Soho Road station opened in 1889, a year after the line was opened to goods traffic,
under the LNWR on a new stretch of track laid to provide a useful link between the LNWR's New Street to
Wolverhampton High Level and their New Street to Walsall lines. Primarily envisaged for goods traffic, especially
for servicing the coal mines around Perry Barr and Hamstead, the two passenger stations added - Soho Road and
Handsworth Wood - were not the greatest of 'hits' with the public and closed during World War 2
never to re-open. Above we see the station from platform level after closure with the rather imposing
booking hall stretching-up to the Soho Road above during the late 1950s (Photo by D.J.Norton courtesy of
Mark Norton - see Links).
There is scant evidence today to mark Soho Road station's existence (and scant examples
of photographs of the station) however, the most visible sign is shown above in which we are on the Soho Road
looking across to the site of the station booking hall/entrance building. The section of walling in the
centre of the shot is not of the same construction as the rest of the bridge parapet which indicates it
was built to fill the gap left by the removal of the station building. Unfortunately, the site of the station is
very inaccessible and so the only chance for a shot of the trackbed comes from the edge of the car park next to
Soho Road Social Security offices. Above-right we are looking down at the station site from this vantage point but,
as can be seen, there appear to be no remnants at track-level.
Above is a shot taken from the same position but angled towards the New Street-Wolvehampton High
Level line. All-in-all a rather pointless site to visit, even for the ardent railway historian and lineside access
is unobtainable and it appears, other than the patch of brickwork in the Soho Road bridge parapet, nothing remains
today!
