hi
and so on to the second part of the report on the former peterborough to northampton and london and northwestern to rugby part of which is now the nene valley railway to where the lines went their seperate ways at yarwell junction.
the line was formally connected to the march and cambridge line with trains running under the east coast main line the connection being via a notorious bottleneck
at fletton junction which is the present connection to the NVR with trains calling at peterborough east, overton and wansford overton changed its name in 1913 to orton waterville which lost its passenger service in 1942 but saw continued use by railwaymen as an unadvertised stop untill 1962 the station remaining open for freight untill 1964 the former station was rebuilt east of the original by the nene valley railway as ferry meadows to serve the country park.
wansford survived untill 1957 when it too lost its passenger service although the station also remained open for freight untill the withdrawal of passenger services in may 1964 the line remained open for freight and iron ore traffic which ended in 1966 the line being closed completely by british rail in 1972.
the line continued through the 616 yard wansford tunnel which is rather long and very wet in places i,d left my phone in the car so had no torch and realised by the time i,d got to the middle you could hardly see a thing and being aware there were rails and other things in there decided to walk on the sleepers which was almost as bad as walking alongside in the tunnel.
on reaching the other end passing some rolling stock being stored on the tunnel siding took some photos and found the sides of the tunnel being too steep to climb out and had to retrace my steps back through the tunnel to get back to where i,d parked the car it was starting to get dusk and with the sun setting took some quick photos of yarwell junction and set off to find the hole in the hedge and tromp across the fields back to the car before it got too dark.
yarwell juction was the point where the lines to rugby and northampton went their seperate ways via elton to northampton and kings cliffe to rugby
opening firstly to northampton in 1845 closing in 1963 and the LNWR,s line to rugby in 1846 closing in 1966 although the line east did survive untill 1972.
the line now is part of the heritage nene valley railway which opened between orton mere and wansford in 1977 and extended to peterborough east NVR in 1986
not far from the original station the link to march can be seen from peterborough the rest of the connection now lies buried under a car park.
its been a bit difficult to get past pictures as only NVR ones remain which i will post first then the ones beyond yarwell juncction of elton and kings cliffe
respectively.
wansford tunnel from the top looking towards yarwell junction.
two views of yarwell tunnel one from the run round loop and one near the tunnel mouth.
note the stone pillar that supports the tunnel arch by the way sir roger moore ran down the site of this bank on specially constructed wooden stairs in octopussy.
looking out of the tunnel towards yarwell junction.
looking inside towards peterborough and believe me its long wet and dark especially without a torch.
the other end looking towards peterborough.
looking back into the tunnel and that long dark 616 yard trek.
looking towards yarwell junction and the NVR,s run round loop the original line would have been straight double track untill 1972.
a plaque commerates the site of yarwell jcn signal box 1845 to 1967.
looking towards peterborough there wasnt a station here untill the nene valley constructed one here the alignment of the original down line can be seen.
a bench shows the name of the station less junction.
end of the line with the light fading fast it was time to take my leave from this pretty remote place ...trains havent ventured beyond the buffer stops since 1972.
orton waterville before closure.
now a part of the nene valley railway its replacement ferry meadows is a little further on.
a cut back elton on the northampton line in 1960 3 years before closure.
3 views of elton the heavily overgrown crossing gate can be seen in the first picture.
kings cliffe station on the rugby line 12 months before closure.
the railway bridge at kings cliffe on the former yarwell junction to rugby line
and so on to the second part of the report on the former peterborough to northampton and london and northwestern to rugby part of which is now the nene valley railway to where the lines went their seperate ways at yarwell junction.
the line was formally connected to the march and cambridge line with trains running under the east coast main line the connection being via a notorious bottleneck
at fletton junction which is the present connection to the NVR with trains calling at peterborough east, overton and wansford overton changed its name in 1913 to orton waterville which lost its passenger service in 1942 but saw continued use by railwaymen as an unadvertised stop untill 1962 the station remaining open for freight untill 1964 the former station was rebuilt east of the original by the nene valley railway as ferry meadows to serve the country park.
wansford survived untill 1957 when it too lost its passenger service although the station also remained open for freight untill the withdrawal of passenger services in may 1964 the line remained open for freight and iron ore traffic which ended in 1966 the line being closed completely by british rail in 1972.
the line continued through the 616 yard wansford tunnel which is rather long and very wet in places i,d left my phone in the car so had no torch and realised by the time i,d got to the middle you could hardly see a thing and being aware there were rails and other things in there decided to walk on the sleepers which was almost as bad as walking alongside in the tunnel.
on reaching the other end passing some rolling stock being stored on the tunnel siding took some photos and found the sides of the tunnel being too steep to climb out and had to retrace my steps back through the tunnel to get back to where i,d parked the car it was starting to get dusk and with the sun setting took some quick photos of yarwell junction and set off to find the hole in the hedge and tromp across the fields back to the car before it got too dark.
yarwell juction was the point where the lines to rugby and northampton went their seperate ways via elton to northampton and kings cliffe to rugby
opening firstly to northampton in 1845 closing in 1963 and the LNWR,s line to rugby in 1846 closing in 1966 although the line east did survive untill 1972.
the line now is part of the heritage nene valley railway which opened between orton mere and wansford in 1977 and extended to peterborough east NVR in 1986
not far from the original station the link to march can be seen from peterborough the rest of the connection now lies buried under a car park.
its been a bit difficult to get past pictures as only NVR ones remain which i will post first then the ones beyond yarwell juncction of elton and kings cliffe
respectively.
wansford tunnel from the top looking towards yarwell junction.
two views of yarwell tunnel one from the run round loop and one near the tunnel mouth.
note the stone pillar that supports the tunnel arch by the way sir roger moore ran down the site of this bank on specially constructed wooden stairs in octopussy.
looking out of the tunnel towards yarwell junction.
looking inside towards peterborough and believe me its long wet and dark especially without a torch.
the other end looking towards peterborough.
looking back into the tunnel and that long dark 616 yard trek.
looking towards yarwell junction and the NVR,s run round loop the original line would have been straight double track untill 1972.
a plaque commerates the site of yarwell jcn signal box 1845 to 1967.
looking towards peterborough there wasnt a station here untill the nene valley constructed one here the alignment of the original down line can be seen.
a bench shows the name of the station less junction.
end of the line with the light fading fast it was time to take my leave from this pretty remote place ...trains havent ventured beyond the buffer stops since 1972.
orton waterville before closure.
now a part of the nene valley railway its replacement ferry meadows is a little further on.
a cut back elton on the northampton line in 1960 3 years before closure.
3 views of elton the heavily overgrown crossing gate can be seen in the first picture.
kings cliffe station on the rugby line 12 months before closure.
the railway bridge at kings cliffe on the former yarwell junction to rugby line
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