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Snow Hill Station

When we walked through the tunnel the charge that we paid was donated to charity. I still have my ticket 'Putting a Light at the End of the Tunnel'. The tunnel lights were on and there were street name boards telling us where we were above ground eg when we were under Corporation Street. Also marked was where the siding to the old Bank of England left the main line for the bullion trains.
 
Want to say thanks Ell for keeping us in touch with how the Snow Hill site (and for that matter developments on other threads) are changing. We may all not like the changes but it can help us to keep on top of how the places of our past are moving forward into the future. Viv.
 
ellbrown said:
Was this between circa 1977 to 1987?
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It was just before the reopening of the tunnel in 1987. I don't think the tracks had yet been relaid as that would have been difficult to walk on. Possibly the tunnels walls had been cleaned as well because of the soot from over 100 years of steam trains.At that time what are now Moor Street platforms 1 & 2 were built with the associated footbridges and buildings because prior to the reopening of the tunnel there were no platforms on the Snow Hill lines. The Moor Street terminal platforms were taken out of use at that time and were not reopened until Chiltern took over management of the station and restored many of its 1907 features. Hopefully we shall now see Snow hill platform 4 restored to railway use.

The lines through the tunnel are signalled for bi-directional working. If you stand on platform 3 when a train is about to depart through the tunnel you will see the signals displaying a large letter 'U' indicating that the train will be taking the Up line. I have not checked the signals on Platform 2 which is a Down platform when a Chiltern train is about to depart in the Up direction.
 
Vivienne14 said:
Want to say thanks Ell for keeping us in touch with how the Snow Hill site (and for that matter developments on other threads) are changing. We may all not like the changes but it can help us to keep on top of how the places of our past are moving forward into the future. Viv.
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No problem Viv.

Moor Street was like this on Saturday with Chiltern Railways. Very "hot" and sunny there.



One Chiltern train coming into platform's 3 or 4.



While another one was leaving those platforms.

 
I wondered if people would find these shots of the old Snow Hill Station of any interest. I think its nice to see how it was when it was still intact. A lot of the photos I have seen are during or after the demolition work.Snow Hill 001.jpg Snow Hill 002.jpg Snow Hill 003.jpg Snow Hill 004.jpg Snow Hill 005.jpg Snow Hill 006.jpg Snow Hill 007.jpg
 
BrumBum said:
I wondered if people would find these shots of the old Snow Hill Station of any interest. I think its nice to see how it was when it was still intact. A lot of the photos I have seen are during or after the demolition work.View attachment 113556 View attachment 113557 View attachment 113558 View attachment 113559 View attachment 113560 View attachment 113561 View attachment 113562
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Hi BrumBum;
Yes, I certainly found your photos of interest. They remind me of the hours I spent there waiting for my train to Plymouth when I was in the navy. Anyone who has older photos of our area is welcome to post them and what a wonderful reminder of the old steam engines. I can almost smell the smoke sitting here.
 
DavidGrain said:
When we walked through the tunnel the charge that we paid was donated to charity. I still have my ticket 'Putting a Light at the End of the Tunnel'. The tunnel lights were on and there were street name boards telling us where we were above ground eg when we were under Corporation Street. Also marked was where the siding to the old Bank of England left the main line for the bullion trains.
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This info was obtained from a web page dealing with railways.
The Bullion Van would appear regularly at Birmingham Snow Hill on a train from Paddington arriving just after 2pm. The train spotters could always tell it was coming by the policeman riding shotgun on the station pilot. That must have been a bit grim as the loco had to stay coupled in what was effectively part of the tunnel
I gather the Bank of England was situated in Colmore Row.
Below is a pic (of a model) of what GWR bullion cars looked like. they had long lives being painted in maroon and blue at various stages after railway nationalization. Notice that the vehicle is without windows! ;)
1_M17_Track_Side.jpg
 
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Alan (Radiorails), You did not say which site you got your information from, but I think their information is wrong. My information is that the bullion trains came into platform 1 and were then shunted into the Bank of England siding. This was more logical as the trains would then be on the correct side for the Bank of England. The notice that I saw in the tunnel was on the Down side of the line and therefore correct for trains coming from London. Platforms 11 & 12 were a single long platform on the Up side of the station and I think the south end would have been no.11. The Bank of England was on the corner of Temple Row and St Philips Churchyard (now RBS/NatWest) and therefore easy access for its basement to the railway tunnel which runs under the Great Western Arcade.

I heard a story that one day the train driver had a problem starting the engine in the siding and by the time he had got it moving he came out into the station to be surrounded by armed police as the signalman had reported that the train was missing.
 
