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→Historic maps of Kidderminster Shed: add links etc
[[File:Kidderminster_Shed.jpg|thumb|300px|Right|Kidderminster shed]]Through services on the SVR Severn Valley Branch were mainly operated from the southern end of the line by locomotives based at Worcester, with its sub-shed Hartlebury, and from the the northern end of the line by locomotives from Shrewsbury shed. Some local and through services on the SVR Severn Valley and [[Tenbury Branch|Tenbury]] branches were operated by engines stabled at '''Kidderminster shed'''. Locomotives could also be based at other sheds in the area including Stourbridge. In particular the daily Stourbridge – Tenbury Goods would regularly be a Stourbridge (84F) based loco. Kidderminster shed also housed locomotives serving the [[Cleobury Mortimer and Ditton Priors Light Railway]].
==Kidderminster Shed under GWR==
[[File: Kiddermnster_Shed_OS.jpg |thumb|300px|right| Extract from 1951 OS Map showing Kidderminster shed]]
Kidderminster was GWR shed number 125, code KDR, and was part of the Worcester division. The shed was situated on the south side of the line between [[Hoo Road Bridge]] and [[Worcester Road Bridge]] (on the left when travelling from Kidderminster towards Bewdley). It was built in 1932 under the Loans & Guarantees Act (1929) to replace the original smaller single-road GWR shed which was situated nearer adjacent to the main line station. <ref name=Lyons>[[Bibliography#Other References|Lyons (1972)]] p. 180.</ref> The extract from Ordnance Survey Map SO87, surveyed 1938 - 1949, published 1951, shows the later location. The structure which housed the locomotives was steel framed with corrugated sheeting, and was previously the 1921 engine shed from Basseleg, Newport on the Brecon and Merthyr Tydfil Junction Railway.<ref name=Lyons/> Along the side of the shed (to the right of the shed in the picture) was a row of brick built offices with a sloping slate roof which served as the Foreman’s office, stores, fitters’ shop, enginemen’s cabin and shed men’s rest room. Two water columns and pits served the two roads into the shed. The picture also shows a small sand furnace building to the right of the water column. The coaling stage was further to the right, out of sight in the picture.<ref>[[Bibliography#Books| Barfield (1994)]] p. 21.</ref>
A snapshot in 1943 shows the following locomotives allocated to Kidderminster (GWR unless stated)<ref>The Tenbury & Bewdley Railway, Keith Beddoes and William H Smith (1995)</ref>:
*Collett 8100 Class 2-6-2T No 8101
*LNER J25 Class 0-6-0 Nos 2134, 2142, 2051, 1994
'Asleft', a fireman at Kidderminster between 1945 and 1949, described Kidderminster as "...''a small but complete engine shed. The men working there were an example in miniature of the range and types of men found at larger depots''". In addition to the drivers and firemen based there, there was a small workshop with a small fitting staff responsible for simple repairs such as adjusting brakes and repairing blown joints, although larger repairs such as the removal of pistons and valves were carried out elsewhere. One man was normally responsible for boiler washouts and working on the coal stage<ref>[[Bibliography#Books|'Asleft' (1978)]], pp. 42--43.</ref>.
==Kidderminster Shed under BR==
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During the 1950s the area covered by Kidderminster based locomotives included passenger/goods services on the Severn Valley Branch between Shrewsbury and Hartlebury, in some cases continuing south to Worcester and thence to Ledbury. Services on the Tenbury Branch to Woofferton also continued south to Leominster. Services north from Kidderminster worked via Stourbridge as far as Wolverhampton and also via Stourbridge to Birmingham and thence to Leamington Spa.<ref>[[Bibliography#Books|Barfield (1994)]] p. 20.</ref>
Kidderminster shed closed on 10 August 1964, with the last 8 engines being transferred to nearby Stourbridge shed (84F) 2 days earlier. The last 8 engines at Kidderminster were:
==Historic maps of Kidderminster Shed==
*Original GWR map showing the engine shed and associated sidings as a later amendment.
*1927 OS map showing the fence line extended and a single siding in the area where the shed was to be built.*1938 OS map showing the engine shed and a further siding extending in to gravel pits to the south. [[H. Whitehouse's Sand Siding]] is north of the Severn Valley Branch.
<gallery>
File:GWRplanKidderminsterEngineShed.jpg| GWR planFile:Kidderminstershed1927map.jpg | 1927OS mapFile:Kidderminstershed1938map.jpg | 1938OS map
</gallery>
==See also==
*[[Hoo Road Bridge]]<br>*[[Shed and Depot Codes]]*[[The Severn Valley Railway under GWR/BR ownership#Map of the Route and Nearby Railways|Map of the Route and Nearby Railways]]
==References==
<references />
==Further reading==
*[[Bibliography#Books|'''No Steam Without Fire''', 'Asleft' (1978), ISBN 0950053341]] Memories of life on the footplate at Wolverhampton, Kidderminster, and Newton Abbot
*[[Bibliography#Books|'''When There Was Steam''', Tony Barfield (1994), ISBN 1-85648-190-5]] Memories of a Western Region fireman based at Kidderminster Shed
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