Bibliography

Click on the titles and then on the images for further details about the book listed

This section lists all of the major publications that have been consulted in the preparation of this web site followed by other publications, web sites, individuals and organisations. Where conflicting information has been found an attempt has been made to resolve the differences. Where this has not been possible dubious or alternate information is indicated as such in the text.

This book is a detailed look at the Birmingham to Bristol railway line (part one covers the Birmingham to Cheltenham section). It is A4 size with 96 pages of photographs with very interesting and informative text . Quality of reproduction of the photographs is excellent with many of the photographs being previously unpublished. Absolutely superb and unbeatable value.

Central Birmingham

Andrew Doherty

Silver Link Publishing Ltd

2007

ISBN 978 1 85794 298 9

The Black Country and South Staffordshire

Andrew Doherty

Silver Link Publishing Ltd

2009

ISBN 978 1 85794 322 1

The Birmingham West Suburban Railway

John Edgington

Midland Railway Society

2002

No ISBN number

Coal Mining Around Halesowen

N.A.Chapman

Heartland Press

1999

ISBN 0 9517755.9.6

Freight Only - Volume 2: Southern & Central England

Michael Rhodes & Paul Shannon

Silver Link Publishing Ltd

1988

ISBN: 0947971246

For those seeking to model layouts of any of the key stations in Worcestershire during GWR/BR days this is the definitive volume of this extensive but somewhat haphazard review of stations. Rather than provide layouts by area the author has chosen places seeming at random thus this volume include not only Worcester but also places as far afield as Yeovil, Corwen and Taplow. This criticism apart this volume in the series covers Droitwich, Great Malvern, Malvern Wells, (but not Malvern Link!), Hartlebury, Henwick, Honeybourne, Stourbridge and Worcester. As well as full descriptions of the locations there are ample black & white photographs and line drawings showing layouts of trackwork and buildings. A fascinating work that is obviously the product of much exhaustive research.

Industrial Railways and Locomotives of Worcestershire

Andrew C. Smith

Industrial Railway Society

2005

ISBN 1 901556 32 8

This book lists all the industrial sites and locomotives known to have been used in the County together with full details about all of the contractors who built the main line railways. There is also a section on numerous non-locomotive and hand worked lines as well as covering the present preserved railways in the county (n.b the book covers the current county not the one that existed in 1900).

Herefordshire & Worcestershire's Lost Railways

Peter Dale

Stenlake Publishing Ltd

2004

ISBN 1 84033 313 8

Lost Lines - Birmingham and the Black Country

Nigel Welborne

Ian Allan Ltd

2002, reprinted 2006

ISBN 0 7110 2844 3

	Moreton-in-Marsh to Worcester Vic Mitchell and Keith Smith Middleton Press 2004 ISBN 1 904474 26 8
	Worcester to Hereford Vic Mitchell and Keith Smith Middleton Press 2004 ISBN 1 904474 38 1
	Bromsgrove to Gloucester Vic Mitchell and Keith Smith Middleton Press 2006 ISBN 1 904474 73 X
	Cheltenham to Redditch Vic Mitchell and Keith Smith Middleton Press 2006 ISBN 1 904474 81 0
	Bromsgrove to Birmingham Vic Mitchell and Keith Smith Middleton Press 2006 ISBN 1 904474 87 X
	Worcester to Birmingham Vic Mitchell and Keith Smith Middleton Press 2007 ISBN 1 904474 97 5
	Kidderminster to Shrewsbury Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith Middleton Press 2007 ISBN 978 1 906009 10 9
	Branch Lines Around Cleobury Mortimer Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith Middleton Press 2007 ISBN 978 1 906009 18 5

These books are part of the authors' mammoth project for 'Evolving the Ultimate Rail Encyclopedia'.

Oxford - Hereford Line

Geoffrey Body, MCIT

British Rail (Western) & Avon-AngliA Publications & Services

1985

ISBN 0 905466 72 1

This book provided essential background reading about the early years of the railways at Worcester. However the next book is better if you are seeking more modern information.