Actually David the RMweb comment did not mention the BofE, so maybe there were bullion trains for the BofE and others for off loading into vans for distribution to the major banks in the city. As I was not that familiar with Snow Hill further research is probably needed. Wherever transfers took place I should imagine tight security was evident.
Yes, indeed the Livery Street side was the down side and would be logical for trains from the south whereas 11 and 12 were on the up side. There is the possibility, I suppose, of bank notes, coinage etc. arriving from the north and being dealt with on the upside at P. 12.
I have a little further information to post about the bullion vans for the BofE which with other snippets will appear in a new post.
Apparently around 1930 Platforms 11 and 12 changed places, i.e. 11 becoming 12 and vice versa.

Post amended 4/13/17
 
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Snow Hill in 1960 with no trains in view but these young trainspotters are hoping a train will soon arrive.
SnowHill1962.jpg
 
Good pic, Old Mohawk. One thing that separated Snow Hill from New Street was the, usually, airy, brightness of Snow Hill compared with the dirt and gloom of New Street.
 
Snow Hill Station P7.jpg
Hi Folks, not, perhaps, a very inspiring shot but for me it brings back memories of me setting up camp on a bench on platform 7 for some serious train spotting. My journey home from school involved 2 buses, after the first I would often stop off at the station until 7.00pm before catching the second bus home. In this shot you can just about make out the famous BSA Gun Display Cabinet (just below and to the right of "7"). The shot (1955) pre-dates my train spotting days, I started 1961.
Peg.
 
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Peg Monkey said:
Hi Folks, not, perhaps, a very inspiring shot but for me it brings back memories of me setting up camp on a bench on platform 7 for some serious train spotting. My journey home from school involved 2 buses, after the first I would often stop off at the station until 7.00pm before catching the second bus home. In this shot you can just about make out the famous BSA Gun Display Cabinet (just below and to the right of "7"). The shot (1955) pre-dates my train spotting days, I started 1961.
Peg.View attachment 113576
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Peg Monkey
I think this is a great shot. Railway stations (people seem to refer to them as 'train stations' nowadays) are great places to observe others and speculate about their journies. So many possible stories in this photo. All very evocative of the 1950s.
 
mikejee said:
But there was originally a Great Western Hotel which was in front of the station , on Colmore Row, but it was closed when the station was rebuilt in c1912, and made into railway offices.
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I believe the hotel was purchased by the GWR when the third Snow Hill station (the one many folk here knew) was developed in the early 20th. century as Mike mentions. The road that it was on was originally known as Monmouth Street later becoming the eastern end of Colmore Row.
It is interesting to reflect on what Snow Hill railway station might have been called, i.e. Monmouth Street or Colmore Row.
;) The GWR was late in getting to Birmingham, Bristol and the South West had been served by trains for twelve years prior to the GWR arriving. Fortunately, for the cities population (those who could afford it of course) the London & Birmingham had been in operation for a few years.
 
Yes Snow Hill was the road running down one side of the station. There was a pedestrian entrance in Snow Hill with a flight of steps. The vehicle entrance was in Livery Street on the other side of the station. But then New Street Station is not in New Street so it would be interesting to know why the names where chosen.
 
The original, supposedly temporary structure of Snow Hill station, was two sided as far as passengers were concerned. Passengers from the London direction left by the exit in Livery Street (known as the down side) whereas those passengers headed for the London direction - up trains - gained access to their platform via Snow Hill. I can only assume that in order to attract London bound customers to the GWR and not confuse them in which entrance they needed, the name Snow Hill was chosen. I am sure anyone using the Livery Street side and finding they were on the wrong side of the station might not too happy, especially with luggage.
There was fierce rivalry between competing railways especially in the early days of train travel.
 
Snow Hill Station Ticket Office.jpg
Hi Folks, attached pic of the ticket offices as mid-day approaches in May 1955 is a little different in as much as a strike is in full swing and intending passengers wait to learn their fate.
Regards,
Peg.
 
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In 1930 there were, in all the varying departments, nearly 400 people employed at Snow Hill station. In WW1 ambulance trains passed through the station some to Soho (the Birmingham one) and the rest to Birkenhead. Train services were curtailed during WW1 but picked up again after 1922, with one hiccup in 1926 (the General Strike) and as newer locomotives were introduced speeds and services increased. This continued until WW2 where restrictions once again were imposed. Operation 'Pied Piper', usually London comes to mind, did occur in Birmingham and Smethwick. On the 1st/2nd. September 1939 apparently 84 GWR and LMS trains were laid on to evacuate children and some adults to safer parts of the UK. These were South and North Wales, Herefordshire, Gloucestershire and other adjacent counties. The GWR trains picked up from stations between Smethwick Junction and Tyseley. There were also trains from London to Birmingham with hospital cases - I presume this to be during the 'blitz'. I am not commenting on war damage, recorded elsewhere and here most likely but I will add that 1942 saw a curtailment of most dining trains and withdrawal of coal for station heating excepting for very cold days.
 
