Latest updates (most recent first)

New photos added on Thursday 11th September 2025. More Midland Metro pics around Dudley and Dudley Port...

These pics were taken on Monday 8th September 2025. This first one is the view from the summit of the Midland Metro line at Dudley, looking north. The tram stop on the downslope is alongside the bus station, the latter boarded off and still very much under construction on this date.
A view across Dudley Bus Station looking north from the Churchill Precinct. Still under construction as is evident from the photo. The castle is just visible upper left behind the trees.
A second view across Dudley Bus Station, this time looking east from the Churchill Precinct. Still largely a big hole in the ground at this date. The tram stop shelter is visible to the right.
The junction of Castle Hill and Birmingham St, Dudley. The uphill lane of Castle Hill was closed on ths date, with work on the Metro line underway. The rails have been in place here for a long time, but on this occasion paving slabs were being laid around the tracks.
The view from Tipton Road. Tipton Road tram stop is in the foreground, and immediately beyond that is a trailing (turnback) crossover. Since my previous visit here in mid August more OLE masts had been erected, and plain track had been laid on the stretch down to the Birmingham New Road stop, which is visible in the middle distance before the trackbed curves off to the right.
Looking south west from the Sedgley Road as the line climbs towards Dudley. There's a track access point here, and at the top of the drive there's a pile of what look like sleepers. OLE masts had been up here for a few weeks, but there were no wires at this stage. The tram stop is on the other side of the road bridge.
The view from the canal at Dudley Port. Not much had changed here for several months. The track is down, but there was no sign of any OLE masts or wiring as the line climbs up towards the Sedgley Road, and beyond that Dudley.
The site of Dudley Port tram stop. The stretch between the Dudley Port and Horseley Road stops remained the least developed part of the route. Still no track, nor OLE by this date, nor indeed the tram stop itself, although the base for that is in place. Some additional work on the passenger access ramp had taken place over recent weeks, but the black stuff inside the concrete structure was still only paint on the walls, not the ramp surface itself.
The view from Lower Church Lane, Dudley Port. looking north-east towards the Horseley Road tram stop, which is just beyond the bridge. Still no track or OLE on the stretch between Dudley Port and Horseley Road at this date. You might just see a yellow digger under the bridge, this is sitting atop a pile of ballast/stone situated on what was the down (northbound) line, between the bridge and the tram stop.

New photos added on Tuesday 12th August 2025. Midland Metro works around Dudley and Dudley Port...

These pics were taken on Sunday 10th August 2025. This first one is at the junction of Birmingham St and Castle Hill, in Dudley town centre. The Metro track climbs up Castle Hill, on the right here, before swinging left into Birmingham St towards the bus station. At this point it crosses the pedestrian pavement, and as can be seen here the track was tarmacked over and had been for some time (hence the weeds). The new Dudley bus station was still just a big hole in the ground on this date, although the adjacent tram stop had been largely complete for a few months.
The road entrance to the VLR Centre in Dudley, just south of the Tipton Road bridge. The tram line descends from Castle Hill to the right of the frame, and makes a sharp right turn to run under the road bridge. Two crossings block the line here, the newer tarmac one nearest the camera leads into the fence on the left. The active crossing is in front of the hoardings. This is the spot where an error has apparently been made between the height of the rails and that of the road crossing, leading to a six figure bill to resolve the problem. The track from the town centre ended here at this date.
The view looking north from Tipton Road, Dudley. Some OLE masts had been erected between here and the Sedgley Road stop since my last visit in mid-July. There was no plain track in this section at least as far as the Birmingham New Road stop, just visible in the distance before the line curves away. However just beyond the Tipton Road station there's a trailing crossover, rather lost in the shadows. This can only be for southbound trams to turn back if they don't have enough puff to do the serious hill climbing necessary to reach the town centre. Obviously some signals and point indicators will also be required for that crossover.
The view looking south from the canal towpath at Dudley Port. You could once see Dudley from here, but no more of course as the trees take over. Having passed under the Stour Valley railway line and the New Main Line canal the metro line climbs away towards the Sedgley Road stop. Since my last visit here the track has been extended about 50 yards further north so that it continues underneath the canal and railway bridges, ending under the northern edge of the Stour Valley bridge. There was still no track, nor masts, between that point and the southern end of the Horseley Road tram stop at this date.
Dudley Port tram stop. The only visible development here since my last visit in mid-July was further construction on the concrete structure to the left of the frame, which was at the foundations stage a month ago. Evidently this is going to be a ramp, although the interior was still at ground level here. The black visible in this shot is paint on the inside walls of the structure, presumably showing where the infill needs to rise to. It's an optical illusion at first glance.

New photos added on Monday 14th July 2025. Midland Metro works around Great Bridge and Dudley Port...

