Wolverhampton High Level railway station was built as part of a joint venture between the Shrewsbury & Birmingham Railway, and the London & North Western Railway. The station was originally called Wolverhampton General Station, and later renamed 'Queen Street' Station in 1853. The station buildings were designed by Edward Banks, the Shrewsbury & Birmingham Railway's architect.

The site also included a purpose-built goods station, that was jointly owned by the two companies, and presumably designed by Edward Banks. It became known as Mill Street Depot, and had warehouses and canal basins. The railway to Birmingham, known as the Stour Valley Line, opened on 24th June, 1852 in the middle of a dispute between the two railway companies.

After the dispute, the Stour Valley Line was operated solely by the London and North Western Railway, who purchased the Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway's half share in the goods depot in September, 1859.

The London and North Western Railway buildings are of the company's usual pattern, and were designed at Crewe. All of the components including the bricks were produced at Crewe and would have been delivered to Wolverhampton as a kind of kit, just like buying a garden shed today from a D.I.Y. store.

Inside there would have been platforms fitted with standard types of “North Western” cranes and hydraulic lifts, some of which could lift loads of up to 14 tons. There would have been warehouse facilities for the temporary storage of inwards and outwards goods, and provisions for the storage of perishable items such as food.

The L.N.W.R. moved vast amounts of goods, many of which were for the railway’s own use. Being the largest railway company in the country it used an enormous amount of consumables which all had to be transported around the network. In 1913 no less than 57.5 million tons of freight were transported throughout the system. In the early years of the 20th century Mill Street Goods Depot was handling around 50,000 tons of goods annually.

Wolverhampton became the headquarters of the L.N.W.R. South Staffordshire and East Worcestershire Goods District, with offices in the Queens Building. Goods traffic greatly increased with the building of many private sidings. In 1887 Thomas Mitchelhill became District Goods Manager.

A contemporary drawing showing goods being unloaded from an L.N.W.R. train. Goods to be transported were loaded onto wagons and this was an art form in itself.

Some articles were moved at the owner’s risk, whereas others were moved at the company’s risk, and so errors could be costly.

An L.N.W.R. 10 ton goods van.

A loaded and sheeted L.M.S. wagon.

A typical L.N.W.R. crane.

The invoice was then passed on to a clerk who produced a delivery sheet for the driver of the road vehicle.

In the early days the road vehicles would have consisted of a horse and cart that was driven by a cartage man, known locally as a carter, carman, drayman or lorryman.

After emptying, the wagons were transferred to another platform in readiness to receive outward going goods, which arrived on loaded road vehicles.

These vehicles were stopped at the weighbridge office, and the consignment notes were stamped with an official stamp for authenticity.

Finally the goods were weighed and placed in appropriate positions on the platform, corresponding to their final destination.

From 1959 the goods depot was run from Birmingham as a result of the introduction of the Midland Freight Traffic Plan.

There was a time when nearly every railway station had its own goods depot. Some were large and others small, but they played an important role in earning revenue for the railway company. Most of the old goods depots are now long-gone, and we are lucky to still have such an excellent example standing in Wolverhampton, and still in use today.