Austin
& Longbridge Railways
One
of the reasons Herbert Austin located his company at Longbridge was
because it was already served by two railway companies. The
Halesowen to Northfield railway (GWR) was opened on the 10th
September 1883 with a third class ticket costing just 1d per mile.
The other railway company was the Midland Railway (MR), the two
railway tracks meeting at a point which they called Halesowen
Junction.
The
MR main line which had twin tracks went from Birmingham (New
Street) to Gloucester, and after leaving the junction went into a
tunnel called Cofton Tunnel. The GWR line, single track went via
Rubery etc to Halesown and then onto Old Hill in the heart of the
Black Country. It was called the Black Country as this was where
mining, iron works and various heavy industries were situated,
pouring out clouds of black smoke that hung over the area, if the
weather conditions were right the area would be covered in
SMOG.
There had been a station at Longbridge on the main line (where the
current Station is today), but this was closed in 1849, long before
Herbert Austin had arrived, the nearest one still open was
Northfield a few miles away.
Around this time Long-Bridge was two words, a small river called
the Rea used to flood, so a long wooden bridge was constructed so
that the stagecoaches of the day were not impaired, as this was the
main road between Birmingham and Bristol (Bristol Road) hence the
name Long Bridge.
Long-Bridge
1832
With
the construction of the Black Country rail link by the GWR it was
necessary to build a road bridge over the new railway track. The
opportunity was taken at the same time to construct a culvet to
take the River Rea under the bridge and the railway line. A map of
1912 shows it spelt as one word
Longbridge.
Map
1912
With
the start of the First World War and the Austin changing over to
producing items for war, it was felt that Longbridge should once
again have its own station. In fact this happened in February 1915.
More track was put in by the side of South Works, and a signal box
called ‘Longbridge East’ (which is still there) was constructed by
the road bridge carrying the A38 Birmingham to Bristol
road.
Longbridge
East 2006
The
other side of the bridge was were the station platforms were built.
Passengers could alight and walk up a ramp that brought them by the
corner of the Bristol Road where the Island is. Or they could stay
on the platform which also extended under the road (R/H Arch) along
with the River Rea. Workers entered the South Works by the Medical
Block. After North works was built a footbridge was constructed
over the railway track between the Road Bridge and the Signal
Box.
It was necessary to build a further signal box near Rubery called
‘Longbridge West’.
(S
Mourton & B Pixton)
1920s
Looking from the Station Platform towards the
Austin
Longbridge
West looking from the Station early 1950s
In
1916 the North Works was constructed on land between the railway
and Longbridge Lane, on farmland which also housed a Farm called,
yes that's right Longbridge Farm which was demolished The following
year in December, work started on constructing West Works opposite
Longbridge Lane. Having railway access on the doorstep no doubt
helped to speed up the construction of the two new factories. Also
the incoming raw materials along with finished goods could be
despatched quickly.
There were two trains daily from Birmingham New Street, picking up
passengers on route. But this was only of use to people who lived
south of Birmingham. The Austin workers really needed a train
service from the Black Country as well, and on the
18th
April
1917 GWR started there first workmen’s service with two trains from
Old Hill in the morning, and two trains retuning in the
evening.
With the service to the Black Country now open, and as the factory
was still crying out for more workers to man the war effort. An
advert was placed by the company in the local papers emphasising
the convenience of the new services. It appears that slowly more
trains were put on to accommodate the increase in workers using the
service. At its height in 1918 there were five early morning trains
and four to take the night shift home operated by the MR, with GWR
having three trains in the morning and two trains in the
evening.
1920s
Showing the Station on the main line
The
MR decided to construct a station with two platforms joined by a
footbridge which also extended into the factory site on the main
line to Gloucester just south of the Halesowen Junction. This then
allowered workers from as far away as Worcester to have a direct
service into the works. MR was taken over and the combined company
was called London Midland & Scottish (LMS).
Steaming
passed Halesown Junction Signal Box
(Note
the footbridge into the works)
The
LMS started to expand and a decision was made to increase the
mainline track to four, but with Cofton Tunnel only made to
accommodate two tracks, the only solution was to demolish the
tunnel and make it into a wide cutting. So in early 1928 Longbridge
Station (main line) was closed, this meant that the nearest station
North was Northfield and Barnt Green to the South. Work started by
first removing all the soil on the sides and top of the tunnel,
this meant that a speed restriction was put on passing traffic. But
not all train drivers complied as in June 1928 driver W Jones was
reprimanded for not complying with the speed restrictions.