The Oxford Worcester & Wolverhampton Railway

John Boynton

Mid England Books

2002

ISBN 0 9540839 0 3

(Bob Pixton, Runpast Publications, 2003 & 2004, Part One (Oxford to Worcester) ISBN 1 870754 59X; Part Two (Worcester to Wolverhampton) ISBN 1 870754 60 3)

This work, which is published in two volumes, is primarily a picture album with extended captions. All the photographs are in black and white and many have not previously been published but there is a smattering of familiar material also. It is the quality of the printing and choice of photos that makes these books an enjoyable experience. There are 96 A4 sized pages in each book.

The first half of Part One covers Oxfordshire before giving an extended selection of photos at Honeybourne. The book then makes its way down the main line to Worcester including a rather nice photo of a GWR bus at Pershore. Highlight of a selection of photos at Worcester is 'Hall' class No.7928 'Wolf Hall' passing the Metal Box sidings at Perry Wood.

Part Two has a further selection of photos at Worcester before making its way to Droitwich (represented by an ex LMSR 2-6-0 No.42822 in 1949);to Stourbridge (where there is a fine photo of GWR 4-4-0 No.9073 taken in 1947); Dudley and Wolverhampton.

Some of the captions are way off the mark such as the suggestion in the text to Adrian Booth's photo (as shown on this site) of No.7025 'Sudeley Castle' at Worcester Engine Sheds that 'the large (engine) shed has been demolished (by 1964)'. This same error occurs again in Part Two in the caption to one of C.H.A. Townley's photos taken on 17th July 1953 of a loco emerging from Underwood's Coal Siding where it states that the same goods engine shed was demolished in the 1950s (a picture taken c1964 of both sheds still in use appears four pages later!)

Several books in this series cover locations in Worcestershire and these are listed below.

Past & Present 5 - The West Midlands

John Whitehouse & Geoff Dowling

1994

ISBN 1 858950 75 9

Past & Present 15 - Oxfordshire

Lawrence Waters and Tony Doyle

1992

Silver Link Publishing

ISBN 0 947971 87 4

Past and Present 16 - Avon, Cotswolds and the Malverns

John Whitehouse & Geoff Dowling

Past & Present Publishing Ltd

1993 and subsequent revised editions

ISBN 1 85895 077 5

Past and Present 33 - Worcestershire

Roger Siviter

Past & Present Publishing Ltd

1999

ISBN 1 85895 161 5

Past and Present 61 - Birmingham

John Whitehouse & Geoff Dowling

Past & Present Publishing Ltd

2010

ISBN 1 85895 260 4

This book is by same author as the one above and follows a similar pattern. There is a very good section about the lines around Halesowen.

Railways of the Cotswolds

Colin Maggs

Peter Nicholson Publishing

1981

ISBN 0 907036 07 4

Rails through the Hills

John Boynton

Mid England Books

1995

ISBN 0 952228 2 8

(P.J. Long and Reverend W.V. Awdry, Alan Sutton Publishing, 1987, ISBN 0 862993 29 6).

This seems to be the definitive guide to this railway line and includes a wealth of detail, photographs and statistical information. Recommended.

The Birmingham Gloucester Line

Colin Maggs

Line One Publishing Limited

1986

ISBN 0 907036 10 4

This book provides a history of the line, many historic photographs and good track plans.

Like myself, Rex was educated at Worcester Royal Grammar School and he was very active throughout the last twenty years of steam at Worcester. The book contains a wealth of notes and photographs covering an area from Shrewsbury, through Worcester to Oxford. This book is a must for anyone interested in the railways of Worcestershire and the Great Western Railway.

The author has drawn on the material held by the Great Western Trust at Didcot for this fascinating insight into the GWR’s express locomotives. There are many photographs of the Worcester to Paddington express trains in the final years of steam coverage including some in colour. There are also extensive and useful lists in seven appendices.

This issue in John’s continuing series of books covers the Birmingham to Worcester and Hereford lines.

The author can be relied upon to undertake comprehensive research about his subject and this book does not disappoint with its 80 pages of A4 being packed with interesting information. The section about the Earl of Dudley's Railways is particularly impressive.

Within the 141 pages of A4 in the book can be found the most amazing wealth of information about Kidderminster's railways in the 1940s. The author lived near to the railway and seems to have spent every waking hour recording the scene with pen and paper and in photographs. There are numerous lists of locos seen and details about such rarely recorded events as the Hospital Trains during World War 2. The photographic selection is truly amazing and that alone would recommend this book. A must to anyone interested in the GWR

The 100 page A4 size book contains detailed information about not just the Cadbury factory but also the Midland Railway engine shed at Bourneville. There is a lot of detailed and interesting information in this book that is well illustrated with a good selection of both black and white and colour photographs.

