Virtual Railfan Tour UK - Shrewsbury
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| Shrewsbury coat of arms on the old Market Hall |
Date carved in a wooden beam in a house on Swan Hill
This will be a little different - a look at Shrewsbury as a railway junction.
The station is located partially over the River Severn which describes a loop in which the town was built. The line to the east (right) runs to Wolverhampton and Birmingham. The line running south (bottom) branches at Sutton Bridge Junction for Hereford and south Wales and the Cambrian Coast line through Welshpool. To the north is the line to Chester with the line to Crewe and Manchester diverging to the north east. In addition the route of the Shropshire and Montgomery Railway is shown in black.
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| There are several good pubs, my favourite is The Three Fishes which always has Timothy Taylor's Landlord on tap. |
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| There is also good eating. These are hand reared pork pies |
LNW upperquadrant signals
A train leaves for Crewe under an upperquadrant signal
GWR lower quadrant signals with the characteristic finial
GWR signals
Just to complicate matters there are also some color light signals
Sutton Bridge Junction signal box
Crewe Junction signal box
But the largest of them all, the largest mechanical box in Europe, is the incredible Severn Bridge Junction signal box.
Seen from the train approaching the station from Birmingham
Shrewsbury Abbey, of Cadfael fame, is behind the signal box.
Seen from the castle
The station was a joint one, the original building being the top floors. When expansion was required the lower floor was excavated underneath
A Victorian post box outside the station
One can sit and observe the trains in GWR comfort
A preservation group is planning a small museum in the Shropshire and Montgomery Railway station
The trains are generally multiple units - here coming in from the Hereford direction.
Trains on the Cambrian Coast line to and from Birmingham reverse direction here. This creates endless confusion as they split at Machynlleth for Aberystwyth and Pwllheli. Joining passengers are told to which part of the train to get into but confusion arises because people do not know if the front of the train is the front coming in or the front going out.
Competition on the route to Wolverhampton and Birmingham
An Arriva trains Wales puddle jumper going to Crewe. It is astounding how many can be packed in one of these when one of the Manchester football teams is playing at home
It is possible to catch the odd freight train - frequently waiting for a path between the many passenger trains
On weekends in normal times it is often possible to catch a steam excursion
A picture of steam days. A Castle, bearing the 89A shed plate (Shrewbury at one time) believed to be at Shrewsbury before the overall roof was removed.
This is a good analysis of the area signalling and signal box working
Operations November 2019
A look back at operations in the 1960s
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