This set of photos was taken on the morning of Sunday 13th July 2025. This view is at Great Bridge, looking towards Wednesbury. Eagle Lane crossing is visible in the foreground. This was once a road, and crossed four tracks here - the other two were to the right of the Metro alignment. The railway subsequently shrank to two tracks before it closed, and later the road itself was also closed leaving only a pedestrian footpath, which still exists. The railway alignment is visible as far as Golds Hill, where it curves slightly to the left on the descent towards Wednesbury.
Looking the other way towards Dudley Port. In the foreground is the new bridge over the Walsall Canal, and in the middle distance just short of the New Road overbridge is the Great Bridge tram stop. At this stage the OLE terminated at New Road, although rails were down for a few hundred yards further on as far as the Horseley Road station. For context the location of the former Eagle Crossing signal box was just out of shot to the bottom right of the frame, and Great Bridge yard was off to the left, accessed via the separate bridge over the canal which is adjacent to the new one and mostly in shadow here.
This is the view from Eagle Crossing looking underneath the Black Country New Road, southbound towards Dudley Port. The OLE only went as far as the overbridge in the distance at this date, with the track continuing a few hundred yards further as far as Horseley Road. Unlike with phase 1 of the Metro between Birmingham and Wolverhampton, where proper railway rolling stock like diesel shunters and ballast wagons were involved, the Dudley extension has largely been built using road and road-rail vehicles. The only dedicated rail vehicles that I've seen are a couple of tiny four-wheel flatbed trolly wagons, the sort that can be pushed along by hand. There are examples of these in the foreground of this shot, one on either side of the tracks.
This view is from Lower Church Lane, Dudley Port, looking north east towards Horseley Road, which is a little way beyond the overbridge in the middle distance. Lots of plant here, but no rails or OLE.
And finally the site of Dudley Port tram stop. This was the last of the new stops to be started on and was a long way from complete compared with other stations on the route at this stage. To the left of the railway alignment is a works compound with road access from Park Lane East. There was no track in the short stretch between Horseley Road station to the north and the canal bridge behind the camera, a state of affairs that had existed for many months. Maybe this is connected with facilitating access for road vehicles and plant around this area, of which there has been lots. At this stage there was no sign of how the tram stop will be connected to the main line Dudley Port station for pedestrians.

New photo added on Sunday 15th June 2025...

On Wednesday 11th June 2025 a test run was planned for a new Class 93 from Wembley to Stafford and back. Both the down and up runs were pathed via Coventry and Bescot. In the event the down run was seriously delayed by a points failure at Perry Barr North Jn which made a total mess of services on the Grand Jn for the best part of six hours. Indeed there were no trains at all for about half that period. 93001 was held for a good half-hour at Coventry before proceeding to Aston South Jn, where it was held for a further hour or so. Eventually it ran into Aston station before using the trailing crossover to head south towards New St, and from there to Stafford via Tipton. Fortunately it was booked to stand at Stafford for nearly three hours before returning south, so the northbound delay didn't affect the return run. Here's the first Class 93 to reach Bescot, running as 0Q54 Stafford - Wembley. It passed a few minutes early, at 17:43, and was running on diesel although it had left Stafford using OLE power.

New photos added on Wednesday 30th April 2025. How the modern railway deals with a failed train...

On Tuesday 29th April 2025 4E49 Daventry - Doncaster failed between Hamstead and Tame Bridge. The train loco was 68007, and it came to a stand just short of the motorway links overbridges, about 150 yards south of Newton Rd foot crossing. Trapped behind were 2A23 Wolverhampton - Walsall, and a 5Z81 Wolverton - Toton special consisting of 66102 and a single royal brake coach (2920). The failure occurred just after 12:40, and the train wasn't moved until 16:22. There were no Walsall line passenger trains for a period of around four hours as a result. Despite the breakdown occurring about one mile from Bescot the rescue loco came from Crewe. 68006 was despatched from Gresty Lane, leaving a little after 14:00. It reached Bescot at 15:15, but didn't set off to the failed train until 15:50. Here it is running wrong line over Newton Rd foot crossing at 15:51. As mentioned above it took a further 30 mins until the line was cleared.
While the failed 4E49 stood at Newton Rd for the thick end of four hours only a handful of trains passed on the up line. All were apparently cautioned past the failure, stopping briefly at reds between Tame Bridge and Newton Rd. The five trains were 2I50 Rugeley - International, 12:56 off Tame Bridge; 2G14 Salop - New St, 13:10 off Tame Bridge; 2I52 Rugeley - International, 13:26 off Tame Bridge; a 5T01 special formed from 2I54 Rugeley - New St, which was cancelled at Walsall at 13:50. This unit went forward empty, passing the failure at 14:22. It was evidently used to evacuate the trapped 2A23, eventually arriving New St circa 14:50 as 2T01. The final train was 4L68 Birch Coppice - London Gateway, pictured here at 15:27 as 66735 restarted from its cautionary stop at the signal just short of the bridge over the Tame. Obviously the lack of down Walsall trains precluded later up trains on that route, but quite why the hourly Salop trains in the up direction were diverted away via the Stour is unclear.

New photos added on Thursday 20th March 2025. Tram works in Dudley Port...

Dudley Port is one of the five new Midland Metro stops being constructed in Tipton, and forms an interchange with trains on the Birmingham - Wolverhampton Stour Valley route. This is the site of Dudley Port tram stop, under construction on Tuesday 18th March 2025. It was the last of the nine stops on the Dudley extension to be started, but the first signs of the new platforms were visible by this date. This view looks south-west from Park Lane East, with the bridge carrying the Stour Valley railway line over the Metro alignment in the middle distance. Dudley Port railway station is just out of view to the left. This area has been a construction compound during the Metro works, with road access and parking off to the right where the cones lead.
Still in Dudley Port, but a little way to the north-east, is this view from Lower Church Lane. Just visible under the bridge is the Horseley Road tram stop. This stretch of line from the south side of the Stour Valley railway bridge to Horseley Road remained trackless on this date. The distance from Horseley Road to the Dudley Port tram stop is around 570 yards. Horseley Road to Great Bridge is about 750 yards.

