The Wolverhampton Railway Gazette

A tribute to an excellent, long-lost magazine
by Bev Parker

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The First Edition

The late 1980's saw the arrival in the shops, of the city's best ever local history magazine, The Wolverhampton Railway Gazette. It was a delight to go into a local bookshop and find the latest copy on the shelves. The magazine was devoted to the city's once important and almost forgotten railway history. It was always worth waiting for the next edition to appear. All of the editions were well written and informative, and there was always something new to discover between the covers.

John Bates, one of the editors has kindly allowed us to use some material from the magazine. It was hard to decide which articles to use as there were so many good ones to choose from. We have chosen one article from each edition, and have included some details about the magazine. We have also included an interesting article on working at Bushbury shed, which was in two parts. Part 1 was in the 1st edition and part 2 was in the 2nd edition

1.	The G.W.R. Institute
2.	Accident at Portobello Junction. 1899
3.	Reminiscences of a Bushbury Train Spotter
4.	Oxley Locomotive Sheds 1907 - 1967
5.	Early Grand Junction Locomotives
6.	Driver Cripps and Silver Jubilee
7.	Working at Bushbury Shed
8.	Stourbridge Junction 1928
9.	O.W.W.R. No.34, A Lone Survivor
10.	Webb Coal Tank
11.	Driver Jones and 1165
12.	Wolverhampton's First Station
13.	The Work of the Kings on the GWR Birmingham and North Expresses
14.	Wolverhampton Based Locomotives, 1854 - 1869

Sadly the magazines were not best sellers and so the sixth edition was the last. I remember hoping that a seventh edition would appear in the shops, but it was not to be. Some of the editions only sold in relatively small numbers, which is surprising considering the high quality, low cost and the large number of railway enthusiasts. The magazine was priced at just £1.50, which is cheap when compared with others and was published by Tri-Eta Publications, in Tettenhall. The editors were John Bates and Mervyn Srodzinsky, and Joe Hancock was the Editorial Consultant.

Unfortunately the magazine is now just a collectors item. It would be marvellous if it could re-appear and get the larger circulation that it deserves. Its worth while keeping a look out for copies in second-hand bookshops, as they must turn up from time to time.


Return to the Exhibition		Proceed to Edition 1