Kettering, Thrapston and Huntingdon Railway

Last updated

The Kettering, Thrapston and Huntingdon Railway was an English railway line opened throughout in 1866. It connected the Midland Railway main line at Kettering to ironstone deposits to the south-east of the town, as well as opening up the agricultural district around Thrapston and reaching the regional centre of Huntingdon. The hoped-for expansion of agricultural was limited and local traffic did not develop; at the same time the difficult alignment and gradients of the line discouraged heavy use as a through line. A basic passenger service operated through from Kettering to Cambridge, by using running powers east of Huntingdon via St Ives.

Contents

Although some munitions traffic during World War II enhanced the value of the line temporarily, it declined steeply after 1945 and passenger services were withdrawn in 1959. When the iron ore workings diminished too, the line was cut back in 1963 to serve only the remaining Twywell site. That activity too finished in 1971, resulting in total closure.

First railways

The Kettering, Thrapston and Huntingdon Railway Kettering-huntingdon.png
The Kettering, Thrapston and Huntingdon Railway

The route of the Great Northern Railway (GNR) between London and Peterborough via Huntingdon was completed in 1850. Later part of the Midland Railway main line came into use in 1857, between Hitchin and Leicester. For the time being the Midland Railway trains used the GNR's King's Cross station in London. [1] Huntingdon had been approached from the east by the Lynn and Ely Railway, which projected an extension of its line from Ely to St Ives, and this was opened on 17 August 1847. It was worked at first by the Eastern Counties Railway; in 1862, the Great Eastern Railway took over. [2]

During the construction of the Midland Railway line it was evident that there were commercially valuable ironstone deposits in the area around Kettering. An earlier scheme to connect them had failed, but in 1860 a definite proposal was formulated to reach them and to continue to Huntingdon on the Great Northern line. The first part was authorised as the Kettering and Thrapstone (sic) Railway, which received its authorising Act on 29 July 1862; the Parliamentary process was more easy than was often the case at this period. [2] [1] [3] The line was to terminate at Thrapston adjacent to the London and North Western Railway station on the western edge of the town. [4] [5]

A newspaper reported:

Kettering and Thrapston Railway Bill: This bill has just received the Royal assent, and we understand the works are to be commenced immediately. There are extensive quarries of iron stone of a fine quality, and also beds of white clay, which will be worked in the vicinity, and for which there is a great and increasing demand. A bill will be brought in in the next session of Parliament to extend the powers of the act to Huntingdon, so as to connect the Eastern Counties with the Midland line. [6]

Extending to Huntingdon

Thrapston railway viaduct, still extant (2018); it replaced an earlier timber structure Railway viaduct, Thrapston - geograph.org.uk - 1381785.jpg
Thrapston railway viaduct, still extant (2018); it replaced an earlier timber structure

As the newspaper indicated, plans were afoot for the Huntingdon extension, and again the Bill met little opposition: the Kettering, Thrapstone and Huntingdon Railway was authorised on 28 July 1863. The Midland Railway was authorised to work the line for 40% of the gross receipts for the first seven years, and at 50% thereafter. [2] [1] The engineer was James Brunlees. [4]

The Board of Trade inspector approved the line between Kettering and Huntingdon on 15 February 1866, and the first goods train ran on 21 February 1866, followed by passenger trains from 1 March 1866. It was worked by the Midland Railway from the outset, and there were running powers over the Great Eastern Railway from Huntingdon to Cambridge via St Ives. [1] [2] [7] [4] [8]

The line had sharp curves and difficult gradients, and running through sparsely populated terrain, many of the stations were not well situated for the communities they were intended to serve. [1]

The Cambridge newspaper reported:

The Huntingdon, Thrapston, and Kettering Railway: This railway was opened Thursday, the 1st inst., [1 March 1866] for passenger traffic, the Midland Company running four trains each way between Cambridge and Kettering, and two each way on Sundays. The distance between Kettering and Cambridge is 47+3⁄4 miles, and between the former place and Huntingdon 28+1⁄4 miles. The stations between Kettering and Huntingdon are Brampton, Grafham, Kimbolton, Raunds, Thrapston, Twywell, and Crawford. The journey to Cambridge is done by the Midland trains running over the Great Eastern from Huntingdon. The goods traffic commenced last week. This line will now offer facilities for communication with the Midland and North-Western Railways. [9]

In operation

There were never more than four passenger trains daily running throughout on the line, although there were some short working to Thrapston, and on summer Saturdays in the 1950s a through Leicester to Clacton-on-Sea service operated. [1] [2] [3]

The company was vested in the Midland Railway on 6 August 1897. [1] [7]

After the 1923 Grouping, the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) took control of the line; the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) controlled the main line at Huntingdon and eastwards. Soon the ironstone at the western end of the line became exhausted, and this, together with the increase in motor transport, caused a decline in the line's importance.

