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Golden Age of Steam or dirty age- Birmingham Mail

Hi jennyann, I think there was a programme on that subject on bbc3 or 4 I. Caught apart about sending the flying scotsman to the knackers yard to be stripped and the efforts by railway enthusiasts to save her. A millionaire bought it at the last minute and it was sold from one millionaire to another. Until finally british rail saw sense and bought it for the railway museum. It's a shame a beatiful piece of machinery like that only saw 40 yrs service. Regards nijinski
 
I saw that link, and copy and pasted it into the New Street 1960s thread. (before I saw this one).

I hope that the Camp Hill line reopens in the future. We need stations in Kings Heath and Moseley (lost over 70 years ago). Believe the idea is for that line to go into Moor Street, not New Street.

Think there was a article on Beeching in last weeks Birmingham Mail, highlighting the various lines that were closed.
 
I remember in Yardley in the late 40s early 50s the, what we now call SMOG' been so thick I use to find my way home by feeling along the walls in the street, also once or twice walking in front of my Dads Rover coming home from Granddads in Smethwick having to walk in front of the car to find the way. Coal and coke the culprit? John Crump OldBrit, Parker, Colorado USA
 
Steam engines didn't produce 'SMOG' that was a combination of coal fires and factory chimneys...
 
I had left working at New Street Station before the Beeching Report came out. I agree Neville about the steam trains not producing smog. It was the factories and coal fires
that made the buildings in Birmingham black. It was part of the scene at that time. My office at New Street Station was above Platform One and the only
annoyance we had was the smell from the station incinerators which perculated in through air vents. I enjoyed exploring the stations waiting rooms especially in the winter
since they had coal fires, really good built up ones, They were a great place to keep warm and read. New Street Station was a great place to see some amazing steam engines being prepped for their journeys by dedicated staff.

Thanks Ell. I was up very late and posted the story from the Birmingham Mail. We are eight hours behind GMT here in Vancouver.
 
You got that right! But the coal and factory chims as you say did! I did not say that the trains did but that I do remember the smell and the smoke. John Crump OldsniffsniffBrit. Parker, Co USA
 
Don't know if it is generally known, but Dr. Beeching had a close, if brief, association with Birmingham. Between 1953 and 1955 he was Chairman of ICI Metals Division whose HQ and principal manufacuring site was at Witton (Kynoch). It was during his reign that the multi-storey office block was built on the site and inevitably gained the nickname of "Beeching's Folly". According to the Birmingham Mail report, he lived in Solihull at the time.

He went on from there to become Technical Director of ICI as a whole and later was headhunted by the Government and given the remit to come up with ideas of what to do about the railways.

Chris
 
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jennyann said:
Thanks Ell. I was up very late and posted the story from the Birmingham Mail. We are eight hours behind GMT here in Vancouver.
Click to expand...

I'm going back to New Street in a few weeks time, to see the "old" 1960s concourse before it closes for redevelopment (amongst other things).

How long have you been living in Canada for? Do you miss Birmingham?

We just went to BST (British Summer Time) early on Sunday morning.
 
Neville Philpott said:
Steam engines didn't produce 'SMOG' that was a combination of coal fires and factory chimneys...
Click to expand...
SMOke plus foG gave us the name SMOG. I remember one of the newspapers invented the word. SMOG was evil stuff, it hung around for days on end and was lethal to anyone with a chest complaint.
 
Hi Ell: Looking forward to seeing your recent photos of the Concourse, etc. at New Street Station. I first went to Canada in 1963 to work
for my cousin Bill Fisher in Peterborough, Ontario. Bill was born in Birmingham and founded a very successful precision Engineering company in P'Boro. My Father's sister and her husband emigrated from Birmingham to Peterborough in 1912, but came back to Brum for a few years when WW1 broke out. My father, at one point,emigrated to Canada in the late 1920's. Due to the Depression he came back to Birmingham in the early 1930's. I had so many great adventures in Canada and the USA, that I didn't come back to Birmingham for very long. It was very expensive to fly to England and the first of many trips in 1965 back to England and Brum took me almost a year to save up for. My parents came to Canada several times later on over the years mostly to Vancouver where I now live.

I attended school for almost three years on Corporation Street in the early 1950's and got to know the centre of Brum pretty well. I usually visit Brum area for
six weeks and have a lot of time to re-explore the city, etc. I miss seeing my friends and my brother who lives in Sutton Coldfield but am in touch with many people via the Internet.
 
I'm not sure if I'll take anything of the old concourse, but will prob take trains down on the platforms (before getting a train myself). But some of my Flickr contacts probably have it.

All of my New Street shots to date are here Birmingham New Street Station

One from last time - this train is the main local train on all the New Street lines (Cross City line)

 
Lord Beeching eventually returned to ICI after his stint with BR...

ChrisM said:
Don't know if it is generally known, but Dr. Beeching had a close, if brief, association with Birmingham. Between 1953 and 1955 he was Chairman of ICI Metals Division whose HQ and principal manufacuring site was at Witton (Kynoch). It was during his reign that the multi-storey office block was built on the site and inevitably gained the nickname of "Beeching's Folly". According to the Birmingham Mail report, he lived in Solihull at the time.

He went on from there to become Technical Director of ICI as a whole and later was headhunted by the Government and given the remit to come up with ideas of what to do about the railways.

Chris
Click to expand...
 
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