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Snow Hill Station

I never did see the Post Office railway in Birmingham but I know there was one as recently as the late 1970s. I know it went from the sorting office on Blucher St to New Street in those days and not the depot at Curzon St as I remember having to ride a truck with the bags of mail out to there once. Since I can't remember Snow Hill being open at the time, it's possible there had been a service between there and the depot at some point. The trains were fully automated.
 
Here's an article from The Times 4th Dec 1912

Suzanne
 

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#307, very emotional and interesting story, I knew "little Rissington", in the 70's when the Army "Royal Irish" were based there it had't been an RAF station since the late 50's I think, but it was in the middle no where.
paul
 
DavidGrain said:
I think this is Snow Hill, London not Birmingham. There was a Snow Hill Station in London which closed in 1916 and the Post Office Railway would have run in that area. Snow Hill London station would have been on the site of the present City ThamesLink Station towards the north end.
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Yes, this was indeed the LONDON Snow Hill Station which closed in 1916. The confusion arises because BOTH Snow Hill Birmingham and Snow Hill London have a Ludgate Hill within only a quarter of a mile of each other!

The underground Post Office line used-until just a few years ago- to run at right angles to the link between Blackfriars and Farringdon and crossed each other at different levels where the Snow Hill (London) station was, situated between the Mount Pleasant and King Edward Street sorting offices.

Here's a couple of links to spend a few hours on and work out where is where....

https://www.disused-stations.org.uk/s/snow_hill/index.shtml

https://www.londonrailways.net/po_railway.html
 
Thanks Ritchie for that confirmation. I had just independently been able to track the Post Office Railway through the streets of London and realised that it ran down or parallel to Farringon Road and then turned east at Holborn Viaduct. On the basis that Snow Hill was not open during WWII that only left Farringdon and Holborn Viaduct stations and neither of those would be on a route from Dundee to Stow on the Wold.

I would state absolutely categorically that there never was a Post Office Railway in Birmingham. Yes in reply to wam above there was a tunnel from the post office in Victoria Square to New Street Station but it was for the little electric trucks that the porters used on the station not railway trucks
 
I don't believe that the Post Office had a railway connection to Birminghams Snow Hill station, but wasn't there a connection within the tunnel

to the Birmingham Mint?
 
Neville Philpott said:
I don't believe that the Post Office had a railway connection to Birminghams Snow Hill station, but wasn't there a connection within the tunnel

to the Birmingham Mint?
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Neville, You are thinking of the siding which ran through a tunnel to the basement of the Bank of England when it used to be on the corner of Temple Row and St Philip's Place (site now occupied by RBS/NatWest). Bullion trains used to come into platform 1 at Snow Hill and then reverse to the Bank of England
 
Yes David you are right it was of course the Bank of England siding...

QUOTE=DavidGrain;457027]Neville, You are thinking of the siding which ran through a tunnel to the basement of the Bank of England when it used to be on the corner of Temple Row and St Philip's Place (site now occupied by RBS/NatWest). Bullion trains used to come into platform 1 at Snow Hill and then reverse to the Bank of England[/QUOTE]
 
Thank you all so much for this. Yes the BBC article definitely says Birmingham, but as it's not even his own story he has probably got in a muddle. The perils of people's memories! You always have to be careful. But it's good to have got that clarified.
Enormous thanks to Suzanne for putting up the 1912 Times article. That's the best overview of the station I've yet read.
Very grateful to all of you. Some way to go yet, but inch by inch...
 
DavidGrain said:
I have informed the BBC that there never was a Post Office Railway in Birmingham and pointed out that the story is hearsay.
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I know for certain that there was a Post Office Railway in Birmingham. I don't know if it ever ran to Snow Hill but it did run on automated miniature trains (no drivers) from the sorting depot to New Street. Since the thing about bars and waiting rooms comes from a separate quote (not the BBC thing), I can't see a problem with the BBC quote.
 
Hi

Taking the Main Post Office is close to New St and the Goods Sections of Moor St its possible
of some sought of Link via New St /Moor St.
New St had a huge goods area due to its proximity to the Markets.
Interesting though keep searching

Mike Jenks.
 
OK- well the PO issue is not central to what I'm doing but it would be good to know what's what. Perhaps it will turn up somewhere else.
 