No one appears to have mentioned that, the Great Western Railway into Birmingham, was initially broad gauge..........................Or have they ???
 
norfolk brummie said:
No one appears to have mentioned that, the Great Western Railway into Birmingham, was initially broad gauge..........................Or have they ???
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I had a facsimile copy of "The 1863 Bradshaw's" as a Christmas present and thought I would read up about Snow Hill, but not a mention! Plenty about that other station across the city. But I did find that it was "13 miles from B'ham to Wolverhampton by the narrow gauge line but the broad gauge line...... etc". so you just answered my thoughts. The "narrow" gauge was what we now call standard gauge and the broad gauge was Brunel's original gauge.
 
Regarding the broad gauge it was BG for a very short time. A trial run with Broad gauge loco 2-2-2 Harpy, of the 'Firefly' class in August 1852 was made being met by civic dignitaries just after midday. After a 'beano' at the Queens Hotel the train left at 3pm.
On 14th. September, 1852 the Board of Trade inspector, Capt. Galton, only approved the new line as far as Bordesley Junction as the narrow/standard gauge line was not yet laid. This was completed a fortnight later. The uncompleted Duddeston Viaduct was not approved and as neither railway (GWR & LNWR), particularly the L&NWR as they were closing Curzon Street to passengers, had a new station in New Street and with pretty unfriendly relations between the two companies neither really wanted the viaduct link. Track was laid on the completed part of the viaduct, never used and was probably gone after 1880.
So eventually passenger trains began to arrive at the temporary Snow Hill on 1st. October 1852. There must have been good advantage to the new site as it became the principal station, nothing temporary at all.

In previous posts here much has been written, with great pics to accompany, about the former Great Western Hotel.
Prior to WW2 the GWR had grandiose ideas for reverting the use of the building back to being a hotel. From the descriptions it would have been a very 'well appointed' as they say in the trade, place.
However, it was not to be: the outbreak of the war halted it.
 
Vivienne14 said:
St John Ambulance staff waiting at Snow Hill station for returning wounded soldiers in 1916. Was wondering if the Hotel also became a place for dealing with the wounded? Never seen anything written about it but it would have been very convenient. Viv.

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In post 518 I mentioned that ambulance trains passing through Birmingham, Snow Hill, went on to Soho and Birkenhead.
With a Birmingham focus I had wondered what was at Soho to be used by wounded - in one form or another - combatants. The only large, possibly suitable building that comes to mind is Matthew Boulton's old home, Soho House. He died in 1809 and it seems to have had many uses after that until becoming an hotel in 1929. I would guess that the kind of places for nursing wounded soldiers were less clinical than what we have become used to today.
 
That would be the reason. Selly oak was the destination station for the patients going to the university, which was then a military hospital
 
Thank you for that David. Apparently most trains of wounded did not pass through Birmingham but went on L&NE once through Banbury. But Soho and Birkenhead trains did pass through Snow Hill.
What the records - although military records may well show - is the extent of injuries the troops had or was it for re-recuperation. For instance The Palace Hotel, in Torquay, was a recuperation base for RAF personnel. Incidentally the Luftwaffe tried to attack it but sadly missed bombing the nearby Anglican St. Marychurch Parish church and its Sunday school. 21 children and three teachers died as a result.
 
mikejee said:
That would be the reason. Selly oak was the destination station for the patients going to the university, which was then a military hospital
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Also Selly Oak Hospital which in more recent times before its closure a few years ago had also become the main military hospital in the UK. I had occasion to visit the Fracture Clinic at Selly Oak Hospital and the best explanation I got for my treatment was from a Royal Navy Surgeon Lt Commander
 
I have amended my post which referred to the bullion vans.

I think the contributor to that web site was confused about the bullion van and the Tyseley wages locomotive.
Platform 12 was a down platform i.e. for trains headed south and the BofE tunnel spur was on the up side (as David mentioned), accessed from Platform 1 for north bound trains. There were, apparently, stables, latterly unused, also there.
The bullion vans were detached off trains from Paddington and I gather were accompanied by a strong police presence - watched very closely I guess as they were unloaded. ;)
The Tyseley works wages loco arrived on Thursdays and was stabled in the siding off Platform 12 where the 'loot' was loaded. An railway inspector and railway policeman accompanied the locomotive on its journey back to Tyseley.
Hopefully this explains the confusion.

Another small item I have come across is that there was a deep well at Hockley which provided non-drinking water to Snow Hill and Tyseley. This water fed the water cranes, used for topping up steam loco tanks and other uses. It was carried by a surface level water pipe to those locations. Moor Street was not mentioned but it would not surprise me if that station was also supplied by that source.
 
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