New photos added on Wednesday 19th March 2025. New tram stops in Dudley...

Of the nine new stops on the Dudley extension to the Midland Metro, five are in Tipton and four in Dudley. This set of pics shows the progress on the four Dudley stops as of Tuesday 18th March 2025. This first shot shows the Tipton Road stop looking north-east from the Tipton Road overbridge, with the alignment descending towards the Birmingham New Road. Although track was in place through most of Dudley town centre, starting just behind the camera on the other side of the road bridge, none had been laid on the stretch in view here. The metal structure to the left will be the lift shaft.
The next stop is referred to as Dudley Castle, and is only a few yards the other side of the Tipton Road overbridge. The distance between these two stops will only be around 250 yards, and I'd imagine that'll translate to a running time of no more than 15 seconds or so. This view looks due south, with the tram line climbing along what was once the approach road to the Freightliner terminal as it rises from the railway alignment to reach Castle Hill (road) in the distance. On the left is the VLR (Very Light Rail) building. Just left of the trees is the Station Hotel, and the tram line makes a 90° right turn to pass in front of the hotel before climbing sharply up Castle Hill. To the right of the tree is the metal frame of a new building being constructed on the site of the recently demolished Dudley Hippodrome theatre. This will be a nursing college run by the University of Worcester. Dudley Castle is part of the Zoo complex, and both are out of shot to the right here, the tram stop being situated alongside the Zoo car park.
After climbing Castle Hill the tramway takes a sharp left into Birmingham St, where it continues the steep climb towards the bus station, and the third stop. The castle forms a nice background to this scene, but whether it will be visible from the tram stop once the rest of the bus station is completed remains to be seen. The Metro describes this stop as "Dudley Bus Station", although the rebuilt facility is usually referred to rather grandly as "Dudley Interchange". Note the significant slope of the platforms here, all four of the new tram stops in Dudley are built on slopes due to the hilly nature of the town, but this is the most obvious example. In regards to gradients the Tipton Road stop is at an elevation of around 165m, and the summit adjacent to the Churchill Precinct is around 214m. That means the line climbs around 49m over a distance of around 1100m. This is an average gradient of around 1 in 22, although there are steeper sections. For instance the 250m long climb up Castle Hill sees a rise of 14m, a gradient of around 1 in 18. In fact the line climbs almost continuously from Wednesbury, the elevation at the bottom of the junction slope where the tram line meets the South Staffs railway alignment is about 125m. It's around 3 miles, or 4815m from there to the Tipton Road stop, and the climb is around 40m which gives an average gradient of around 1 in 120 on the railway alignment. However the steepest section on the South Staffs is the 1.2 mile stretch between Dudley Port and the Tipton Road where the gradient is around 1 in 58. This was steep enough to require banking locos for some freight trains.
After leaving the bus station the tram line continues to climb to the summit point which is alongside the Churchill Precinct, near the junction of King St and Hall St. From here the line descends for a short distance before making a 90° left turn into Flood St where it descends further to the terminus station. This view looks back north from Flood St as the line climbs towards the summit, where it takes a sharp right hand turn to run in front of the building with the three white vertical panels. Flood St will be the southern terminus of the line in the first phase. When this photo was taken the line continued for a short distance behind the camera, where it takes a reverse curve, sharp left followed by sharp right, after which the alignment runs downhill alongside the Dudley Southern Bypass (a.k.a. Duncan Edwards Way).

New photo added on Thursday 6th March 2025...

37510 heads 5Q72 Derby - Wembley through Hamstead at 11:30 on Thursday 6th March 2025. The unit in transit was 730203. 37510 started life as D6812 in February 1963. It became 37112 under TOPS, and was modified to become a 37/5 in 1986. It's later life included a spell working in France around the turn of the millennium, followed by several years with DRS. Now a Europhoenix loco, leased to ROG, it was 62 years old at the time of this photo.

New photos added on Saturday 22nd February 2025...

Off to Handsworth on a sunny Saturday 22nd February to try for a phot of some Class 20s. While waiting for the railtour there was time for some shots of trams. This is 44 heading north towards The Hawthorns at 11:36, viewed from Middlemore Road.
Needless to say the sun had gone in when the railtour appeared in the distance. It was fringing through the edge of a cloud as it passed me, which may have helped a bit as the shadows cast by the fence were very dark. 20205+20007 lead 1Z60 Long Marston - Stratford-on-Avon, and were photographed at 12:31 as they passed the site of the Birmingham Railway Carriage & Wagon Company works. This was a UK Railtours charter which started at Paddington and visited the Kineton branch on its way back south.
20142 was trailing on the rear of the tour, now passing the erstwhile Cooper's (now EMR) scrapyard to the right of the line. 20142 should have been partnered by 20189, but the latter didn't make it off repairs in time.

New photos added on Friday 7th February 2025. Metro progress...