Hi

Its the Mail Box.
ex googleThe Mailbox is the largest mixed use development in Europe. It combines shops, two hotels, a number of restaurants and bars, offices and the new home for BBC Birmingham.

It was formerly the Post Office's main sorting office hence the new name Mailbox, and there is an underground rail tunnel which connects it with New Street Station.

Its not to say there isnt some sought of link via Snow Hill to this Complex keep searching

Mike Jenks
 
mike jenks said:
Hi

Its the Mail Box.
ex googleThe Mailbox is the largest mixed use development in Europe. It combines shops, two hotels, a number of restaurants and bars, offices and the new home for BBC Birmingham.

It was formerly the Post Office's main sorting office hence the new name Mailbox, and there is an underground rail tunnel which connects it with New Street Station.

Its not to say there isnt some sought of link via Snow Hill to this Complex keep searching

Mike Jenks
Click to expand...

Yes there is a tunnel from The Mailbox to New Street Station but nobody can convince me that it is a rail tunnel unless they produce photographic evidence of trains in the tunnel. As for a tunnel from The Mailbox to Snow Hill, no the last long distance train ran from Snow Hill in 1967 and The Mailboc (as tthe Biringham Sorting Office) was not completed until 1970.
 
The siding you refer to left the Snow Hill 'down' line in the tunnel and ended at the Bank of England cellar. I believe it was used for bullion shipments. I waked the tunnel from Moor St to Snow Hill just before it opened and the track bed of the siding was quite visible for all to see.
 
This thread is really testing my memory, in 1953 after doing five
years in the army I came out and started as a Postman at Pinfold
Street, in those day you had to sit the Civil Service Exam.We did
two weeks in the Training School, and during the second week we
were taken down into the tunnel that linked the LSO as it was then, to New Street Station. There werent any rail tracks ,trollys
loaded with mail bags were pulled by a small electric tractor, similiar to the ones used by BR on the platforms.there was a net
holding the bags on. It was all so long ago, there must be books
and records ect; out there concerning the whole scenario.
Bernard
 
Thank you Bernard
I also contacted a friend who is a former manager in the Post Office and his comment is:
"Thanks for your e-mails. I agree there was not a Post Office Railway in Birmingham. I know there were tunnels from New Street Station to the old Head Post Office in Victoria Square and then the Mailbox but no trains."

I suggest we now close this subject
 
As ever, great photos Ell. Be great if someone has some older views for comparison from the time it was the sorting office. And so good seeing it put use today, it looks so vibrant. Viv.
 
Thanks Viv. Is always nice to walk through the Mailbox. Think my late Grandfather used to work there when it was the Post sorting office.

Snow Hill wise, when the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh arrived in Birmingham (earlier this month), the Royal train pulled into Snow Hill! (from Worcester I think).
 
Don't know why, but I've never given much thought to the forerunner of the Victorian Snow Hill Station. There's a very strong opinion expressed about the former building in the Railway News of 1870. It reported the demolition of the station's 'unsightly structure' and makes it clear that the replacement of the old station was well overdue. Here's the extract:

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1357994770.319939.jpg

Just before the old station was replaced, the Field Quarterly magazine of 1868 announced the opening of 'one of the most elegant, comfortable and economical hotels in the three kingdoms', the Great Western Hotel, Snow Hill. 'Elegance' and 'economy' two words not often used in the same sentence!

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1357994854.448896.jpg

Black's Guide to the Channel Isles of1868 also ran an ad for the GW Hotel. The plate shows the corner of Livery Street before it was re-developed. Must have been re- developed after the Hotel was built. And of course, the Victorian replacement of this corner has itself been replaced very recently with the new Barclay's Bank building.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1357994868.763529.jpg

Viv.
 
Another little glimpse Rupert. Ackerman's Panoramic View of 1847 shows the buildings within the triangle bound by Snow Hill, Livery Street and Colmore Row. You can see the buildings shown in the GW Hotel advert just above the 'W' on Colmore Row in Ackerman's View. Viv.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1358007776.231770.jpg
 
Hi Paul. If we go back to the 1750 Bradford's map, it shows a slightly different picture, Lots of land in the area seems to be vacant and allocated to future building. Also interesting that there's a 'Bull Lane' joining Colmore Row, which looks like the part of the road that fronted the later Great Western Hotel (did this later become an extension of Colmore Row?)

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1358031534.853225.jpg

Viv
 
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