IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Middlemore Road, SMETHWICK, B66 2EP

Passing under Wattville Road bridge with the former Birmingham Carriage and Wagon Works on the right. The large cylindrical objects on the right, which I had assumed to be tanks or silos, are in fact much more interesting. They are hydraulic accumulators, and when you look carefully at the picture it is possible to deduce what the hydraulics were for. To the left of the building are a number of railway wheelsets, so it is highly likely that the building was the wheelshop. In this there would certainly be some heavy duty hydraulic presses used to press wheels onto axles. (I am grateful to fellow Geograph member Chris Allen for pointing out their function.) The 2800 class was Churchward's standard large freight locomotive for the Great Western Railway, introduced in 1905. Some remained in service almost to the end of steam on the Western Region; 2836 survived until 1964.

A view of the platforms and associated structures with a train leaving for Dorridge via Birmingham Snow Hill. Midland Metro tram platforms are to the left.

Opened in 1995 on what is now the line from Birmingham Snow Hill to Stourbridge. There had previously been a Halt where the left hand platform is, opened in 1931 by the Great Western Railway on what was then its main line from Birmingham Snow Hill to Wolverhampton Low Level, but this closed in 1968. Unusually, the other three platforms were beyond the arched bridge in the distance. View west, the line soon curves left towards Smethwick and Stourbridge. The tram stop is almost hidden on the far right. See Image for a view in the opposite direction. Also see http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/t/the_hawthorns/index.shtml for more information on the railway halt.

Work units on the Hawthorns industrial estate.

Stations built as part of the resurrection of services between Smethwick and Birmingham Snow Hill were to a standard design, readily identifiable by the footbridges and lift towers. A train to Dorridge has just left The Hawthorns.

Opened in 1995 on the line from Birmingham Snow Hill to Stourbridge (right hand pair of tracks), and 1999 for the Midland Metro (left hand pair of tracks) on the tram line from Birmingham to Wolverhampton. View east towards Handsworth & Smethwick and Birmingham. From 1931 to 1968 there was a halt here with one platform on the far right, the other three platforms unusually being behind the camera position (see Image). Also see http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/t/the_hawthorns/index.shtml for more information.

A Snow Hill-bound Metro service leaves The Hawthorns station. Midland Metro is the light rail system for the West Midlands which operates between Birmingham and Wolverhampton via West Bromwich, Bilston and Wednesbury. It runs seven days a week - every eight minutes during the day and every 15 minutes during the evenings and Sundays. Over 96,000 people use the Metro every week. 23 stops serve the route.