There was a possibility of the line closing in the late 1930s but the demands of wartime transport during World War II kept the line in operation; a United States Air Force base was established at Stow Longa, which resulted in increased munitions traffic for the time being. [2] [3] [5]

Twywell closed in 1951 and Cranford five years later. A business study was carried out on the route between Kettering and Huntingdon in 1958; it showed considerable losses, and the result was that the passenger service was withdrawn after 15 June 1959. At the same time the line west of Kimbolton was closed completely. This was further cut back from 18 October 1963 when only the line from Kettering to Twywell remained open; there were extensive iron workings at Twywell. [1] [2]

At the Kettering end of the line, crew-training was undertaken in August 1962. After the severe winter of 1962-63, a bridge near Raunds collapsed, and it was announced that all traffic would cease from 28 October 1963, except the Twywell ore trains. These continued until 27 July 1971. [2]

There is now no railway activity on the former line.

Location list

Related Research Articles

The Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway (SMJR) was a railway company in the southern Midlands of England, formed at the beginning of 1909 by the merger of three earlier companies:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Northern Railway (Great Britain)</span> Defunct British railway company

The Great Northern Railway (GNR) was a British railway company incorporated in 1846 with the object of building a line from London to York. It quickly saw that seizing control of territory was key to development, and it acquired, or took leases of, many local railways, whether actually built or not. In so doing, it overextended itself financially.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway</span>

The Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (MS&LR) was formed in 1847 when the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway joined with authorised but unbuilt railway companies, forming a proposed network from Manchester to Grimsby. It pursued a policy of expanding its area of influence, especially in reaching west to Liverpool, which it ultimately did through the medium of the Cheshire Lines Committee network in joint partnership with the Great Northern Railway and the Midland Railway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway</span> Former railway network in England

The Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway (M&GNJR) was a railway network in England, in the area connecting southern Lincolnshire, the Isle of Ely and north Norfolk. It developed from several local independent concerns and was incorporated in 1893. It was jointly owned by the Midland Railway and the Great Northern Railway, and those companies had long sponsored and operated the predecessor companies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cambridge railway station</span> Railway station in Cambridge, England

Cambridge railway station is the principal station serving the city of Cambridge in the east of England. It stands at the end of Station Road, 1 mile (1.6 km) south-east of the city centre. It is the northern terminus of the West Anglia Main Line, 55 miles 52 chains (89.6 km) down the line from London Liverpool Street, the southern terminus.

The Derbyshire and Staffordshire extension of the Great Northern Railway was an English railway network built by the GNR to get access to coal resources in the area to the north and west of Nottingham. The Midland Railway had obstructed the GNR in its attempts to secure a share of the lucrative business of transporting coal from the area, and in frustration the GNR built the line. The line was forked: it reached Pinxton in 1875 and a junction with the North Staffordshire Railway at Egginton, approaching Burton on Trent in 1878. The line cut through Derby, resulting in considerable demolition of housing there.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Riding and Grimsby Railway</span>

The West Riding and Grimsby Railway was a railway company that promoted a line between Wakefield and Doncaster, in Yorkshire, England. There was also a branch line connection from Adwick le Street to Stainforth, which gave access towards Grimsby. The company was promoted independently, but it was sponsored by the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway and the Great Northern Railway, and became jointly owned by them.

The Ely and St Ives Railway was a railway company that opened a line between those places in 1878. It was an extension of the privately promoted Ely, Haddenham & Sutton Railway that had opened in 1866. It was a standard gauge single track. The line was worked by the neighbouring Great Eastern Railway but it was never profitable. The development of road transport services in the 1920s caused a steep decline in use of the line, and the passenger service was withdrawn in 1931. A goods service continued, but the line closed completely in 1964. No railway activity takes place on the route now.

The Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Railway, colloquially referred to as "the Joint Line" was a railway line connecting Doncaster and Lincoln with March and Huntingdon in the eastern counties of England. It was owned jointly by the Great Northern Railway (GNR) and the Great Eastern Railway (GER). It was formed by transferring certain route sections from the parent companies, and by the construction of a new route between Spalding and Lincoln, and a number of short spurs and connections. It was controlled by a Joint Committee, and the owning companies operated their own trains with their own rolling stock. The Joint Line amounted to nearly 123 miles (198 km) of route.

The Ambergate, Nottingham and Boston and Eastern Junction Railway was a British railway company, which hoped to connect Lancashire with the port of Boston, in Lincolnshire. It was authorised in 1846 but was unable to raise much money. It opened a standard gauge line from a junction near Nottingham to Grantham in 1853. At Nottingham it was to rely on the Midland Railway, but that company was hostile and obstructive.

The Great Northern and London and North Western Joint Railway was a British railway line, almost entirely within Leicestershire. Authorised by the same Act of Parliament, the Great Northern Railway Leicester Branch was built, branching from the Joint Line; on the same basis the Newark to Bottesford Line was built. The lines opened progressively between 1879 and 1883. The dominant traffic was iron ore, and the agricultural produce of the area served also generated considerable business. The passenger usage was never heavy, although some unusual through services were attempted at first.

