fitment of automatic tablet exchange apparatus, as it was allocated from new to 65A Eastfield Glasgow for possible work on the West Highland lines, but that never happened. Keywords: BR, Western, Leamington Spa, Class 25, 25272, 25259, Parcels, Passenger

Images 1-35 of 35 displayed.