This is a work of monumental proportions weighing in at 256 pages with just about everything you need to know about the railways at Stourbridge. Highly enjoyable

This is another book that it is well worth getting hold of, even though some of the book covers areas outside of the county. The author provides good coverage by extending his remit to include stations from Kidderminster to Worcester. The bulk of the book comprises of 'before' and 'after' photos of locations on the Severn Valley Railway and the branch to Tenbury Wells.

This book is a detailed record of the history of the Sever Valley Railway from its origins beyond closure by BR and into the era of the new preservation company. The author draws on many sources of information and there is also a nice selection of black and white photographs. This book is recommended.

(Keith Beddoes & William H.Smith, Wild Swan Publications, 1995, ISBN 1 874103 27 5)

This excellent book contains over 200 pages packed full of information and photographs about the history of this railway. The quality of the printing of the photographs is superb and this alone justifies the price of this book. Essential reading. Highly commended.

This book is now out of print but it is well worth trying to get hold of as it contains over 100 pages of photographs and text. It covers in detail the major lines in Worcestershire that later became part of the Great Western Railway.

Vanishing Points

Steam in Worcestershire

Michael Dowty,

Alan Sutton Publishing

1985

ISBN 0 86299 286 9

(S.L. Swingle & K. Turner, The Oakwood Press, Locomotion Papers No.73, 1987, ISBN 0 85361 333 8)

The Kinver Light Railways qualifies for an entry on this site by virtue of its southerly terminus being at Amblecote, Stourbridge. When time permits we will write a proper page on the Railway but until then you can do no better than obtain this definitive little volume with 52 pages of facts and figures and some really nice black & white photographs.

Rail Centres: No.9 - Oxford

Laurence Waters

Ian Allan/Booklaw Publications

1986

ISBN 1-901945-19-7

This book was first printed in 1842 but was reprinted by David & Charles in 1969. It is nevertheless long since out of print and difficult to obtain. Francis Whishaw who wrote the original was a Civil Engineer and this book details many early railways from his viewpoint. He devotes nearly 14 pages to the Birmingham & Gloucester Railway and also include a line drawing of a locomotive. Very information information but the book is perhaps best referred to in a library archive.

Although the history of canals is outside the scope of this web site this is a fascinating reference work that will be of interest to many of our readers. Packed with maps and good quality photographs the author has produced the definitive work on this subject. There is a chapter devoted to the history of tramways that had links with the canal and some other historical information of interest to railway enthusiasts. The book is excellent value and highly recommended.

Most of the issues of this journal contain some information about the locomotives and railways of Worcestershire.

This is an excellent book with many details of the history of railways in Worcestershire as they existed in 1900. There is a series of good photographs of many of the long closed stations and the accompanying narrative is both clear and informative. For information the photo at the bottom of page 113 is captioned Bransford Road in error for Newland Halt. There is a similar book by the same author on Warwickshire Railways. Recommended.

British Steam Locomotive Builders, James W. Lowe,Guild Publishing, London, 1985, reprinted 1989, ISBN 0 905100 81 6.

This is an invaluable guild to all builders of locomotives in the UK. It is the only known published source of a list of locomotives built by the Worcester Engine Company.

The following magazines and other publications contain very interesting articles and photographs:

An extensive article by Ian Sixsmith entitled '72 hours at Worcester (from 8/7/58)', This article is full of fascinating maps, photographs and technical notes.

An article titled 'Urchin Tales' by Adrian Booth about a rail tour to Worcester in 1964. Another version of the same story is on this page: ajb.htm

This issue of the Journal contains a detailed article covering fifteen pages about the 'Vinegar Works' branch line in Worcester. One or two errors have crept into what us otherwise an accurate and excellent description of the history of the line eg the map on page 314 suggests that the Vulcan (Iron) Works was situated on the site of the Omnibus Depot whereas the original buildings were immediately to the south on the depot on the other side of Cromwell Street also the suggestion that he branch line crossed Pheasant Street twice is in error: the correct sequence of roads crossed being Shrub Hill Road, Padmore Street and Pheasant Street. The article contains an excellent aerial photograph of the Worcester Engine Works taken in 1934 but alas provides no light on the location of Heenan & Froude's engine shed.

