| On a bright and sunny
day in August 2004, I decided that I would have a trip from my local
station, Dorridge, to Birmingham for the purpose of taking a few
photographs of the resplendent Moor Street Railway station. And to see
what was what at New Street. I chose the 10.08am Centro service from
Dorridge. The incoming working arrived a couple of minutes late and
comprised two 150 units coupled together. There were not many
passengers for the 10.08am, about six, myself included.
At 10.08am, the front unit departed, leaving the rear unit standing in the platform. Ah, the front unit has been dispatched empty to Tyseley yard. This was a normal procedure for reducing 4 car units to 2 car units at the end of the morning peak. And since front unit would make no stops, it made sense to dispatch it ahead of the service train. So at 10.11am, 3 minutes late, we were off. I first became concerned when we passed Widney Manor station without stopping. Strange I thought, but a good way to catch up a couple of minutes provided there were no intending passengers. But when we then passed through Solihull, the truth dawned. The first train to depart was the service train, and we were the empty stock. |
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| Calls were made from the front of the train to make the driver aware of the situation. He was no doubt concerned that he was in fact driving a passenger train without a guard. Upon reaching Tyseley he was signalled directly into the yard, so we were not able to alight in Tyseley station. The only way in which we could alight from the train was via the short section of platform at the far end, ie the south, of one of the storage sidings. So it was a trip to the east end of Tyseley yard, then a reversal to the short platform at the west. Here we alighted and were escorted to the Tyseley Mess room, where taxis were summoned to take us on into Birmingham. The picture above was taken whilst we waited at the entrance to Tyseley yard, whilst the driver took instructions. | ||||
| I have to say that the attitude of my fellow passengers was amazing. Without exception, they treated it as an adventure, and were good humoured. Asked whether we wished to make a formal complaint, the answer was no. In fact the guard at Dorridge should have ensured that the rear train was empty before dispatching the front one. Since he had walked from the rear to the front, and in the process seen several passengers joining the rear coaches, his omission was inexcusable. |
