Peter was 13 or 14 when he took this shot of 40745 in Birmingham New St. The loco is a Johnson 3P, built at Derby 01/1904 as 745 it was renumbered as 40745 in June 1948 although the tender is still lettered LMS.. The end came for 40745 in March 1950 when it was withdrawn from 21A (Saltley) shed.
The train is on the Midland side for the West Suburban line through Selly Oak, I would guess it would be on a local service or even acting as station pilot.
Above the loco chimney are the wall parapets marking the point where Queen's Drive met Navigation Street, over the dome is the once familiar ABC picture house logo of the Regent Cinema, the front of the theatre was on New Street, this is the back at the corner of Ethel Street and Pinfold Street.
The 70+ year old negative is almost at the end of it's life, inspection of the loco tender shows the emulsion is crazed and flaking The negative is dark brown showing that the fixing has failed and Peter's schoolboy finger prints show as black stains.
However I have given the negative a new scan and, 10 years after the original attempt the new one is much improved, life in the old neg yet!
Peter Shoesmith (undated)
Copyright Geoff Dowling & John Whitehouse: All rights reserved
Tags: 40745 Birmingham Johnson 3P 21A Saltley Derby 745 Queens Drive Pinfold St ABC cinema Regent.
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At Round Oak steelworks in Brierley Hill Andrew Barclay 0-4-0ST 'Billy' sends a thick pall of smoke over Level Street as it crosses the road with crucible 23, guarding the crossing is the duty flagman.
There is so much detail to see in this masterpiece from Peter, the chap on the right, cigarette in hand, walks over a pavement which is a patchwork of engineering blue brick and loose ash. The other side of the railway leaning against the wall three young ladies are finding Peter's antics funny, you can almost hear the broad Black Country "ee's tekin' our pictcher in't ee?"
The locomotive was scrapped here four year later and was fed to the steelworks furnaces.
This is one of my all time favourite pictures of Peter's, it is so much more than a railway photograph it is a snapshot in time. The whole steelworks area is now Merry Hill retail park.
This picture was published in Industrial Railways of the British Isles Volume One: Steam. Published by OPC written by Kevin Lane. In that book the picture has been quite heavily cropped and lacks the man on the right.
Peter Shoesmith 02/05/1959
Copyright Geoff Dowling & John Whitehouse: All rights reserved
Tags: Level Street Brierley Hill Round Oak steelworks Billy Andrew Barclay flagman 02/05/1959 ladies who laugh bloke
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We return to Whitmore Road, uploaded a day or two ago.
This view is of Coventry Road in Small Heath. We are facing Birmingham and standing on the corner of Whitmore Road, across the road is Grange Road.
When this plate was made the area was middle class/working class, pleasant housing could be had particularly around Small Heath park but just over the hill towards Bordesley were the back-to backs of the lower classes. In that area around Garrison Lane the Peaky Blinders were to become notorious.
On the corner of Whitmore Road is a shop selling beds, according to the window display you could buy "The Master" bed for £4.17s.6d all lot of money then, next door Mr J.R. Taylor the fishmonger announces he has fresh fish from Grimsby every day. Next along is Jenkins Street, it has a bank on the corner.
Having just cycled past Grange Road 'Ernest' on his classy bicycle is checking out the two fashionable ladies, keen to see if he had been noticed, the two ladies may be heading for the tram request stop, three tram cars are visible in the centre of the scene (Coventry Road were to lose the trams from 7th January 1934 when trolleybuses were introduced).
Some of the buildings were lost in bombing raids in W.W.II, the area is near to BSA who produced guns and Small Heath marshalling yard so it was hit during attempts to bomb these prime targets.
This is another plate from the postcard photographer collection all produced pre-World War I.
Collection Geoff Dowling: All rights reserved
Tags: Coventry Road Whitmore Road Jenkins Street Grange Road ladies cyclist fishmonger bed shop tramcars World War II
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Heading purposefully towards Birmingham with 1M11 the 09.05 Paddington - Birmingham is D1055 Western Advocate. The loco will return as 1V38 the 12.25 Birmingham - Paddington service.
The location is Woodcock Lane in Acocks Green, by 2017 the embankment to the right, once covered in yellow flowering gorse, has been lost to a forest of mature trees. To the left the view of the tunnel-back houses in Avenue Road has also been lost behind thick woodland, it is now necessary to stand almost over the running line to take a photograph.
D1055 Western Advocate was a Crewe built Class 52 she was put into traffic 02/03/1963. It was scrapped after an accident in Worcester tunnel when it collided with the rear of a stationary parcels train on 3rd January 1976, unfortunately the driver and secondman were both killed.
This is a much improved re-scan and re-caption of a shoddy job done a year or three ago.
Copyright Geoff Dowling; all rights reserved
Tags: D1055 Western Advocate 1M11 09.05 Paddington Birmingham Woodcock Lane Acocks Green 19/04/1975 accident Worcester tunnel 03/01/1976
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The wooden platform at Stewartby has only a Tilley lamp to combat the gloom, it should soon be lit on this cold February afternoon. Two passengers are waiting for the fuggy warmth of an old DMU, 56148 and 50391 will soon be rasping towards Bedford with the 15.10 service from Bletchley.
The building is the boarded up LNWR crossing keeper's house, the keeper now travels to work by road, on the crossing side of his hut there is a ticket window beside the door.
Copyright Geoff Dowling 14/02/1981; all rights reserved
Tags: Stewartby wooden platform Tilley Lamp 56148 50391 15.10 Bletchley Bedford LNWR crossing keeper 14/02/1981
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