Dudley Port Junction offered the area's largest volume of loco-hauled passenger trains, coupled with total freedom to roam and relax.
For the rail enthusiast of the millennium period, it had everything. A relaxed, canalside setting, a range of photo vantage points within walking distance, and in the thick of the day an average of six or so loco-hauled trains per hour. Diesel and electric. Passenger and freight. Located on the Stour Valley line between Dudley Port station and the site of the former Albion station, it was (and still is - although things have changed in the past two decades) Dudley Port Junction.
Dudley Port Junction is so-called not because of any railway divergence, but because it sits on the junction of Thomas Telford's BCN Main Line Birmingham to Wolverhampton Canal, and the canal's Netherton Branch, leading across via Netherton Tunnel to the Dudley Canal.
Dudley Port Junction, with the Netherton Branch heading away to the left. The Victorian bridges bear the “Toll End Works” ID of their local manufacturer. The shot was taken on 3rd October 2002.
Locals enjoying the show, as 'Peak' No. 45112 and Class 31 No. 31459 pass by in the era of Fragonset - July 2002. This was very much a grab-it-while-you-can time for spotting at Dudley Port Junction, as loco-haulage was set to end on CrossCountry the following month.
I mentioned in my previous post that Dudley Port Junction was a major hotspot for spotting classic British rail traction in the 1990s and early 2000s. The railway publications of the time didn't typically cite it as such - primarily because there wasn't a large amount of freight traffic as compared with a location like Bescot. But if you had an interest in spotting loco-hauled passenger services, it was unquestionably the West Midlands' most productive site. Dudley Port Junction offered the area's largest volume of loco-hauled passenger trains, coupled with total freedom to roam and relax.
With the vegetation cleared in the early 2000s, all sorts of creative photos were possible.
Unlike the nearby railway stations, Dudley Port Junction was a public walkway, and unless you were doing something seriously wrong, no one had the authority to interfere with your photo or spotting session.
I began to make regular photographic trips to the location forward from autumn 1998. The magazines had been subtly soothsaying the demise of regular classic traction haulage for a while, but in late '98 as the EWS 66s began to go live, the cull of vintage no-heat diesels set in motion, and Virgin's Voyager order neared a formal handshake, the warnings became a lot more urgent...
“THIS IS NOT A DRILL. IF YOU DO NOT GET PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE OLD TRAINS NOW, YOU ARE NEVER GOING TO GET THEM.”
So there was a sudden resolution of: “Right, get it all. Get a bulk load of film, and just point the damn camera at every loco that rolls into view, and worry about what you're gonna do with the pictures later.”
I made several trips to DPJ in the summer of 1999, and more in the autumn. The above shot, of 47853 still wearing InterCity livery, comes from 21st August. The loco was soon to go to Toton for a Super E exam, which saw it outshopped in Virgin colours on 5th January 2000. The year after that, it was repainted again as part of the loco-haulage finale preparations - this time in its original XP64 livery.
THE RAIL TRAFFIC IN DETAIL
So what was the composition of the traffic at Dudley Port Junction around the millennium period?
In 1999 you had a constant of one Euston - Wolverhampton and one Wolverhampton - Euston per hour. All loco-hauled or loco-propelled, with a mix of Classes 86, 87 and 90. Normally the loco was at the Wolverhampton end while the DVT sat at the London end, but there was the odd exception. So, that was a typical two loco-powered trains per hour before you even reached the main course...
90003 was also still wearing InterCity colours in the summer of '99. Here it is on 26th June with the 14:15 Wolverhampton - Euston. Note that the loco has a dark grey cab roof. You can compare this look with the classic white roof version and see which you prefer.
The main course was CrossCountry. Here are the loco-hauled Virgin CrossCountry services that ran via Dudley Port in 1999. Brace yourself...
