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→Extension to create the Burlish Branch: additional info
==Extension to create the Burlish Branch==
[[File:OS_Burlish_1939_1.jpg|thumb|300px|right|1939 OS Map of the Burlish Branch from Stourport station (bottom right to Park Sidings ground frame (top left)]] [[File:OS_Burlish_1939_2.jpg|thumb|300px|right|1939 OS Map showing the extension forming Steatite & Porcelain Products siding]]
Steatite and Porcelain Products Company's premises opened in 1929 and were (and are) situated in the vicinity of [[Burlish Halt]], which opened in 1930 principally to serve the works. An extension to the original head-shunt to create a private siding for the company also opened in 1929. Originally this connected to the works via a crossing on the Stourport to Bewdley road. The crossing was closed in 1933, although the sidings remained in use.<ref>[[Bibliography#Books|Marshall (1989)]] p. 90.</ref> By 1939 the siding had become a long goods loop, access to the north end of which was controlled by the Park Sidings ground frame.<ref name="SA1960">Birmingham Traffic District Sectional Appendix 1960</ref><ref>[[Bibliography#Books|Mitchell & Smith (2007)]], fig 7</ref> An extension to the original head-shunt had become a private siding for the company Steatite & Porcelain Products Ltd.<br> By 1960 this loop was described as "the former independent line to the Steatite Company's private siding" and was available as storage accommodation for up to 39 wagons with the adjacent loop furthest from the running line able to hold 45 wagons.<ref name="SA1960"/><br>
The Park Sidings were used for excursion trains with "...portable steps being provided to enable passengers to enter the trains, the steps being moved by the staff from compartment to compartment, as required by the progress of the loading." When backing an empty train in to pick up passengers, staff were instructed to "...warn all persons to stand clear...and...prevent any attempt on the part of the passengers to enter the moving vehicles".<ref name="SA1960"/>
OS_Burlish_1939_3.jpg|1939 factory and siding layout
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A 1937 report by the GWR Traffic Research Committee states that in the three months ending November 1936, Steatite & Porcelain Products had sent 422 tons by rail, 152 tons by road and 6 tons by canal.<ref>Minutes of meeting of the GWR Worcester Division Traffic Research Committee, held by The National Archive</ref>
==See also==
*[[Private sidings connected to the Severn Valley Railway]]