The cutting would be widen on the left hand side going south as
this had a much lower bank, so a railhead was dug into the bank at
the same height as the tunnel roof. (As shown in next
picture)
Although a lot of work was carried out by the contractor Messrs
Logan and Hemingway prior to the actual demolition of the tunnel,
this work was marred as in May 1928 several workmen were
killed.
The last train passed through the tunnel at 10.15 pm on Saturday
26th January 1929 and on the Monday morning of the 28th the first
trains were coming through the cutting. It was many months before
the four tracks were opened
As you can see from the picture it was a very manual
operation.
Demolition
of the Tunnel in progress
(R S Carpenter collection)
View
from Groveley Lane looking towards the Austin
after demolition showing the widening on the
right
_______________
The
Austin Rolling Stock
In the very early years the company had materials etc delivered to
the factory by rail but used horses to pull the wagons around the
factory. It wasn't till 1916 that the horses were replaced by
locomotives which had come to the end of their working life, some
were over forty years old and owned by the companies that had
installed the track.
The first recorded engine purchased by the Austin was a 0-6-0ST
called PALACIOS supplied by the Hunslet Engine Co. and given the
Ref No 464. This second-hand engine was first supplied to a company
in Buenos Ayres Argentina around 1888. Over the coming years it
still purchased engines which were not in that good a conditions,
but as we would say today perhaps the price was right and generally
they were been used only for shunting duties.
Austin
I (Don
Townsley)
In 1932 the company placed an order with a Leeds firm called Kitson
& Co who had taken over the company of Manning Wardle who had
gone into liquidation in 1927. So Austins first engine was a
Manning Wardle design 0-6-0ST which was delivered in March 1932 and
was given the name ‘AUSTIN I’. It continued in service till
November 1973 when it was purchased by the Llangollen Railway. It
is still there but having a re-fit in 2008.
Austin
II (Don
Townsley)
It appears that the company did have a look at buying in 1933 a
Armstrong Whitworth 0-4-0 diesel-electric locomotive. A loco was
supplied for a short time, but in the end it was returned. So
having looked at the diesel-electric option, decided to purchase
from the Hunslet Engine Company in Leeds a 0-6-0ST. This locomotive
was delivered to Longbridge in 1936 and was given the name 'Austin
II'. It remained in service with the company, and no doubt was
maintained to a high standard, but was finally scrapped at the end
of 1970.
Austin
3 (Don
Townsley)
The next loco to
join the fleet was in September 1937 an identical loco to 'Austin
II' a Hunslet Engine Company 0-6-0ST. It is interesting that
instead of calling it Austin III it was actually called Austin 3.
This also gave good service, but was scrapped in March 1971.
Abernant
leaving Longbridge in 1956
In the 1950s
with the company owning its own engines, except for an
ex-contractor's which was called 'ABERNANT'. But in September 1957
two W G Bagnall 0-6-0STs which had been used by the Steel Company
of Wales, and had been numbered 401 and 403 arrived at Longbridge.
These were then renamed 'Vulcan' & 'Victor' and were probable
the locos that most people remember.
Austin
Vulcan (Don
Townsley)
Austin
Victor (Don
Townsley)
A part of the large Longbridge site which was not connected to the
rest of the railway network, was the Shadow Factory built in 1936-7
and was given the name Cofton Hackett Factory but was called 'The
AERO' by the locals.
It was built adjacent to the main line from Birmingham to
Worcester, a spur was built from the main line to the internal
track. A new locomotive was purchased, a John Fowler 0-4-0 diesel
and was given the name Austin IV, back to the Roman numerals.
Fowler
Austin IV outside East Engine Shed 1960
(Ron
Boswell)
Its main duties
were to shunt the various wagons that were brought in from the main
line. One of the main materials brought in was coal for the Boiler
House. In the mid 1960s a new factory was built at the end of East
Works for producing the 'E' series engines, so the Boiler House was
extended, but still powered by coal. If the engine needed to have
any maintenance work carried out, permission would need to be
obtained for the loco to run down to the South Works via the main
line.
Diesel
Loco from Morris Motors Oxford
(Ron
Boswell)
As the need for a rail head declined, the Fowler was finally
scrapped in 1974, but was actually replaced by a Diesel Loco from
Morris Motors Oxford for a few years (If you have information on
this Loco please (Contact me).
With the various locomotives working in different locations around
the site, each part of the works had its own Engine Shed where the
day to day maintenance was carried out. When an locomotive needed a
major overall it would then go into an engine shed that was part of
the Main Engineering Stores which had plenty of room to carry out
any repairs necessary.
South
Engine Shed 2006
North
Engine Shed 1970s
East
Works Engine Shed 2006
West
Works Engine Shed 2006
The
Track on the right went into the
Maintenance Shed 2007