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[[File:BritainFromAbove Kidderminster YardStation.jpg|thumb|300px|right|A 1938 aerial photograph of Kidderminster, showing the area around the station, the extensive goods yard, and the junction between the mainline from Hartlebury (right) and the Kidderminster loop line from Bewdley (left). Image from [http://http://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/image/epw059860 Britain from Above]]]
The Kidderminster mainline station was built as part of the [[Oxford Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway | Oxford Worcester and Wolverhampton]] line between Stourbridge and Evesham which opened with a special train on 1 May 1852, with normal services beginning 2 days later.<ref>[[Bibliography#Other References | Boynton (2002)]]</ref> At opening, both platforms ended at the Comberton Road bridge. The station building was a simple wooden structure which soon proved inadequate and was replaced in 1859 by a second building, also of wooden construction. This was described in a contemporary newspaper article as "''…but one story in height, and comprised a booking office, two waiting rooms, a telegraph office, and closets, the entrance for passengers being by a door between the booking office and the waiting room. At the southern end was the telegraph office, a small compartment partitioned off from the booking office, and at the northern end, but detached at a distance of about three yards, was another wooden building, of recent erection, occupied by Mr. Done, of Kidderminster, as first and second-class refreshment rooms.''"<ref name="KDAHS">[https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2eAFhE-m0yheVp4QUw1cGN3aVk/edit Kidderminster & District Archaeological & Historical Society Building Record of Kidderminster Railway Station.]</ref>
On 1 July 1860 the OWW became part of the [[West Midland Railway|West Midland Railway (WMR)]] (a short-lived company not to be confused with the present operators of the station). The opening of the Severn Valley Railway on 1 February 1862 had no direct impact on Kidderminster, which could only be reached via a change at [[Hartlebury]].
In 1937 it was announced that "The sidings at Kidderminster are to be remodelled and new goods loop lines are to be added to facilitate the working of trains between there and Worcester."<ref>[http://meccano.magazines.free.fr/html/1937/3701/37010016.htm Meccano Magazine, January 1937 on Meccano magazine online web site]</ref>
By the 1940s, nearly 300 railwaymen were employed at Kidderminster in various capacities including the passenger station, goods depot and goods yard, locomotive shed, traffic department, P-way and S&T.<ref>[[Bibliography#Books|Turley (2005)]] p. 17.</ref>.
September 1962 saw the end of passenger services north of Bewdley on the Severn Valley Branch, although they continued around the Kidderminster / Bewdley / Hartlebury triangle until January 1970.
===Goods yard===
The goods yard consisted of the 'Top Yard' between Comberton Road and the [[Kidderminster Footbridge]] (the area now mainly occupied by the SVR station) and the 'Bottom Yard' beyond the Footbridge, now mainly occupied by the SVR’s [[Diesel Depot]] and [[Kidderminster Carriage Shed]].<ref name=Turley>[[Bibliography#Books|Turley (2005)]] p. 13.</ref>.
The yard handled general goods traffic from the Severn Valley and Tenbury branches and elsewhere. By the mid-20th century the main local industries served were Carpets (jute from Dundee arriving, finished products leaving) and Sugar (beet, limestone and coal arriving, refined sugar and molasses leaving). The yard was extremely busy, with shunting taking place continuously from 6.00am on Monday to 2.00pm on Sunday.<ref name=Turley/> The 1946 Service Timetable included the following details:
During the 1940s the regular yard shunter was normally a [[Locomotives used on the Severn Valley Branch in commercial service|57xx 0-6-0PT]] drawn from those available at Kidderminster. They included No. 8727 in particular, but also Nos. 8718, 4625, 4641 and 3609. 3609 was damaged in a shunting accident in the yard in October 1944 and replaced by No. 7700. The main yard shunter was paired with a [[GWR 41736 Shunters Truck|Shunters Truck]], No. 41803 (built in 1901) and later No. 41098 (built in 1938). The Coal Yard evening shunt was carried out by the Shrewsbury 0-6-0 tender engine which had worked that day's Up goods, or from the mid-1940s by any available Kidderminster engine.<ref>[[Bibliography#Books|Turley (2005)]] p. 81.</ref>
The yard's main goods shed now serves as the SVR's [[Carriage Repair Works]]. During the GWR era, steam locomotives were prohibited from entering the goods shed. The GWR kept two shunting horses in a stable on the opposite side of the main line behind the carriage siding, one of which would be led across the tracks each day. Two men were required to manage shunting in the shed, one to tend the horse and the other the wagons. Messrs. Harvey & Co also employed a shunting horse to move wagons around their [[J.P.Harvey's Corn Mill|private siding]].<ref>[[Bibliography#Books|Turley (2005)]] p. 83.</ref>.
[[Kidderminster Railway Museum]] occupies a smaller warehouse built by the GWR in 1878 for grain and wool storage. The LMS, which had running rights in the area, had a depot known as a 'goods receiving office’ which was a short way from the station near the bottom of Comberton Hill.<ref>Worcester to Birmingham, Mitchell and Smith, 2007, fig. 34.</ref>.
[[Thomas Bantock|Thos. Bantock & Co.]] acted as the GWR's agent's representative at Kidderminster and also at [[Stourport]] and [[Bewdley]].
Kidderminster had a small single-road locomotive shed which was situated close to the main line station, on the east side of the running lines opposite the main goods shed. The original shed, which was built by the OWW, dated from the opening of the station in 1852. It was of wooden construction and was closed at the north end. The 1885 map below suggests it was accessed from the south end via a turntable. It was rebuilt during 1899 as a through shed, accessed by a set of points with a head shunt as shown in the 1902 and 1924 maps.<ref>[http://www.miac.org.uk/worcestersheds.html Railways in Worcestershire, Locomotive Sheds] (retrieved 11 July 2020)</ref>
In February 1932 the small shed was closed and replaced by a new larger depot built on the south side of the line between [[Hoo Road Bridge]] and [[Worcester Road Bridge]].<ref name=Lyons>[[Bibliography#Other References|Lyons (1972)]] p. 180.</ref>. The 1938 map suggests the small shed and associated point work had been removed by that time.
==Historic maps of Kidderminster Station==