I understand that Carl Chinn on his guided walks states that the Viaduct from Bordesley Street to Curzon Street never had a train work along it. Whilst it is probably fair to state that a train never covered the whole length, apart from may be a contractors train, the section from Bordesley to Liverpool Street had track, a double line, which first was associated with the Goods Depot and later with the cattle dock. I recall seeing a 9F 2-10-0 at the head of waggons on the viaduct in the 1960's.
A question that needs to be resolved is whether there was an arch that spanned Great Barr Street, or whether the contractors building this viaduct were told to stop before completion.
The alignment of this viaduct was intended to meet up with the Grand Junction Railway, who, at first, helped to promote the Birmingham & Oxford Junction Railway. This state of affair had been the result of high freight charges imposed by the London & Birmingham Railway.
It would appear the need for moving goods, was not only to influence the GWR expansion into South Staffordshire, but also another the Oxford, Worcester & Wolverhampton, then a separate undertaking.