A Short Introduction....
When the idea of a Railway line passing through the town was first talked of Bromsgrove was a town of importance. It was a centre for the nail making industry. New industry came to the town which saw the decline of nail making in Bromsgrove. The towns population of 4,500 had set their sites on these new industries.
Railways were not common in these times, ones in existence were mainly horse powered. The 'Rocket' was just seven years old when the Idea of passing the Lickey Hills was announced.
With the Lickey Hills facing the planners and builders or indeed a lengthy diversion, it was decided that the 2.2 mile 1 in 37.7 gradient was to be tackled.
The line itself is a steady climb from Worcester which is 200 feet above see level until it reaches Bromsgrove. This is where it climbs steeply and by the time it reaches Blackwell at the top of the bank it has reached 900 feet above see level.
The length of the Lickey Incline is determined by taking the distance from the road bridge at the end of platform 1 marked 55 miles from Derby to the milepost and the crossing at Blackwell, marked 53 miles.
The incline is still in mainline use today and remains the steepest mainline gradient in Britain....
The Lickey incline is a small 2 mile stretch of line from Bromsgrove to Blackwell in Worcestershire,
yet has a significent place in the history of Britain's railways due to its gradient of 1/37. Every driver past & present has to be aware of this 2 mile part of the Worcester to Birmingham line due to the gradient. Its arguably just as difficult, some say more difficult to take your train down the Incline as it is to travel up it. It all started when the Birmingham & Gloucester Railway was opened in 1840.
This would become part of the Midland Railway Companies line between Bristol & Derby. One of the Birmingham & Gloucester Railway's first Locomotives was the American built 4-2-0s which was amongst the first ever class's to bank on the Lickey.Banking was achieved by one or more locomotive's at the bottom of the incline coming up behind a stationary train & with two whistles, one from the front & one from the back (these were known as 'cock crows') the bankers would push until the train reached the summit where bankers would apply the brake & let the train continue.
There was to be tragedy on the bank on 10 November 1840 when a locomotive on trials named 'Eclipse' exploded killing the driver & fireman. Their headstones can still be seen in St John's Churchyard with a picture of an American built Norris on each headstone though this was not the offending locomotive.
On weekdays there would be at least 5 banking engines at Bromsgrove to try to combat the delays caused by slow moving freight trains. Bankers would drop off at Blackwell.
Their was a unique rule here where the bankers could follow a train down the lickey always ensuring it was at least 20ft from the rear of the service train. In some cases as explained to me by Roy Tolley an ex banker driver some freights needed 'banking down'. This would be done when a driver of a south bound train new he had too much weight or wasn’t confident of his brakes being able to hold the train back, thus meaning a banker or maybe two would pilot the train down the incline for more brake force. Brake’s would also be pinned on the wagons by a brakeman as the train gently rolled over the top which made this a skilled job. These would be unpinned at the foot of the Incline at Bromsgrove.
As the bankers were returning from Blackwell they would often pass another freight slogging up with the remaining bankers at the rear. It was all too often for there to be another waiting in the freight loop on return to Bromsgrove leaving little or no time for taking on coal & water! For many years prior to 1920 the usual bankers would be Midland 0-6-0T.
With freights getting ever heavier there was a demand for a much stronger locomotive to be produced for banking by the Midland Railway & in 1919 emerged the unique Midland Fowler 0-10-0 No.2290 which became known as Big Bertha. It was the largest locomotive ever built by the Midland. Few would probably remember the only other 0-10-0 built in Britain 'Decapod' which lead a short lived career.Big Bertha pounded up & down the Lickey for 37 years with the occasional trip to Derby works for repair/refurbishment etc.It later became 22290 under the banner of theLondon Midland & Scottish Railway (L.M.S)in 1947.This only lasted a year when British Railways was formed due nationalization. It received the number No.58100 which it stayed with until its withdrawal from service by B.R in 1956.
L.M.S Jinties would often join Big Bertha on the climb with very heavy freights.
Before Big Bertha's demise there was the introduction of the London North Eastern Railways (L.N.E.R) 2-8-8-2 six cylinder Garrett No.69999.This loco became obsolete on its own patch after the Worsborough incline in south Yorkshire became electrified in the 1950s.For some reason the majority of local drivers didn’t like this locomotive. They were both eventually replaced by B.R standard 9F class No.92079 which inherited the electric lamp from Big Bertha.
Bromsgrove became part of the Western Region towards the end of mainline steam which meant ex Great Western Railway (GWR) locomotives found themselves on banking duties such as the 2-8-0 Tanks but more commonly Great Western 0-6-0 Pannier Tanks. These worked along side B.R Standard class 9F No.92079.
As the 1960s came so did the diesels. The 1750hp English Electric Type 3s were to take over banking duties which is what it stayed with apart from a brief spell by the diesel hydraulic 'Hymeks'.The English Electric type 3s soon became known as class 37s under B.Rs tops numbering scheme in 1970s.It was rare you would see any other diesels banking though it has been known for a class 31 & the occasional class 47 to bank. Pairs of class 37s ruled the banking through up until sectorization within B.R.This made it more possible to see a class 47 bank which became a common occurrence for the Swindon to Longbridge freight.
Later into the 1990s the new Ruston Paxman type 5 class 58s would occasionally appear in pairs but never continued.
With Wisconsin Railways purchase of all major British freight companies the class 37s rapidly become obselete.This meaning that the Brush type 5 class 60s ruled the banking duties with the very rare appearance of a pair of class 37s up until 2002.
With the introduction of General Motors type 5 class 66s in 1999 there were inevitable trials which eventually lead to there 'taking over' of banking.
Into the 21st Century banking can still be seen on the Incline despite the Increase in power of freight locomotives. There are only certain freights banked now depending on the weight of the freight to the class of the pulling locomotive. There's a pool of 5 class 66's which now oversee current banking duties, 66055,056,057,058 & 059. Its very rare to find any other locomotive banking. No passenger locomotives are booked to be banked up the Lickey.
Richard Wilson
