Snow Hill railway station, Birmingham slate plaque

This slate commemorative plaque records: Between 1909 - 1914 the "old" station was replaced by Snow Hill in its final form without interruption to regular services. G.L. Churchward succeeded William Dean as chief engineer and by 1912 his locomotives like No 2906 "Lady of Lynn" and the "Saint" and "Star" classes were providing a regular 2 hour express service from Paddington. Carriages were painted maroon but later reverted to the familiar GWR chocolate and cream livery. Larger and more powerful "Castle" and "King" class locomotives were introduced by Charles B. Collett during the Nineteen Twenties and Thirties. When war came in 1939 Great Westerns familiar livery was replaced by austerity grey and in 1948 the GWR merged its identity into British Railways. Snow Hill continued as part of Western region until 1967 when by order of Parliament it ceased operation as a main line station. The mosaic you see here is a miniature of the original work that once dominated St Chad's Circus by Kenneth Budd and Associates. The original was 300ft long with varying heights to a maximum of 20ft at the works centre. It took three years to create and was installed in 1969. The locomotives were 2:3 scale and the carriages 1:1. The work was made in gold leaf and glass mosaic manufactured by Orsoni in Venice set around with a light and dark stone aggregate. The original lettering panels were carved by stonemason Michael Seymour. The new work by Kenneth's son Oliver Budd is a faithful facsimile of the original design. www.buddmosaics.co.uk Recorded plaque organisation: Budd Mosaics.

Snow Hill railway station, operational from 1909 to 1967, was a significant transportation hub in Birmingham and a key part of the Great Western Railway network, facilitating rapid travel between the Midlands and London before its closure due to parliamentary order. The station's mosaic artwork by Kenneth Budd and Associates is notable for its intricate design and historical representation of GWR locomotives and carriages.