A few more photos documenting progress on the Midland Metro extension to Dudley. These shots were taken on the afternoon of Thursday 6th February 2025. Starting off with Horseley Road tram stop, which is nearing completion. Access here will include a lift in the north-east corner of the site, just out of shot to the right.
Looking the other way, towards Great Bridge, trackwork is in place as far as New Road. The Metro is using twin-block concrete sleepers on most of this alignment, two pieces of concrete joined by a steel bar. These are clearly visible here, but much less obvious once the track is ballasted. In the previous pic there are a small number of monoblock sleepers at the entrance to the station, but these soon give way to twin-blocks.
At Lower Church Lane looking towards Horseley Road no tracks have yet been laid between there and Dudley Port. Nor has there been any visible start on the Dudley Port tram stop.
The trackless stretch extends from Horseley Road to this point just beyond the canal overbridge at Dudley Port. This is the view from the towpath looking up the hill towards Dudley, where track is in place and ballasted. Again the track here is laid on twin-block sleepers, of which a pile can be seen at bottom left. These will no doubt be used under the canal and Stour Valley railway bridges, and northwards towards Horseley Road.
This is Golds Hill looking south towards Great Bridge. Track was in place and ballasted all the way up the hill from Wednesbury as far as Eagle Lane. OLE masts were also in place by this date on the same stretch of line, the first sign in my view that this year's projected opening date might actually be met. Behind the fence on the opposite side of the line is the site of Cashmore's scrapyard, and in the distance are the Rowley hills.

New photos added on Wednesday 23rd October 2024. More oldies...

37110 heads away from Ryecroft with 6E08, the morning Wolverhampton - Scunthorpe empties. No date for this shot, but it's from the late 80s or very early 90s I think. A decade or so later and this spot was heavily overgrown, something that became academic in the 2010s as traffic levels diminished to an all-time low. It picked up a bit in the 2020s, but by then this location, like so many, had become completely unusable.
50050 arrives at New St with 1M20, the 09:40 from Paddington, on Saturday 25th March 1989. Not my best attempt at framing here, but you can see the usual cohort of bashers in the leading coach. Nice spot for a picnic, that neatly mowed grass on the left.

New photos added on Tuesday 22nd October 2024. Oldies again...

20092 stands in Bescot Up Yard with a collection of four Swindon-bound Class 08s. This shot was taken in early June 1985.
My abiding memories of Exeter St Davids are of sunny summer Saturdays in the early 1970s, standing around this very spot at the west end of the up platform and surrounded by hydraulics and Peaks, with the last few Class 22s in traffic parked on the adjacent stabling point. By contrast this shot was evidently taken much later, and on a winter visit going by the weather and lack of people. 33021, departing for Waterloo, was photographed on Fuji slide film, but a monochrome version better suits the mood I think.

New photos added on Sunday 20th October 2024. Chasewater...

08472 pauses at Chasewater Heaths with the 14:00 service from Brownhills on Sunday 20th October 2024. A member of the train crew is lubricating the axleboxes. The 08 worked all four departures on this day, and because the loco is air-only the train was formed of a scratch set comprising a BFK and CAR brakevan. This ex-Wabtec loco was owned by Hunslet/Ed Murray at this stage, and had been at Chasewater for several months.
My attempt at the return working of 08472 was spoiled by a tiny cloud, but there was an unexpected consolation prize in the station car park. 2222 was a BCT Leyland Titan PD2 built in 1950, withdrawn in 1969, and now preserved at the Aldridge Transport Museum. It had arrived on an outing from Aldridge during one of their running days.
Lineside tree growth in recent years mean that there are very few photographic spots these days on the Chasewater railway, especially in autumn and winter when the sun is low. Hence the 15:30 departure was photographed leaving Brownhills. Not an ideal spot in itself due to the gates, but at least it's an unshaded location.

New photos added on Tuesday 15th October 2024. Recent oldies...

86632 passes Bescot while working 0Z91 Northampton - Crewe on Wednesday 10th February 2021. This Crewe - Northampton and return road learner had been worked by 86613 on the previous two days, Tuesday 9th being 86613's last job before withdrawal. That left 632 as the last Freightliner Class 86 in traffic. It continued on this job for a few more days, its final outing occurring on Tuesday 16th. The former E3148 was built in the spring of 1966, so its working life in Britain lasted just short of 55 years. 86613, the former E3128, was built in late 1965, so it did do the full 55 years, and a bit more. A couple of main-line certified 86s survive in preservation, but 86613, 86632 and fourteen of their classmates were exported to Bulgaria in the summer of 2023, some of them for further use.
08670 shunts the ballast siding at Bescot on Thursday 10th March 2022. This RSS loco arrived at Bescot on the evening of 28th March 2019. Its 5½ year tenure was only broken by a couple of brief visits back to Wishaw for maintenance, until it was finally replaced by 08853 on 5th September 2024.

New photo added on Saturday 5th October 2024...

Tram 58 received new advertising vinyls for Birmingham City University in September 2024. It's seen here approaching Wednesbury Parkway en-route south at 12:38 on Saturday 5th October.

New photos added on Thursday 17th September 2024. More Midland Metro construction shots...

