Is it time to bring Hollywood glamour to Birmingham’s rail network?

It is widely believed that in 1889 Charlie Chaplain was born in what is now known as Birmingham's Black Patch Park, his son even unveiled a memorial to his father in the park in 2015.

The park is an oasis of green in one of the most deprived areas of Birmingham, with railway lines passing near three of its four sides – including the Midland Metro route to Wolverhampton.

Over in West Bromwich in 1906, Hollywood film star Madeleine Carroll, once called the most beautiful woman in the world, was born at 32 Herbert Street – now number 44. One of her best known roles was in The 39 steps. 

It was the killing of her sister, Marguerite, during a Luftwaffe attack on London  on October 1940 that made Madeleine turn her back on Hollywood – joining the American Red Cross in 1943, as a nurse.

Would it not be fitting to name a Midland Metro tram or West Midlands Railway train after two of the region's most famous  film icons?

Horror, humour and history combine to make this best selling ground breaking book about the region’s rail network. Full of ‘secrets’ gleaned from internal reports, that passengers were never meant to know about, ‘A Funny Thing Happened on the Train to the Midlands’ lifts the lid on just what goes on behind the scenes – often in graphic detail. https://www.chimewhistle.co.uk/shop/p/afunnythinghappenedonthetraintothemidlands