| Two railways crossed Birmingham Heath in the mid C19th. The Stour
Valley line was a joint venture of the BCN Co. and the London to Birmingham
(later L.N.W.) Railway. The line goes underground from New Street
to Fazeley (Canal) Junction, then runs parallel and close to the Telford
Cut to Wolverhampton and beyond. South of Monument Lane (1854 goods
and pas-senger station) a short canal arm, canalside wharves, and
rail sidings provided transhipping facilities. The railways were then
used for fast long-distance hauls and the many canal branches for
short journeys, to mutual profit.
The Birmingham, Wolverhampton & Dudley Railway from Snow Hill
(1852) was a parallel and rival route. It crossed the Newhall Brook
valley on a viaduct, tunnelled from Great Hampton Street to Vyse
Street, cros-sed Ladywood Brook valley on a low bridge (Little Hockley
Pool was already drained), and went in a deep cutting under the
Soho Branch and three streets before crossing Winson Green Brook.
Hockley and Soho & Winson Green Stations were both opened in
'54, with a goods station at the former. An engine shed was built
between the cemeteries a few years later.
Increased traffic brought new lines at Hockley, and eventually
there were (and are) low steel viaducts extending for a hundred
yards over Icknield Street, flanked by great warehouse walls. Lines
were laid to the Soho Branch, and Hockley Port was made there. On
the S.V. Line Winson Green Station was built in '76, and ten years
later a loop line lin-ked the S.V. and Grand Junction (Liverpool)
Lines. Hockley Great Pool (Soho Pool) had been drained in the 70's,
and a branch line from the loop enabled its bed to be used for sidings
and storage. In '73 the Harborne Line had been taken off from the
S.V. main line south of Lee Bridge, by viaduct over the Telford
Cut and in a cutting across Rotten Park. In '85 the Birmingham &
South-Western Suburban Line, built beside the Worcester Canal, came
to Five Ways and New Street
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