The view from Horseley Road looking south-west towards Dudley, taken on Tuesday 17th September 2024. Drainage work was underway at this time. All four of these shots replicate views taken six months earlier in April 2024, and show the progress, or lack of, since then. There are links to the earlier views under each pic.
The view from Lower Church Lane looking north-east towards Great Bridge. Drainage pipes stacked against the new retaining wall.
The view from Park Lane East looking north-east towards Great Bridge. Drainage work in progress here too.
The view from the canal towpath at Dudley Port, looking south-west towards Dudley. Some dedicated railway infrastructure has appeared here, i.e. ballast, sleepers and rail.

New photos added on Thursday 29th August 2024. 1970s buses...

2906 is a Guy Arab dating from around 1952, and was photographed here in Hill St, Birmingham sometime around the mid 1970s. As ever this area looks drastically different now, the tower block behind the bus is gone and the land to the left has been redeveloped, but the large Centre City building in the top right of the picture still stands on the corner of Hill St and Smallbrook Queensway. Service Extra was definitely the best part of Brum to live in, at least during the rush hour, as loads of buses went there. Joking aside route 16 went to Hamstead, and still does to this day.
111Y stands outside Holy Trinity church in Coventry City centre. This shot was taken sometime in the mid to late 1970s. Nowadays Trinity St is pedestrianised at this point, and the spot in front of the church where the bus stands is now landscaped with mature trees and bushes. The half-timbered building to the left is now a Wetherspoon's pub. In this era there were two bus garages in Coventry, Sandy Lane and Harnall Lane. An "S" or "H" plate above the driver's windscreen showed which garage each bus belonged to.

New photos added on Thursday 15th August 2024. 1980s banking locos...

25262 stands at the south end of Bescot Up Yard. My notes are long gone but I suspect this is the Bescot area banking loco, which used to hang out here between duties. I believe this shot dates from autumn 1985, when this duty was T55 and booked for a Class 31. 25262 became 25901 in December 1985, and lasted in service until March 1987. It subsequently got bought for preservation, and survives to this day, based at the South Devon Railway.
31402 banks a Didcot-bound coal train up Camp Hill. The train loco was an unidentified Class 56, and it has just diverged to the left at Bordesley Jct. The feather on the junction signal is still lit.

New photos added on Tuesday 13th August 2024. From the 1970s...

24047 stabled at Cockshute. No date for this shot but it was taken sometime around 1977-78 when 047 was one of the last dozen or so Class 24s still in traffic.
Withdrawn 31011 at Doncaster Works in 1976. The Class 25 is 25015.

New photo added on Sunday 2nd June 2024...

On Saturday 1st June 2024 a railtour headed by D1015 ran from Tame Bridge to Paignton. The return train recessed in Bescot Up Yard before the ECS was returned to Burton on Sunday 2nd. 50007 was on the rear of this tour, and ran-round at Bescot before the ECS departed at 14:28. This view of 5Z53 was taken from the motorway footbridge, and shows just how much of the railway is an urban forest nowadays.

New photo added on Sunday 21st April 2024...

47712 and 47828 lead a 5Z74 Worcester - Crewe ECS through Bescot at 15:15 on Sunday 21st April 2024. This train had worked a Worcester - Appleby "Statesman Rail" tour the previous day. The overgrown and rusty shunt neck and depot exit tells its own tale about the lack of activity in this part of the site nowadays.

New photos added on Wednesday 17th April 2024. Metro work around Horseley Heath and Dudley Port, as seen on the same day...

The view from Horseley Road looking north-east towards Great Bridge. On the right is an access point from Railway St, and the New Road overbridge is visible in the distance.
Looking south-west from Horseley Road towards Dudley Port. The Horseley Road tram stop will be located here. Thirty-six years earlier from exactly the same spot this was what you could have won.
The view from Lower Church Lane looking north-east towards Great Bridge.
The view from Lower Church Lane looking south-west towards Dudley Port. The first bridge is Park Lane East, above that is the Stour Valley railway line, and just visible on the skyline is the silhouette of Dudley Castle.
Looking north-east from Park Lane East. The bridge in the background takes Lower Church Lane over the railway.
Spraying concrete onto a new retaining wall at Dudley Port. Photographed from Park Lane East, looking north-east towards Great Bridge.
The view from the footpath that leads from Park Lane East to Dudley Port station, looking north. On the left is the former car park for Dudley Port station, converted to a works compound at the time. The new Dudley Port tram stop will be located here.
The view from the canal towpath at Dudley Port, looking south-west towards Dudley.

New photos added on Wednesday 3rd April 2024. Metro work at Dudley...

Some shots of Midland Metro work at Dudley, taken on Tuesday 2nd April 2024. This first one starts near the bottom of Castle Hill, where the road crosses above the South Staffs railway line. The Metro track emerges from the right, having risen over a distance of about 400 yards from the level of the railway to the level of the road bridge above. Most of that climb uses the alignment which was once the driveway into the Freightliner depot, closed in 1986. The turn onto Castle Hill is about 80° on a stiff gradient. On the right is Dudley Castle, now visible from this spot since the Hippodrome theatre was demolished in 2023.
The Metro track climbs past the old entrance to Dudley Zoo, curving slightly to the left as it does so. The 300 yard climb up Castle Hill ends just before the top where it makes a roughly 60° left turn onto Birmingham St. The church here is St Edmund's, colloquially known as "bottom church" as it's near the bottom of the High St.
Although the trackwork in Castle Hill was complete at this date, it ended just around the corner in Birmingham St. Work was underway beyond this point, as the alignment first turns left, and then right, ploughing through the site of the now-closed bus station on the climb to the summit at the junction with King St.
Track recommences at the junction of Birmingham St and King St, which is the summit of the line. This view looks north with the Churchill shopping centre to the left, and the closed bus station just over the brow of the hill where the trackbed descends towards Castle Hill.
Spinning round to look west we see King St continue on towards St Thomas church, or "top church" as it's known locally. Before the Southern Bypass was built this was the main north/south route through Dudley. Here the tram tracks make an almost 90° turn south into Flood St as they continue to descend from the summit point.
Paved tracks continued for about 180 yards down Flood St, but ended here just short of the station which will be the terminus in the first phase of the Dudley branch. The building to the right is the Duncan Edwards Leisure Centre, named after the town's most famous footballing son. Edwards played for Manchester United and tragically died in the Munich air disaster aged just 21.