Over the many years that The Railway Magazine has been published the railways of Worcestershire have not featured very often but when they have it has usually been with very interesting and informative articles. In particular the following issues are to be commended:

August 1935 - a letter from H. Pearce Higgins about the Bromsgrove boiler explosion of 1840. See this page for details.
December 1953 - six page article on the Worcester, Bromyard & Leominster Railway by C.R. Clinker with a history of this line from 1853 to 1953. Includes photos at Bromyard Station, Suckley, Rowden Mill Station (closed by then) and of No.4573 at Knightwick on 22nd August 1953.
April 1959 - three page article on the Vinegar Works Branch Railway by Anthony A.Vickers. This is a well known and researched article much quoted from by other sources. Illustrated with photos from the author's own collection including one showing the lifting bascule type bridge.
July and August 1959 - These two issues feature J.E. Norris's definitive article on The Worcester & Hereford Railway. Well illustrated with photographs from various sources. There are good pictures of No.4153 crossing the Worcester & Birmingham Canal and of No.2938 'Corsham Court' at Malvern Link.

September 1973 - 'A Question of Grant Aid' (Worcester to Hereford) by John Boynton.

This publication covers many different railway systems across the U.K. but Annual No.5 features a definitive article titled 'Branch Lines of Halesowen' by Oswald J.Barker. The author devotes over 20 pages to recording the history of this railway and lavishly illustrates the article with many maps, diagrams and photographs collected for a variety of sources. This is a must for anyone interested in the Halesowen Railway.

Most issues of this popular magazine contain interesting items and articles that refer, possibly indirectly to railways in Worcester. The following are of particular note.

July 1993 & August 1993. Steam on the Lickey Incline by Derek Harrison. A two-parter reflecting on the history and subsequent development of Britain's steepest main-line incline. Part one covers the period to 1947 with later history in part two.

July 1998. Life before Preservation - Severn Valley Railway by Michael Harris. This article is superbly illustrated with a wide variety of interesting views to accompany a very readable text.

March 2000. The Great Western 'Castles' by John Hodge. This is a generic history of the 'Castles' including some nice photographs of Worcester based examples.

January 2001. Gloucester GWR and BR Western Region by Stanley Jenkins. A lengthy history of the development of railways in nearby Gloucestershire which includes a superb photograph by W. Potter showing Horton Road shed on 16th October 1965.

October 2001. A large article by David Postle entitled 'Ashchurch to Malvern'.

May 2004. 'Castle Swansong'. A account by Andrew Wilson of the special high-speed run between Paddington and Plymouth on 9th May 1964. There are some superb photographs to accompany the article.

June 2008. Summer Saturdays at Hereford by Steve Bartlett. Steve recalls Hereford in the summer of 1963 with its numerous Summer Saturday holiday excursions over the North & West route interspersed with the last express passenger workings for Worcester's 'Castle class' 4-6-0s.

November 2009. There are two articles of interest in this issue. Firstly 'A Summer Saturday at Paddington' by Alan Teatherton gives details of locomotive movements in July 1957 - including those on Hereford & Worcester express services. There is also an interesting and detailed article titled 'Gloucester and Cheltenham Revisited' by Steve Bartlett.

A full colour article entitled 'Return to Worcester' by Clem Huzzey with many photographs.

A four-page article entitled '85A – home of Vinegar Castle' by John Tandy with seven black and white photographs by leading photographers such as R.C.Riley.

The first edition of this guide was published by the preservation body in September 1968 and is an invaluable reference in its own right. It contains 60 pages of notes and photographs which by their very nature of of historic interest. The gradient profile of the line is very interesting as are the sketch maps of the stations on the line but perhaps of most interest are the superb selection of photographs many covers the BR era.

On 2nd May 1993 and 22nd May 1994 Souvenir Programmes were produced by BR Regional Railways on the occasion of the second and third Worcester 'Open Days. Both programmes are collectible and contain a mixture of notes, anecdotes and interesting photographs. Class 37 locomotive No.37114 was named 'City of Worcester' on the end May 1993.

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