Wednesbury (1976)

The following tables show details of trains running through Wednesbury in the second half of 1976. They're included partly as a comparison to show how the traffic levels and locomotive types changed between 1976 and 1993 when the line finally closed; and partly because they're interesting in their own right. The information comes from a signalbox train register, and for reasons which are explained below I've selected blocks of data which correspond to the shifts of a particular signalman.

The register from which this data comes shows the headcodes of all passing trains, but as a rule the origin or destination of trains isn't recorded. However there are often clues which help work out that information. The headcodes themselves tell us something about the destination for many trains, but not for local trip workings which all carry the letter T (e.g. 8T26) irrespective of their destination. There's a "Line" column in the register which shows the route that the train took. Better still the signalmen would sometimes write the destination in the "Remarks" column, which is extremely helpful in retrospect. Even more helpful was the fact that one of the regular signalmen recorded the loco numbers of all trains, and it's this man's shifts which I've used. As you'd expect the proximity and importance of the marshalling yards at Bescot meant that most of the trains running to and from the north were coming and going from there - especially the trip workings. Finally my own local knowledge means that I can remember some of the traffic patterns, plus the details for a few of the headcodes referred to here.

Before looking at the detail it's worth laying out some background information. By 1976 there were no passenger trains running through Wednesbury. Those on the Dudley - Walsall line were withdrawn in 1964, and the Birmingham Snow Hill - Wolverhampton Low Level service finished in 1972. So in 1976 all the lines through Wednesbury were freight-only. The branch through Princes End to Tipton was still open - it didn't close until early 1981. At Tipton both the north and southbound connections to the Stour Valley line were open. A few trains were still using the south-facing chord to reach Albion Oil Depot, but most were using the north-facing connection to reach Spring Vale steelworks and Wolverhampton Steel Terminal. Also open at this time was the route to Wolverhampton Steel Terminal via Priestfield on the old GWR low-level route (now used by the Midland Metro). In the other direction a couple of miles of the old GWR route was still in use to serve the coal depot at Swan Village (West Bromwich). All this made Wednesbury a three-way junction, as well as being a significant traffic target in its own right.

With lines heading off in four different directions it's interesting to note that in each case the signalling arrangements were different. In the northbound direction Wednesbury worked as a fringe box to Walsall PSB (sited at Pleck Jct), and the line was operated using track circuit blocks (TCB). On the Dudley line the next box south was Eagle Crossing (Great Bridge). Conventional absolute block signalling was used between Wednesbury and Eagle Crossing. The Princes End branch was single-line between Wednesbury and Princes End, where it became double to Tipton Curve Jct. Electric token block working was used on the single-line stretch. As far as I can tell the Priestfield line had no signalling in place in 1976, and I'm not sure how it was worked.

In late 1976 Wednesbury box was open continuously from 06:00 on Monday to 06:00 Saturday, and additionally over the weekend if the need arose. Walsall PSB was open continuously of course, and Eagle Crossing was open as per Wednesbury. Princes End was open for the morning and afternoon shifts, but closed at night. Wednesbury, Eagle Crossing and Princes End all controlled level crossings, and as a result none of them could be "switched out". The roads in question were Potters Lane, Eagle Lane, and Upper Church Lane. All three boxes have long since disappeared, and barely any trace of them remains.

Finally it's worth noting that "Down" trains ran northbound (towards Bescot/Walsall), and "Up" trains were heading south (from Bescot/Walsall). Up and Down trains are recorded in separate tables in the register, but I've combined them into one table to give a better idea of the interval between trains.

Tuesday 28th September 1976   (8 hour morning shift)

Tuesday 5th October 1976   (12 hour night shift)

Friday 15th October 1976   (7 hour afternoon shift)

Sixty different locomotives feature in the three tables above. None of them were new in 1976 - the last diesels built under the Modernisation Plan emerged in 1968, and some of the locos listed here were built in the late 1950s. So in 1976 the youngest of these locos were already eight or nine years old. How many have survived the intervening thirty years, and are still extant in 2005?  More than you might think. In fact fourteen of them were still with us in July 2008 - four of them still in regular service, and another four preserved.

Thanks to Jeff B, Dave H and Simon G for their help in compiling these pages. I'm also grateful to the Wednesbury signalmen of 1976. It was their job to compile the train register, but it's the additional notes that they weren't obliged to make which has allowed me to identify the destinations of many trains, along with the locos that worked them. Without that information this exercise wouldn't have been worthwhile.

I'm also indebted to Andy Morris who saw the first version of these pages and took the trouble to contact me with additional information. Andy's info has filled in some of the gaps, and corrected one or two of my assumptions which were incorrect.

And finally my thanks to Ian Pell who provided the relevant pages from the autumn 1976 trip notice.