Austin & Longbridge Railways

One of the reasons Herbert Austin located his company at Longbridge was because it was already served by two railway companies. The Halesowen to Northfield railway (GWR) was opened on the 10th September 1883 with a third class ticket costing just 1d per mile. The other railway company was the Midland Railway (MR), the two railway tracks meeting at a point which they called Halesowen Junction.

The MR main line which had twin tracks went from Birmingham (New Street) to Gloucester, and after leaving the junction went into a tunnel called Cofton Tunnel. The GWR line, single track went via Rubery etc to Halesown and then onto Old Hill in the heart of the Black Country. It was called the Black Country as this was where mining, iron works and various heavy industries were situated, pouring out clouds of black smoke that hung over the area, if the weather conditions were right the area would be covered in SMOG.

There had been a station at Longbridge on the main line (where the current Station is today), but this was closed in 1849, long before Herbert Austin had arrived, the nearest one still open was Northfield a few miles away.

Around this time Long-Bridge was two words, a small river called the Rea used to flood, so a long wooden bridge was constructed so that the stagecoaches of the day were not impaired, as this was the main road between Birmingham and Bristol (Bristol Road) hence the name Long Bridge.

Long-Bridge 1832
Long-Bridge 1832


With the construction of the Black Country rail link by the GWR it was necessary to build a road bridge over the new railway track. The opportunity was taken at the same time to construct a culvet to take the River Rea under the bridge and the railway line. A map of 1912 shows it spelt as one word Longbridge.

Longbridge Map 1912?
Map 1912

With the start of the First World War and the Austin changing over to producing items for war, it was felt that Longbridge should once again have its own station. In fact this happened in February 1915. More track was put in by the side of South Works, and a signal box called ‘Longbridge East’ (which is still there) was constructed by the road bridge carrying the A38 Birmingham to Bristol road.

Longbridge-East-Signal-Box-
Longbridge East 2006

The other side of the bridge was were the station platforms were built. Passengers could alight and walk up a ramp that brought them by the corner of the Bristol Road where the Island is. Or they could stay on the platform which also extended under the road (R/H Arch) along with the River Rea. Workers entered the South Works by the Medical Block. After North works was built a footbridge was constructed over the railway track between the Road Bridge and the Signal Box.

It was necessary to build a further signal box near Rubery called ‘Longbridge West’.


Longbridge-Station-1924-Bri
(S Mourton & B Pixton)
1920s Looking from the Station Platform towards the Austin



Longbridge-West-Signal-Box
Longbridge West looking from the Station early 1950s


In 1916 the North Works was constructed on land between the railway and Longbridge Lane, on farmland which also housed a Farm called, yes that's right Longbridge Farm which was demolished The following year in December, work started on constructing West Works opposite Longbridge Lane. Having railway access on the doorstep no doubt helped to speed up the construction of the two new factories. Also the incoming raw materials along with finished goods could be despatched quickly.

There were two trains daily from Birmingham New Street, picking up passengers on route. But this was only of use to people who lived south of Birmingham. The Austin workers really needed a train service from the Black Country as well, and on the 18
th April 1917 GWR started there first workmen’s service with two trains from Old Hill in the morning, and two trains retuning in the evening.

With the service to the Black Country now open, and as the factory was still crying out for more workers to man the war effort. An advert was placed by the company in the local papers emphasising the convenience of the new services. It appears that slowly more trains were put on to accommodate the increase in workers using the service. At its height in 1918 there were five early morning trains and four to take the night shift home operated by the MR, with GWR having three trains in the morning and two trains in the evening.


Halesowen-Junction-1920sjpg
1920s Showing the Station on the main line



The MR decided to construct a station with two platforms joined by a footbridge which also extended into the factory site on the main line to Gloucester just south of the Halesowen Junction. This then allowered workers from as far away as Worcester to have a direct service into the works. MR was taken over and the combined company was called London Midland & Scottish (LMS).




Longbridge-Station-MR-A-
Steaming passed Halesown Junction Signal Box
(Note the footbridge into the works)

The LMS started to expand and a decision was made to increase the mainline track to four, but with Cofton Tunnel only made to accommodate two tracks, the only solution was to demolish the tunnel and make it into a wide cutting. So in early 1928 Longbridge Station (main line) was closed, this meant that the nearest station North was Northfield and Barnt Green to the South. Work started by first removing all the soil on the sides and top of the tunnel, this meant that a speed restriction was put on passing traffic. But not all train drivers complied as in June 1928 driver W Jones was reprimanded for not complying with the speed restrictions.

The cutting would be widen on the left hand side going south as this had a much lower bank, so a railhead was dug into the bank at the same height as the tunnel roof. (As shown in next picture)

Although a lot of work was carried out by the contractor Messrs Logan and Hemingway prior to the actual demolition of the tunnel, this work was marred as in May 1928 several workmen were killed.

The last train passed through the tunnel at 10.15 pm on Saturday 26th January 1929 and on the Monday morning of the 28th the first trains were coming through the cutting. It was many months before the four tracks were opened


As you can see from the picture it was a very manual operation.


Cofton-Tunnel-Demolition
Demolition of the Tunnel in progress


Cofton-Cutting-B
(R S Carpenter collection)
View from Groveley Lane looking towards the Austin
after demolition showing the widening on the right



Next chapter about
Austin's own Engines etc.