| One of the drawbacks
of being a pupil at King Edwards VI School at Stourbridge in the 1950's
was that attendance was required on Saturday mornings. But there was a
corresponding advantage, which was that Wednesday attendances finished at
lunchtime. So, providing I was not on detention, I frequently used
Wednesday afternoons for a spot of train travelling and train spotting.
One such afternoon was on 5th October 1955, when I travelled with schoolfriend and fellow enthusiast John Tennent from Stourbridge to Tenbury Wells and return. We caught the "Dodger" from Stourbridge Town to Stourbridge Junction, which would have been one of the three 84F allocated 14xx 0-4-2T's, either 1414, 1438, or 1458. At Stourbridge Junction, we travelled to Kidderminster behind 6992 Arborfield Hall on the 12.45pm Birmingham Snow Hill to Cardiff service which left the Junction at 1.26pm. This gave us plenty of time to connect with the 2.00pm Kidderminster to Tenbury Wells, and we got a good seat on Railcar no 32. The route diverged from what is now the Severn Valley Railway at Tenbury Junction, beyond Bewdley, crossed the River Severn, then headed into Wyre Forest. At Cleobury Mortimer there was a junction with the Cleobury Mortimer & Ditton Priors line, The next station was Neen Sollars, then from Newnham Bridge, the line followed the River Teme to Tenbury Wells and onward to Woofferton Junction. There were two though trains in each direction to and from Woofferton, but the majority of trains from Kidderminster ran to Tenbury Wells only. We arrived at Tenbury Wells at 2.46pm, and returned to Kidderminster on the 3.05pm service. |
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Above: The Woofferton to Kidderminster 1954 timetable. |
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At 2.50pm, 4553 arrived on a pick-up goods from the Woofferton
direction, whilst 6332 was in Tenbury yard.
The return journey to Kidderminster on Railcar 32 took exactly the 48 minutes that were booked. At Kidderminster we caught the 1.30pm Cardiff to Birmingham Snow Hill semi fast service as far as Stourbridge Junction, 7912 Little Linford Hall being the locomotive. Then back on the Dodger to Stourbridge Town, where I said cheerio to friend John before catching a Midland Red 130 bus back to my home at Halesowen. |
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