04:50 Reading - Liverpool
05:50 Bournemouth - Edinburgh
06:00 Paddington - Manchester
06:10 Bristol - Manchester
06:20 Preston - Brighton
06:36 Wolverhampton - Plymouth
06:40 Birmingham International - Manchester
06:40 Poole - Liverpool
06:43 Manchester - Birmingham
06:55 Birmingham - Glasgow
07:48 Manchester - Birmingham International
08:10 Liverpool - Birmingham International
08:17 Manchester - Bournemouth
08:40 Glasgow - Penzance
08:48 Penzance - Manchester
09:05 Birmingham - Edinburgh
09:05 Paddington - Manchester
09:10 Edinburgh - Bournemouth
09:13 Liverpool - Plymouth
09:17 Manchester - Paddington
09:20 Brighton - Edinburgh
10:13 Birmingham International - Manchester
10:17 Manchester - Birmingham
10:31 Birmingham International - Edinburgh
10:36 Manchester - Birmingham International
10:40 Edinburgh - Brighton
11:17 Manchester - Bristol
11:50 Plymouth - Liverpool
12:30 Glasgow - Poole
12:34 Birmingham - Manchester
13:17 Manchester - Birmingham International
14:18 Bournemouth - Manchester
14:18 Brighton - Preston
14:18 Paddington - Glasgow
14:36 Manchester - Birmingham
14:40 Edinburgh - Birmingham
15:10 Liverpool - Poole
15:16 Birmingham International - Manchester
15:28 Bristol - Edinburgh
15:36 Manchester - Birmingham International
15:55 Plymouth - Manchester
16:08 Glasgow - Birmingham
16:18 Birmingham International - Manchester
16:57 Birmingham - Manchester
17:10 Edinburgh - Birmingham
17:10 Manchester - Paddington
17:59 Manchester - Birmingham
18:10 Liverpool - Paddington
18:18 Bournemouth - Manchester
18:47 Birmingham International - Liverpool
19:15 Manchester - Paddington
21:45 Preston - Birmingham
An archetypal memory of the Virgin CrossCountry era at Dudley Port Junction, showing 47848 'Newton Abbot Festival of Transport' on the 08:40 Glasgow - Penzance. This train was electric-hauled to Preston, then entrusted to a 47 for the remainder of the journey.
And that's just an out-of-season weekday. Summer Saturdays were even busier. One of the reasons loco-haulage was so intensive on the Stour Valley line was the way CrossCountry broadly divided into two, with HSTs overwhelmingly taking charge of traffic to or from the North East, and the vast majority of trains to or from the North West comprising locomotives and stock. Edinburgh services would normally fall into the North West group if they went via the WCML - North East if they went via Sheffield and the ECML. The above trains were scheduled for Classes 47/8, 47/7 or 86/2, but traction could vary when availability was low.
Next, there were First North Western's Class 37-hauled runs to and from North Wales...
08:07 Birmingham - Holyhead
10:07 Birmingham - Holyhead
13:54 Holyhead - Birmingham
14:23 Birmingham - Holyhead
18:22 Holyhead - Birmingham International
23:12 Birmingham International - Holyhead
Some of the FNW services went either into or out of Birmingham via Bescot to save a loco shunt at New Street. There were ten individual services per day in all, but only the above six were routed via Dudley Port.
In addition to the loco-hauled CrossCountry services, Virgin also ran a handful of HST duties via Dudley Port. The number of these briefly increased from the end of September 2002 when Operation Princess began. But they ceased altogether in spring 2003.
With just over a month left for the EWS 56s, 56060 works the Wolverhampton - Rotherham steel empties on 19th February 2004.
Freight workings of 1999 included...
02:48 Scunthorpe - Wolverhampton ST (56)
06:55 Wolverhampton ST - Scunthorpe (56)
08:45 Lackenby - Wolverhampton ST (60)
09:25 Aldwarke - Wolverhampton ST (66/56)
12:48 Wolverhampton ST - Hoo Junction (58)
14:30 Lynemouth - Wolverhampton ST (37)
14:49 Wolverhampton ST - Aldwarke (66/56)
15:53 Immingham - Wolverhampton ST (56)
17:50 Margam - Wolverhampton ST (60)
19:34 Wolverhampton ST - Lackenby (60)
22:06 Aldwarke - Wolverhampton (66)
All freight workings on the line were run by EWS in those days. The light engine above is for the Wolves - Hoo Junction run. It was unusual to find a railway location that really worked for light engines, but after the veg was cleared and the view opened up in 2001, the angle of shot at Dudley Port Junction became highly variable. By standing back a little, you could make a light engine prominent in the frame.
