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Harborne Railway

  • Thread starter Thread starter glaciermint
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glaciermint

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As a child I have vivid memories of playing regularly in Summerfield Park in the children's playground which was at the bottom end of the park at the Dudley Road end. As soon as we heard the steam train coming all the children playing would run to the railway line which ran in a cutting at the edge of the playground. Everyone would lean over the wooden pailings and wave to the driver. I don't suppose any of us had any idea where the train was going from or to.

I have been reading a book called 'Lost lines of Birmingham & the Black Country' (by Nigel Welbourn, pub. Ian Allen) and one of the chapters has helped fill in the details for me. It was what is known as the Harborne branch and ran to Harborne, having been opened in 1874; a half mile branch to the Cape Hill brewery was added in 1909. It began as a freight line but some passenger services were added and by 1910 there were four trains running between 8 and 9a.m. into Birmingham. There were also lunchtime trains run for City workers who wanted to pop home for lunch! It was originally part of the LNWR. Intervening stations were at Hagley Road, Rotton Park Road, Icknield Port Road and Monument Lane. Trams and buses began to provide competition and passenger services stopped way back in 1934.

The line remained for freight however, especially coal, but also for raw materials being delivered to the Chad Valley toy factory (many of you will remember that of course). Mitchells and Butlers also provided much work until they decided to switch to road transport in 1962. After that the line was barely used and closed in 1963. There was a special passenger train run by the Stephenson Locomotive Society as a farewell to the line in 1963 and since this was apparently packed out there may be some of you who remember it.

Although the stations and lines have long since disappeared most of the route is still visible and much of it remains as a footpath. Hopefully this will bring back memories for some as well as adding a little background history as it did for me.

Bob
 
Bob,unless you have already heard of it, the site other forumers have referred to regarding their own areas is www.railaroundbirmingham.co.uk.

When you get to the main page in the group of headings on the top click on the box marked "Regional Map" and the whole past and present railway network of Birmingham is displayed there. You can click on every individual name pictured there but you have to be very accurate with the mouse as there is so much information crammed together.

The line has cropped up in name on a couple of other threads recently-with photos-but you won't find them in the index as the titles of posts referred to other subjects. I'll see if i can refer to my scribbles recently and let you know if you are interested.

A few other out-of-print books with chapters on the subject are floating around, not necessarily in Birmingham but certainly in the West Midlands. I'll put the titles up should i come across them.

Richie.:)
 
I used to live on Hagley Road and go to George Dixon school on City road. Some afternoons on the way home I and some friends would go to play on a 'bomb site' (although I don't think the place had been bombed, just the house demolished and the land abandoned) next to the railway on Hagley Road. Once or twice I saw the train heading towards town, just an engine a few vans and a brake van. I assume it was outgoing freight from the Chad Valley factory.
I got there one day and heard a noise from the track, down in a cutting. When I looked, there was an engine and a long flat wagon, a man with a gas cutting torch and a tracked (like a tank) crane. The engine and wagon would advance a few yards, the man cut through both rails, then the crane would lift the track and sleepers out from the ballast and load it on the wagon. That was the very last train along the line.
 
Bob Thanks for the chance to read some info on the Harborne line. I leived in Ladywood in Friston St till I was about so far as I can work out tillI was 10 yrs old. I had 2 brothers one a year older and one a year younger.
some of our favourite haunts were Summerfield Park Edgbaston Reservoir and a farm which was in a lane alongside the Harborne railway line . I see now by looking at a map of that time that the lane was called Gillhurst Rd. .Well further down you crossed Woodburn Rd and the came to an embankment and so far as I remember and it must have beenso the road at the top of the embankment was still Gilhurst Rd but it was like a main rd the and I do beleive B.Ham City Bus ran along there.
We;; one our good day outs was spent there sliding tobogan style down the embankment on a piesce old tin or anything we could find for a few hours and crawling thru a big pipe underneathe Gillhurst Rd. We would have some carrotts off the allotments that were there at the bottom and at the end of a long exhausting day out make out way back to Hagley Rd . Here mu younger brother would put on his crying act an some kindly passer by would enquire what was wrong and he would tell them he had lost his halfpenny for the bus back to Five Ways. This usually led to getting a halfpenny donated and this would be repeated 3 times so we all got the bus back
In later life at around 14 I worked as a Telegram Boy and at one period of that job worked out of Harborne P.O . I see that the Harborne Good station was only just down the road from the P.O and I suppose I would
have rode past it many times but do not recall it.
I have had great enjoyment reading about the line and seeing the map of the regions railway lines. Especially Rolfe St as I travelled from Rolfe St Fire Station to Monument Lane many a night before getting a motobike .
Well thanks again Cheers Old Brummy
 
Although I was a north Brummie, I have a few early memories of the Harborne line. Most are from visiting relatives in Moorpool Avenue, Harborne. We would get off the bus at Station Road, Harborne, and use the footbridge over the platform to get to a footpath leading straight into Moorpool Avenue.
I can remember seeing the line from a number of places, especially from the top deck of a tram on the Dudley Road at Lee Bridge, where the road crosses the canal and the main Stour Valley line to Wolverhampton - you can still see the remains of the bridge where the branch turned offover the canal and dived under Northbrook Street. We had friends who lived in City Road, and I can remember being taken for a walk round Summerfield Park and seeing the railway in a cutting next to the fence.
Rather later I went on the Stephenson Locomotive Society special train that ran on the Harborne branch on 3 June 1950. As I remember we went a roundabout route to get there, from Stechford via Bescot, Ocker Hill, Tipton and Dudley Port to Monument Lane where we reversed to traverse the Harborne line, before returning to New Street. Others may remember the details of the route more accurately, but it was over 58 years ago.
Below is the pic of the train at Harborne, shown in Alton Douglas's 'Memories of Birmingham'. Those were the days!
Peter
 
Hi To all Bob is Glaciermint . Its really fantastic to hear from so many folks who know the history of the line and I shall watch this thread with greatest interest The pic sent in by Peter of the engine at Harborne is really good and thanks Peter for the trouble Old Brummy
 
Hello all, I have been reading with interest about Harborne Railway. My Great Grand Father J F Hartland travel from the station to his work in Birmingham. He lived in Emerson Street with his family.
But for reasons, I am still trying to find out about. In March of 1920 he took his life at Harborne station. Going under a train. It has been hard to find out more details although I have managed to get a copy of the police report of the day.
 
