Birmingham Railway Architecture and Canal Tunnels Roundabout Tour - 2nd November 2024

Hover over a thumbnail image for the caption; click on the image to display a larger version.

Lower left of the original Grade I Listed Curzon Street station building is the bulbous end of Selfridges store by Moor Street station.<br>[&copy; Keith Flinders 2024]	The front of the building will need much restoration work.<br>[&copy; Keith Flinders 2024]	The London & Birmingham Railway crest above the station entrance.<br>[&copy; Keith Flinders 2024]	The Grand Junction Railway wall along Curzon Street itself includes some of original 1838 stonework, such as the bottom two courses here.<br>[&copy; Keith Flinders 2024]	The new viaduct to Curzon Street station will take HS2 over the lines to Aston and Water Orton, before it drops down into Bromford Tunnel.<br>[© Keith Flinders 2024]	From road level near Proof House Jn, the 1893 brick viaduct built on top of the original 1838 stone and brick viaduct.<br>[© Keith Flinders 2024]	Ashted Tunnel on the Digbeth Branch Canal; until 1928, the water level was maintained by a Boulton & Watt pump, now at a museum - in Detroit!<br>[© Keith Flinders 2024]
Curzon Street Canal 'Tunnel' is a set of railway bridges (24 tracks once) over the Digbeth Branch Canal. Note how wide the tunnel and towpath are.<br>[&copy; Keith Flinders 2024]	Birmingham Proof House from the back and Proof House Jn from canal level as the 09.39 Lichfield to Bromsgrove passes by. This EMU, 730029, had a Remembrance Day poppy by the cab for the next weekend.<br>[&copy; Keith Flinders 2024]	In case you wondered what a Grade II listed gents' looks like. Once a feature of Birmingham, these urinals, also known as 'Temples of Relief', were made of ornate cast iron panels. Often found beneath railway bridges, this is in Allinson Street, under the south end of Moor Street station.<br>[&copy; Keith Flinders 2024]	Moor Street station looking towards London. So that trains could use the full platform length in this cramped site, two electric powered traversers were used until 1967 to move steam engines sideways between tracks. There is still the gap there underneath the platforms. P5 on the left is not connected to the network at the far end.<br>[&copy; Keith Flinders 2024]	Opposite Snow Hill station entrance is Great Western Arcade. Its continuation to Corporation Street is called North Western Arcade and is the simplest direct walking route to New Street station.<br>[&copy; Keith Flinders 2024]	Cut and cover, above Snow Hill Tunnel, Adam Turner holds an early photo of the Great Western Arcade, revealing that not much has changed. [Artificial Intelligence (AI) auto-captioning thought it was a 'person taking a selfie in a mall' - clearly, we have nothing to worry about over AI ... yet. How do you turn it off?]<br>[© Keith Flinders 2024]	The remaining portion of the 1912 Snow Hill station, this bricked up gateway was the passenger entrance in the station's final days.<br>[&copy; Keith Flinders 2024]
The Great Western Railway crest includes the heraldry of the cities of London and Bristol.<br>[&copy; Keith Flinders 2024]	Edgbaston Village tram terminus looking away from the end of line.<br>[© Keith Flinders 2024]	Church Road Tunnel and (closed 99 years ago) Church Road station site. Left is the canal tunnel, the only one of the five on the Worcester & Birmingham Canal with a towpath.<br>[© Keith Flinders 2024]	The original West Suburban route to Granville Street passenger station paralleled the Worcester & Birmingham Canal north of Church Road Jn. The canal is about to make a right angled turn into Gas Street Basin and the railway drops down to tunnel beneath it.<br>[© Keith Flinders 2024]	After splitting into two single lines to pass either side of the Jewish burial ground, the Up trackbed (from Church Road Jn to Granville Street) is top right. At the lower level, the 13.16 Four Oaks to Redditch climbs out of Canal Tunnel on the 1885 link from Birmingham New Street station.<br>[© Keith Flinders 2024]	The 1925 skew bridge (which could have been skewed the other way) linked the canal wharf east of the railway to Cadbury's extensive internal railway. 170110 is on the 12.45 Cardiff to Nottingham.<br>[© Keith Flinders 2024]