New photos added on Wednesday 10th January 2024. Specials at Hamstead...

Tuesday 9th January 2024 was forecast to be a day of full winter sun, and turned out to be one. Moreover there were three trains of interest pathed through Hamstead around the middle of the day, meaning that it was worth braving the cold for a chance of multiple shots in nice light. The first of these trains was 6Z76 Kidderminster (SVR) - Walton Old Jct, seen here passing Hamstead at 11:08. The consist is two RailAdventure HST power cars, two barrier wagons, and 20142+20007 on the rear. They were off to move Class 777 units from Warrington to Kirkdale depot, before returning to Kidderminster on the morning of the 10th. I'd expected this to be top-and-tailed by pairs of HST power cars, and was a bit annoyed when seeing the 20s that they weren't on the front.
The second train was a 6Z43 Chaddesden - Acton, due past around 11:34, but sadly this path wasn't used. Instead the train ran as 6Z56 via the MML, with 56301 at the head. Shame, as I'd rather fancied that shot, it would have been perfectly lit at this spot with light just on the nose. The third train did appear, and this was 37800 atop 5Q76 Allerton - Newport Docks, seen here at 12:31. The units behind the 37 were 319385 and 319372, both off for scrap. Several similar trains from Allerton had run in the previous weeks, as well as a couple from Northampton also conveying 319s to Newport for disposal. It's odd seeing trains in superficially good nick going to the breakers, all my memories of such trains involved rolling stock that had been lying around for ages, and was visibly wrecked or robbed for spares. I doubt anyone who didn't already know and saw this train would be able to guess its purpose.

New photos added on Sunday 19th November 2023. Oldies again...

This shot was taken on the morning of Sunday 22nd September 1996 while 37505 and 37520 were standing in a possession at Spetchley. The locos were on the south end of a ballast/spoil train on the up line.
47360 leads 6M72, the St Blazey - Cliffe Vale clay, through Horseley Heath at 09:26 on Tuesday 12th July 1988. Horseley Heath is half way between Dudley Port and Great Bridge, and there will be a tram stop alongside the bridge from which this photo was taken on the Dudley extension to the Midland Metro.

New photos added on Saturday 18th November 2023. Oldies...

Unfortunately the details for this shot are missing, likely in a lost notebook from 1989, giving a rough estimate of the probable date. With no number on the front of the loco its identity also remains unknown, but the train and location are easy to nail. It's 6V69, the evening Wednesbury - Cardiff steel empties, seen approaching Kingswinford Jct, Brierley Hill. The photo was taken from Moor St bridge.
No date for this shot either, and it may have been taken on the same day as the 37 above. This is 47256 just south of Round Oak with 6V70 Cliffe Vale - St Blazey. The tower above the rear of the loco is the fire station.
86233 heads north through Bescot at 13:40 on Sunday 10th November 1996. The train went unidentified but as this was a Sunday it was likely a scheduled diversion off the Stour Valley, and the seven coach formation suggests a cross-country service. Not a livery I care much for.

New photos added on Wednesday 11th August 2023. Trams at Wolverhampton station...

Tram 54 crosses Wolverhampton's inner ring road as it approaches the railway station. The long-delayed diversion of the tram route had finally opened on Sunday 17th September 2023 and this shot was taken on the morning of Tuesday 10th October. The service was only just recovering from earlier disruption, rush hour traffic congestion on the Bilston Road led to significant delays and northbound trams being turned short at Priestfield with no service to Wolverhampton. Trams run on battery power for about 450 yards between the penultimate stop outside the bus station on Pipers Row, which is a little way around the corner behind the building to the left.
Tram 39 has just crossed the inner ring road and is negotiating the reverse curves on the approach to Wolverhampton station. This shot was taken on the morning of Tuesday 10th October 2023.
Tram 39 leaves Wolverhampton station on the morning of Tuesday 10th October 2023. The station entrance is to the left of the tram, and the single platform tram stop is around the corner to the right, about 50 yards away.

New photo added on Tuesday 3rd October 2023...

37884 leads a 5Q08 Long Marston - Kilmarnock unit drag through Bescot at 12:29 on Tuesday 3rd October 2023. In tow is 769922, formerly 319422, converted to tri-mode (diesel, third-rail and overhead electric) for GWR but never used by them. Hence the green livery. This was the second such unit to make this move, the same loco took 769959 north on Monday 25th September. Both moves ran via Bromsgrove, New St and Bescot.

