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New Street Station From 1854 - 1966

Peg Monkey said:
I lived on the Lyndhurst Estate 1959-1972 and always thought the line bordering it's western boundary was LMS, I recently discovered from a map of 1892-1908 vintage it was actually L&NWR, were they amalgamated?
Peg.
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I think it was LNER and yes they were all gradually merged loosing much of their identity
 
Richarddye said:
I think it was LNER and yes they were all gradually merged loosing much of their identity.
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It was the LMS. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) was a British railway company formed on 1 January 1923 under the Railways Act of 1921, which required the grouping of over 120 separate railways into four. The companies merged into the LMS included the London and North Western Railway, Midland Railway, the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (which had previously merged with the London and North Western Railway on 1 January 1922), several Scottish railway companies (including the Caledonian Railway), and numerous other, smaller ventures.
 
Lloyd said:
It was the LMS. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) was a British railway company formed on 1 January 1923 under the Railways Act of 1921, which required the grouping of over 120 separate railways into four. The companies merged into the LMS included the London and North Western Railway, Midland Railway, the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (which had previously merged with the London and North Western Railway on 1 January 1922), several Scottish railway companies (including the Caledonian Railway), and numerous other, smaller ventures.
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Thank you...………...I stand corrected!
 
That is the Stephenson Street side of the station which once had the travel centre and a booking office and there was also the railway hotel.

To get some perspective of the original station an ariel view from the 1930's might be appropriate.

Stephenson Street is on the centre right. The massive overall roof covered the LNWR Platforms and there was a central footbridge that crossed the platforms, Queens Drive and the Midland Railway Platforms towards Station Street.

The LNWR overall roof was lost during the Second World War, but the Midland Railway side retained the roof until demolition.

In this view it is possible to see the office block on the Midland Side of the Station

When the station was rebuilt, the Queens Drive was demolished.

A survivor from these times was the long block of building on Platform 1 which lasted almost to the end of the nationalised railway.

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I don't remember that block of offices in the centre of the Midland Station and it was only in seeing photos of the demolition work that I know about them. I remember driving into a parcels bay off Station Street to collect and send parcels which wasnext to platform 12 in the 1960s station.
 
The parcel bay became Red Star parcels, which was British Rail development of sending parcels with the guard/conductor of passenger trains. Here the sender sent a parcel which was delivered direct to the office and collected from a designated station.

Birmingham International, Sutton Coldfield and Sandwell & Dudley all had Red Star parcel offices, and the service was effectively the last vestige of parcels by train. Once the parcels service was an important revenue earner and involved collection and delivery by road.
 
Thanks. Yes it was Red Star I was dealing with. I used them when I had to send parcels between our London and Birmingham 0ffices back in the 1970s
 
Passenger Luggage in Advance was a different service, where luggage was sent on with the hopeful re-uniting with the owner. It was a service offered for those often going on for holiday.
 
A lot of black-out material needed here. I can only imagine how low spirits must have been at this time knowing we were at war again. So glimpses of early morning sunshine breaking into the Station must have lifted the spirits if only for an hour or so. Viv,

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Source: British Newspaper Archive
 
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As a trainspotter who used to infest the chunk of platform at the south east end of the station between the LNW and Midland sides of the station between about 1956 to 1958, it is so good to see historic views of the old station.

Herr Hitler's Luftwaffe did so much damage to the LNW side during the war. My memory is of the temporary canopies over the platforms erected after the overall roof had to be demolished. The LNW side was always busier than the Midland side (which still had its overall roof still in place.) Despite the muck & filth, it was still a magical place and as I walked along the overall bridge which gave access to the platforms, there was always the sense of anticipation which the sound of steam locos moving around gave.
 
Busy August bank holiday at New Street Station. Can’t quite make sense of the fact that there were many soldiers on the platform, despite it being 1929. Maybe they were training. Viv.

C2F61F73-13E4-4590-912C-A05F7C08F535.jpeg


E77C776C-3E74-494D-A157-6A40CC943856.jpeg

Here’s the caption. I can’t get it into one image so the top lines of the two extracts should be read consecutively.
E3A3A980-FDBB-4B64-AEA7-22DF412B1D1B.jpeg
6F0F5FE6-99FD-4B27-B30E-AE9D32F91690.jpeg
Source: British Newspaper Archive
 
The end of the train nearest the camera looks to be a guard's/luggage van, (note the double doors with two scouts loading kit). Perhaps the soldiers also had bulky kit that they were wanting put in the van? I suggest that there were only a few soldiers travelling on the train, it's just that they needed to be at the van end whereas most of the public didn't so they dominate the view here.
 
Yes the soldiers do seem to be concentrated at the nearest end. Thanks Spargone. And it looks pretty chaotic to me.

Viv
 
Brummie a long time ago said:
My last memory is a bit earlier, about 66/67. I was going for an interview for my next stage in education. A girl from school, friend but not a girlfriend, who lived near me, decided to come with me to see me off and wish me luck. Nice thought, but neither of us knew how to handle the situation, with all those entwined couples saying goodbye on the concourse, and I was coming back the same day, then normal school routine. A quick hug sorted it, but it still sticks in the mind. When I came back in the evening, that was the last time I used New Street.
My regular memories are 'trainspotting' there and Snow Hill from earlier times.
Andrew.
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mine too i spent a lot of time on new st station spotting in the 50s60s.more so than snowhill.it was easier to get to,on a train from aston station i think the last time i was there was 1972.
 
mw0njm. said:
mine too i spent a lot of time on new st station spotting in the 50s60s.more so than snowhill.it was easier to get to,on a train from aston station i think the last time i was there was 1972.
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Never thought about that. I had an easy ride on the 29 bus to Snow Hill, New Street was across town. But still a GWR person at heart. I think Brunel and his father were brilliant!
 
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