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Harborne Railway - just read this thread

You may be interested to know that Harborne Library has a very good collection of material about the Harborne Railway - better than the Central Library! Some original maps, articles & lots of photographs. Best bk on the subject is the "Harborne Express" by Derek Harrison. Can be borrowed through your local library.

:nicetopic:
 
Hi All Whats Shirley station got to do with Harborne Railway ???????????.
I lived up Maypole Lane way at on time and I recall if you went down Maypole lane and followed thru to Stratford rd that area was called Shirley but cant recall a railway station but I guess it would have been on the line to Stratford . Cheers to all Joe
 
Old Brummy, nothing really but it saves starting a new thread and there is a lot of Train Buffs on the Forum:)
 
I also remember the old steam train from the city centre it came out of the city heading towards harborne via monument rd railway station
passing the the sheds of cope st railway depot
running along the side of the union cannal passing bellis and morcam
and bearing off towards summerfield park which crossed over from the main line crossing the cannal and under the bridge
where there was a deep well which was under the bridge
it was a part of the cannal we would catch the old stickle backs there out of the water hole
when we heard the train coming we would run and scarper
with our little milk bottles of stickle backs feeling chuffed and take them home but they always died by the next day
but getting back on track yes it did run up between summer field park at one time in the early years to harbone station
and then it was changed i presumed the regular passenger train
must have changed route
and then the next thing was only a old engine with goods and scrap
or coal used to shunt up there three or five times a day
and the local residence of the surrounding streets
plus the kids whom used summerfield park used to throw al sorts of rubbish down the enbankment
the train all i should say the harborne lane was know to all the kids
in the winson green area called it the old bona line because of the old shunters up and down plus the crap on it
the kidsused to scamper down the en bankment and walk along it we often done it we took my mates little kid with us it was is baby brother and he was on the track when the ols bona came along
not relizing where little stephen was on is own i had to run along the track and risk my skin i just jumped and snatctched him and dived on the bank with him my mate was ina terrible state of shock because he thought he was gonna get killed by the train
and lord andbehold a few months later this same little kid of my mate whom was from king standing we was along by clarkes the scrap dealer of ledsam street ladywood he was only seven years old
we was dragging the cut for old bikes by old vincent street where inthose days before the reahad changed from old to knew
this was before the slum clearance the kids used to nick each others bikes and then drop them into the cut by clarkies
we made a very large hook out of an iron bar and a long peice of rope and starded to fish for the bikes
sure enough we got afew out in one day but paying attention to young stephen he fell in the cut there again i had to run and jumpinto save him ,
its hard to beleive that i have saved this little kid twice in i years of life ,that little kid would never rememberme and i don,t think i could remember him unless i was to track my old mate down and reunited with him my mare had two younger brothers one was vic ,and the other was stephen
i hope you will all forgive me for waffling off as i do
but it is the harborne train and station we was on about and really
i only wanted to say that i remember it and any kids or local residence will tell you it was called the old bona
and thats what brought the memory back
have a nice day every body best wishes astonion ;;;
 
A few memories of the Harborne railway recorded in 1981
mike

harborne_railway_memories.jpg
 
HI AIDEN
Yes it was a good walk after they removed the tracks of the old bona but sadly with in the first twelve months
of being stripped out it became in possible to walk along owing to the local residents and alot of people along the way had thrown alsorts of rubbish down there from there back gardens and from the bridges
it was so over laiden you could not put one foot in front of the other
we used to go along the tracks along to harborne and do our scrumping
from the posh house mind you we got chased afew times obvisualy we was only kids at the time
it was a pitty that old beeching acked that line it was a busy line up to harborne ;
in those days of the good old steam train engines and the old coaches
i will always remember that line going through the summerfield park
for the fun and for travelling up on the train ; but the one thing is a good old friend of mine
by the name of john aston whom was from king standing had a little brother whom was only a young chid t that time around about eight or nine years old had scampered down the embankment and on to the tracks
and the next time we heard the whistle of the train coming up the track and the child whom
i now recall was named stevie , my friend john shouted to me as i was the nearest and i threw myself down the embankment and ran across the track just in time in front of the engine and plucked him to saftey
this little kid ,stevie whom was john youngest brother was up to every think
he even fell in the cut near bye on the monument rd side where the train cuts off from the monument rd train station ; ihad to climb in and save himas john was to far away to get to him ;
this little kid must have nine lives this icidence happend a good 12 months prior to the old bona incidence
so thats whyi will never forget that name the old bona line to harborne that ran up along sid the summer field park to good old harbourne
thanks aiden for the memorys have a nice day best wishes astonion ;;
 
I have looked on that B'ham City Council site. They have some good maps but the resolution is quite poor. A lot of these small branch lines have funny tales to tell but sadly those who can retell them are going fast.
 
Yes, thats the one Aidan, the birmingham u gov site is quite informative.
 
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