A superb evening spent at Tamworth on the West Coast Mainline and Cross Country route where we see countless services from Avanti West Coast, London Northwestern Railway, Cross Country and freight from Freightliner, GBRF, DB Cargo UK, Royal Mail and DRS.
Tamworth station was opened by the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway in 1839. The station was built on the existing line connecting Derby to Hampton-in-Arden where the London and Birmingham Railway would be reached.
In 1847 the Trent Valley section of the West Coast Mainline was completed by the London and North Western Railway which allowed for a joint station to be constructed connecting the two lines.
In 1924 the station was given official low and High level names, this was because at the time of constructing the station hadn't been envisaged to have long distance trains stopping. It was built purely for local stopping trains at the time.
Tamworth has always been a fan favourite of train spotters and this rings true right through to when steam engines were thundering through the station. This was because at the time Tamworth was the closest station to Birmingham where you would be able to see the bigger steam engines giving it the full beans as they head north and south. Of course you still had the pulling power of the freight trains coming through across both levels. You would typically find them standing in a nearby field that is now sadly a large housing estate. But you still get great views from both levels of the station either way.
The old station was demolished 1961 and rebuilt in 1962 following the electrification of the Trent Valley Line, this in turn meant that the higher level platforms had to be raised up to give enough clearance.
My next rush hour film will be from Watford Junction on the West Coast Mainline.
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