There used to be an orchard where Shrub Hill Station stands today and the Engine Cleaning Sheds occupied the site of an old farm house close by. The Railway opened for traffic in 1852. The Company Directors travelled from Oxford to Wolverhampton and dined at an hotel there.
Their train consisted of an engine, four small coaches and a guards van. The engine was decorated with flags and garland, and when it steamed out of Worcester Station, the noise of its whistle was enough to deafen one. There is now a round mound with a large elm tree, in the centre opposite the station, was formerly called 'The Blue Bell', and there was a large pool near it. The cattle from the farm used to come in the evenings to drink from it. The road to the station was raised 15 feet, and this was effected by the use of the marl obtained from the tunnel excavations. The Great Western Hotel was built on part of a field which belonged to Dr. Simpson's house, and Mr John Snead had a boat builders yard near it.