New photos added on Tuesday 8th August 2023...

25213 leaves the Hooton branch at Helsby with a tank train from Ellesmere Port on Tuesday 12th August 1986. This is a colour slide converted to black and white.
56053 leaves Bescot with a 6Z11 steel train for Round Oak. It's just emerged from under the M6 and started the climb around Bescot Curve. The first four wagons are vans, but most of this train consisted of steel coil on flar-rack containers loaded on intermodal wagons. The photo was taken at 15:18 on Friday 19th March 1993, and this was the last southbound train (and indeed the last southbound movement of any kind) on the line before it closed.

New photos added on Thursday 3rd August 2023...

40143 is stabled at Newton Heath in this shot, taken in the spring of 1981. Likely taken on the same Saturday as the pic of 76040 below.
This late 1986 shot shows 20123 preparing to leave Wednesbury with spoil empties, probably to Bescot. It still sports its Motherwell salmon logo, having not long been re-allocated to Bescot. Its stay in England would be brief as it was withdrawn in April 1987. The spoil sidings are to the left of the loco, and the gantry crane at the steel terminal is visible in the distance to the right. Everything in this view is long gone of course, but there are still railway sidings here as it's the land on which the Midland Metro depot stands. A camera in this spot today would be on the depot access roadway at the south east end of the site, looking along the main stabling sidings from the buffer stops end.

New photos added on Wednesday 2nd August 2023...

76040 is the main subject of this shot taken at Reddish depot in March/April 1981. With no surviving notes available the date is from the slide mount, and the loco number derived from the fact that a 4 is just visible in the number on the original scan, together with the unique pattern of rust patches on the yellow front. The latter match other shots of 76040 readily available online. Although 76040 and its neighbour are on an unelectrified siding 040 lasted until the end, which came in July of the same year.
20145 and 20009 are on the climb from Great Bridge to Dudley with 6M51 Scunthorpe - Brierley Hill. This shot was taken at 10:20 on Monday 31st October 1988, with the train about to pass over the old main line of the Birmingham canal. It's quite late in the day for a Class 20 to still sport a cabside logo I think.

New photo added on Monday 17th July 2023...

37405 arrives at Bescot with crane DRK81612 and its three runner wagons. This was a 6Z32 working from Rugby, and was photographed at 15:47 on Monday 17th July 2023. The loco had earlier run light engine from Coleham to Rugby, and with the Trent Valley line blocked by engineering work it was booked to return to Bescot via Coventry and Aston. In the event it was 30L off Rugby and ran via Coventry, Nuneaton and Water Orton. The loco then returned light engine to Coleham a couple of hours later. This loco is owned by HNRL and was on hire to Colas in lieu of unavailable Class 97/3s, hence being based in Shrewsbury. HNRL's orange livery doesn't look out of place with the Colas-liveried wagons, and I much prefer this simpler colour scheme to Colas's own yellow/orange effort where the lines of the livery don't follow those of the loco.

New photos added on Tuesday 6th June 2023. More 69s...

69002 leads 3Q98 Toton - Coleham into Bescot at 14:57 on Monday 5th June 2023. 69005 was on the rear of this train, which was due to recess at Bescot for a couple of hours before proceeding to Shrewsbury. In the event it arrived 30 minutes early and departed 100 minutes early. The weedkilling ensemble was off to spray the Central Wales and Cambrian lines over subsequent nights.
And here's 69005 trailing on the rear as 3Q98 runs into the Up Loop. This is my favourite of the various liveries carried by Class 69s.

New photos added on Friday 2nd June 2023. More trams, and a 69...

Trams 27 and 51 cross at Lodge Road, West Bromwich. This shot was taken at 15:46 on Saturday 27th May 2023. 27 is on the left, and heading south towards Birmingham. It had returned to traffic on the 19th of May after its "crackgate" repairs. 51 is heading north. It was delivered to Wednesbury in March 2023, and had entered traffic for the first time on the 11th of May.
Tram 24 heads south from Dudley St at 16:05 on Saturday 27th May 2023. Not many trams with white replacement body panels have been seen in traffic in spring 2023, most of the repaired Urbos 3s have had blue vinyls applied. However there were two unvinyled trams out on this day, 24 here, and 29.
69001 arrives at an ever-verdant Bescot as 0Z78 from Tonbridge. Note the vegetation which has reached three-quarters of the way up the catenary upright to the left of the loco. This photo was taken at 14:42 on Friday 2nd June 2023.

New photos added on Sunday 28th May 2023. Some trams, and a bus...

Wolverhampton-allocated 4632 swings around the stands at Wednesbury Bus Station while working a route 79 service on the afternoon of Friday 28th April 2023.
Tram 53 passes the central campus of Sandwell College as it leaves West Bromwich for Birmingham. This shot was taken at 15:38 on Saturday 27th May 2023, at which time 53 had been in traffic for about one month.
Tram 45 leaves Dudley Street for Birmingham at 16:16 on the same afternoon. The bodyside advert is for the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) and was the only all-over ad carried by a WMM tram at this time. This may explain why tram 45 was often in traffic during the early summer. A lineside path runs all the way through West Bromwich, from Black Lake to The Hawthorns. The two-thirds of a mile stretch from Dudley St to Lodge Road is in a tree-lined cutting, and on a warm sunny day like this is a surprisingly pleasant walk given that it runs entirely through urban West Bromwich. The cutting and vegetation provides a lot of insulation from traffic noise, allowing the birdsong to dominate. A different environment at night however, as the path is unlit.
Tram 42 is seen between Black Lake and Dudley St at 16:22, again on Saturday 27th May 2023. This tram carries a bodyside advert for something called "Personalised gummy vitamins", a health food product that looks a bit like a fruit pastille. Along with tram 45 and its all-over CBSO advert this was the only other WMM tram carrying ad vinyls when this photo was taken.

