Hi all,

I ventured out on my trusty wheel chair early last Saturday to take a picture of 7029 “Clun Castle” climbing out of Birmingham New Street and passing through Five Ways station with 1Z40 the 08.00 Birmingham New Street to Bishops Lydeyard, near Taunton for a trip down the West Somerset Railway onward to Minehead. Here are two pictures, one of it leaving the last of 4 tunnels,(at one time I could remember their names but time has caught up with me) at the start of the climb out of New Street on the Bristol route and another closer to the camera.
I have only ever seen one other picture of a steam engine passing through here taken early 1960s of an Easter Region Thompson B1 of all engines heading for Bristol this was a rare engine to see here although a few did get through to the west.

Behind the trees is the track bed of the old Midland Railway Companies route into the Central goods yard in Birmingham. When at work as a firemen I was lucky to have the local tripper one day into Central with a steam engine 46454 one of Saltleys
Class 2 2-6-0s, what grand little engines they were.

From here into Central there was only one long tunnel.

Beyond that over a high wall is the Worcester Canal going into the Gas Street Basin.

Saturday 31st May 2025.
Regards
Ledg.