We've already built a pretty intensive conveyor belt of loco power, but the listings didn't include light engine or empty stock moves such as provisions for the steel works, transfers to or from Oxley, or provisions for the Shrewsbury route. There were also mail trains like the 16:35 Shieldmuir - Bristol, 16:44 Warrington - Bristol and 20:05 Cardiff - Shieldmuir. Two of these would run after dark, but the Warrington - Bristol ran in daylight for most of the year - about 18:15 at Dudley Port. And in December there were additional daytime postals.
Multiple units at the time included Classes 150, 153, 156, 158, 170, 309, 310 and 323. The 175s began service in 2000, essentially replacing North Western's 37s. In the compilation above, units of the early 2000s include Centro 323209, Central Trains 170638 still sporting fully original livery with bodyside phone numbers and “go” logos, First North Western 158755 in North Western blue, and post-Barbiefication, 175116 in its original First livery.
THE LOCATION
Scenes from around the location in the early 2000s. In reading order: 1. Looking up the Netherton Branch from Dudley Port Junction. 2. Quarry on the Dudley side of the line, with burned out and rusted motor vehicles. 3. Beer cans left impaled on the fence railings at DPJ. 4. The canal up at nearby Tipton.
Left: The tourist map on a canalside sign at Dudley Port Junction. Right: The disused Dudley line at Dudley Port, running under the Stour Valley line and up to the Dudley skyline - as seen in summer 1999.
Dudley Port Junction was undeniably a great choice of location for railway photography, but it wasn't just about the trains. It was a wider experience than that. The area of the Black Country, with its many industrial remnants, and its friendly, down-to-earth people, was pitched as a rich mine of interest for tourist exploration. But as some of the above photos show, the area was also blighted by some behaviours that Black Country Tourism would not want to promote to tourists. There was a contradiction in seeing burned out cars within yards of tourist maps.
The bridge across the Main Line Birmingham - Wolves Canal formed the focal point of the photographic area. The vantage point can be seen in the above shot of Central Trains 158793. This is October 2002, and the whole area is cleared of vegetation, affording excellent photo opportunities from the bridge - in either direction. It had been like this since 2001, when the metal fencing was installed.
Prior to 2001, the scene was clear of vegetation near the bridge itself when looking towards Birmingham, but the view towards Wolverhampton was almost a write-off due to both vegetation and an old wooden fence. Above, you can see the scene looking towards Birmingham in June 2000, as Res liveried 86243 propels the 15:16 Wolves - Euston.
This shot, taken in autumn 1999, hints at the state of play before 2001. It's a “going away” shot because of the prohibitive blockages looking in the other direction. 66164 was brand new, and working the 14:49 Wolverhampton- Aldwarke steel empties.
The above shot illustrates the problem looking towards Wolverhampton. That's the autumn of '98. It would have been quite a nice composition for a small train without the catenary mast. The old fencing itself actually had a much more photogenic look than the later metal railings of 2001. Its full profile was just too restrictive on the shot in combination with the bushes. And behind the camera the fence rose higher, so even if some of the right-hand bush was cut away, you couldn't really stand much further back.
After the re-fencing you could take shots like the one above. The image shows 87030 Black Douglas running on the “wrong” end of a Wolves - Euston on 24th November 2003. But already, you can see the bushes are starting to grow again.
In 2001 immediately after the re-fencing, and even in 2002, you could photograph right down at track level with the camera just above the top of the fence, as shown above, in a nice monochrome of 43180 heading an Operation Princess 'Challenger' HST set.
So what did you do in the late 90s if you wanted to photograph trains heading towards Birmingham? Well, if you were caught unawares there was this option...
But if you knew in advance that something good was on its way, you could either walk up the canal to Tipton station, or walk down the canal to the old footbridge near the site of the former Albion station, and grab this shot...
By the new millennium, that vantage point was sealed off and inaccessible.
I'm going to leave you with an image that for me, sums up the era of loco-haulage at Dudley Port Junction. It comes from November 2001, and it's not a great shot technically, but it takes a step back to show a little more of the feel of being there, sitting on the wall of the footbridge at the time. The loco is 86229 Lions Clubs International - an absolute irrepressible worker on the Euston - Birmingham/Wolves services in 2001. Certainly one of the most common locomotives on the line when the photo was taken...
There are many other photos from Dudley Port Junction on this blog, and most of the content focuses on the West Midlands. You can browse the articles from the home page.