New photos added on Wednesday 26th April 2023...

D7535 (25185) stabled at Buckfastleigh on the afternoon of Friday 21st April 2023.
On the same day D3721 (09010) was shunting the shed yard at Buckfastleigh, as was Class 04 D2271. The Class 09 is in plain black and carried no numbers at this time. Similarly the Class 04 was also un-numbered, but in faded green.
Not working on this afternoon were 33002 and D2246, photographed from Buckfastleigh platform.
800017 running with an exposed coupling draws into St Austell at 14:45 on Sunday 25th April 2023. It was forming 2U26, the 13:49 Penzance - Cardiff.

New photo added on Thursday 13th April 2023...

69003 and 69006 left Longport on the afternoon of Thursday 13th April 2023. 0G69 is seen here approaching Bescot at 15:00, somewhat earlier than booked.

New photos added on Monday 10th April 2023...

Statfold Barn held their second annual model railway exhibition over the weekend of 1st and 2nd April 2023. An excellent event, just like the first one in 2022. This is Statfold Jct signalbox, with the signaller waiting to give a token to the driver of a departing train at 13:45 on Sunday 2nd.
Hunslet built 0-4-0 "Statfold" tails the shuttle train on the approach to the Statfold Barn terminus station. On the left number 11, "Fiji" waits to reverse onto its next service. "Statfold" dates from 2005, while "Fiji" is a 1912 Hudswell Clarke loco that worked at the Lautoka sugar mill (in Fiji). The photo was taken at 13:58 on Sunday 2nd.
Burton and Ashby tram number 14 stands outside its shed while reversing direction. The signals on the adjacent lines control the approach to the Statfold terminus station. This shot was taken at 14:28 on Sunday 2nd.
Midland Metro trams stabled on Wednesbury depot on the afternoon of Friday 7th April 2023. The town centre is in the background, with St Bart's church spire visible on the central horizon.

New photos added on Sunday 9th April 2023...

2023 Easter holiday trains at the Chasewater Railway were formed of Hunslet 0-6-0DH BNFL number 6 and a motley collection of brakevans. This loco was donated to the Chasewater Railway by BNFL Sellafield in October 2022, after it had been replaced by a Clayton CBD80 hybrid battery/diesel Bo-Bo. This is the 11:35 Chasetown - Brownhills, seen approaching Norton Lakeside at 11:46 on Saturday 8th April.
The next service was the 12:15 off Brownhills, seen here approaching Chasewater Heaths at 12:28.
The return working of the 12:15 was the 12:40 Chasetown - Brownhills, photographed just south of Chasewater Heaths at 12:50.

New photo added on Tuesday 15th November 2022...

On Tuesday 1st November 2022 37418 ran light engine from Derby to Bescot, where it collected one vehicle from a new weedkiller train and took it back to the RTC. It returned on Tuesday 15th November, bringing that wagon back I presume because it ran as 6Z65. This time it returned to Derby RTC with several vehicles, running as 6Z66 and seen here leaving Bescot at 15:01.

New photo added on Tuesday 8th November 2022...

LSL's Class 20s, D8096 and D8107, took steam loco Mayflower from Crewe to Kidderminster on Saturday 29th October 2022. It spent a week at the SVR for tests before the same pair of 20s returned to take it back to Crewe. That 5Z61 return working took place on Tuesday 8th November, and is seen passing Bescot at 12:24.

New photos added on Sunday 28th August 2022...

The South Staffs railway alignment running through Great Bridge. This photo was taken in August 2022 as construction work was underway on the Metro line from Wednesbury to Dudley. The camera is directly above the spot on which Eagle Crossing signalbox once stood, and is pointing south west towards Dudley. In the foreground are two bridges over the Walsall canal. To the left is the original bridge over which a connection into Great Bridge yard once ran. A plastic injection moulding company's property now stands on that site, their large green and white building can be glimpsed beyond the tree line. To the right is the new bridge, installed in May 2021 with some fanfare as the first new bridge to be installed as part of the Metro project. This bridge is one of three replacement structures taking the Metro alignment over various canals. All are of a similar design and built from concrete and metal, the latter painted black. All three have walkways along both parapets, reached from the trackbed via steps. In the background the railway goes under New Road, and a new deck was also being installed on this bridge at this time.
The view from Eagle Crossing towards Golds Hill, as seen in late August 2022. The signalbox was just below and behind the camera, and Eagle Lane is directly below. The South Staffs alignment is delineated by road cones as it heads north east towards Golds Hill in the middle distance. Cashmore's scrapyard was on the right of the trackbed, just beyond where the line curves away to the left. Another 500 or so yards beyond that are the white chimneys of the MQP asphalt plant in Wednesbury.