Steam up for special tribute to city trains

Trainspotters from across the Black Country have dug out boyhood snaps for a new book on Wolverhampton's railways to help pay for the repair of an historic steam locomotive.

The hardback book has been written by Tettenhall chartered building surveyor Simon Dewey for the Wolverhampton branch of the Severn Valley Railway.

Appealing for pictures for a second volume, he describes Wolverhampton as the Cinderella of the publishing world, with relatively few photographs of the city's once thriving railways scene.

His tribute, Wolverhampton Railways In Colour, includes pictures taken by him as a teenager on his mother's box Brownie as well as others by more established railway photographers.

Some of the older pictures were taken by late railwayman Stan Cartwright in the late 1950s and 1960s on visits to various sites around the region checking on lost railway stock.

In the foreword, pop impressario Pete Waterman, who started his working life as a railway fireman in Wolverhampton, enthuses about his trainspotting visits to the city as a boy. "I knew really after visiting Stafford Road Works in the mid-1950s (courtesy of a hole in the fence) that there was really only one place where I wanted to work when I left school," he writes.

"To me, Wolverhampton, Oxley and Bushbury were magical places, and as long as the pocket money was forthcoming, most Saturdays found me on my way to Wolverhampton." The record producer says the city "hugely influenced" his decision to set up a railway heritage works at Crewe.

Simon Dewey takes enthusiasts on a pictorial tour that starts at the old High Level Station, originally known as Queen Street Station, which opened in 1851.

A photograph of the entrance, taken in 1961 by Stan Cartwright, shows posters advertising day trips to Liverpool on Sundays for 14 shillings (70p) and a football supporters' special to Manchester for Wolves' First Division match against United for 13 shillings (65p). The book also includes views of the Cannock Road, Heath Town and Portobello junctions, Stafford Road and Bushbury sheds and works, the Herbert Street goods depot and the stations at Dunstall Park, Codsall and Bilston. The author, now semi-retired, co-authored two books on Wolverhampton's railways with Ned Williams 30 years ago.

This collection, entirely in colour, has been inspired by the fund to restore the Great Western Railway locomotive Hinton Manor, built in 1939, to full working order for use on the

Severn Valley Railway. He asks for anyone with local railway-related colour photos to contact him at the address below.

* The book, price £15.99, is available from local booksellers or by post from Severn Valley Railway Wolverhampton Branch, c/o 49 Tyninghame Avenue, Tettenhall, Wolverhampton WV6 9PP at £18.99 including post and packaging.