The Northampton and Peterborough Railway was an early railway promoted by the London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR) to run from a junction at Blisworth on the L&BR main line to Northampton and Peterborough, in England. The construction of the line was authorised by Parliament in 1843 and the 47 mile line opened in 1845. The line largely followed the river Nene, and for economy of construction, it had many level crossings with intersecting roads, rather than bridges. In 1846 the L&BR joined with other companies, together forming the London and North Western Railway (LNWR).

Thrapston Midland Road railway station is a former railway station on the Kettering, Thrapston and Huntingdon Railway line from Kettering. The station officially closed to Passengers on 15 June 1959. However the actual last passengers left the platform on the 8.30pm from Kettering on the evening of 13 June 1959. The train was hauled by steam locomotive and tender 46467 a Class 2 Ivatt LMS Mogul 2-6-0.

The Syston and Peterborough Railway was an early railway in England opened between 1846 and 1848 to form a connection from the Midland Counties Railway near Leicester to Peterborough, giving access to East Anglia over the Eastern Counties Railway. The project was part of the ambition of George Hudson to establish and maintain a monopoly of railway service over a large area of England. The surveying of the line achieved notoriety when Robert Sherard, 6th Earl of Harborough, who was hostile to railways, arranged a battle to obstruct surveys of the proposed line, and later of its construction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raunds railway station</span> Former railway station in Northamptonshire, England

Raunds railway station is a railway station that once served the town of Raunds in Northamptonshire, England. The railway station was an intermediate stop on the Kettering, Thrapston and Huntingdon Railway line that closed in 1959.

The Stamford and Essendine Railway was built to connect Stamford, Lincolnshire, in England, to the nearby Great Northern Railway. It was a short line, and it opened in 1856. It was not commercially successful, and the directors sought a means of connecting Stamford directly to Peterborough. This was the Sibson Extension, opened from Stamford to Wansford in 1867, but the junction there did not facilitate through running to Peterborough, and the Sibson Extension was even less successful than the first line. It was closed in 1929.

The Great Northern Railway developed an extensive network over time, having started in 1846 with the intention of connecting London and York, as well as other major Yorkshire towns. The Great Northern Railway in Yorkshire was a major part of that, although the GNR did not succeed in reaching York as it originally intended. By acquiring running powers it reached Leeds, Bradford and Halifax over other companies' lines, as well as Barnsley Sheffield and Grimsby, and then York too. After acquiring local companies it developed a network, chiefly in West Yorkshire. Later it built lines north and west of Bradford into hilly terrain, and these were very expensive to build, and never repaid the initial cost.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cranford railway station</span> Disused railway station in Cranford, Northamptonshire

Cranford railway station served the civil parish of Cranford, Northamptonshire, England, from 1866 to 1961 on the Kettering, Thrapston and Huntingdon Railway.

Twywell railway station served the village of Twywell, Northamptonshire, England, from 1866 to 1951 on the Kettering, Thrapston and Huntingdon Railway.

The Higham Ferrers branch line was a short railway branch built in Northamptonshire, England, by the Midland Railway to serve the industrial towns of Rushden and Higham Ferrers. It was originally intended to continue the line to Raunds, but that was frustrated by the refusal of a landowner to release his land.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Robin Leleux, A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: volume 9: The East Midlands, David & Charles (Publishers) Limited, Newton Abbot, 1976, ISBN   0 7153 7165 7
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Vic Mitchell, Keith Smith, Christopher Awdry and Allan Mott Branch Lines Around Huntingdon: Kettering to Cambridge, Middleton Press, Midhurst, 1991, ISBN   0 906520 93 2
  3. 1 2 3 Peter Butler, A History of the Railways of Northamptonshire, Silver Link Publishing Ltd, 2006, ISBN   1 85794 281 7
  4. 1 2 3 John Slack, The Arrival of the Midland Railway at Kimbolton, Cambridgeshire, in 1866, Landmark Publishing Ltd, 2001, ISBN   1 84306 051 5
  5. 1 2 Geoffrey Kingscott, Lost Railways of Northamptonshire, Countryside Books, Newbury, 2008, ISBN   978 1 84674 108 1
  6. ↑ Leicester Mercury, 9 August 1862
  7. 1 2 D I Gordon, A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: volume 5: the Eastern Counties, David & Charles (Publishers) Limited, Newton Abbot, 1977, ISBN   0 7153 7431 1
  8. ↑ E F Carter, An Historical Geography of the Railways of the British Isles, Cassell, London, 1959
  9. ↑ Cambridge Independent Press: 3 March 1866
  10. ↑ M E Quick, Railway Passenger Stations in England Scotland and Wales—A Chronology, The Railway and Canal Historical Society, 2002
  11. ↑ David Blagrove, Northamptonshire’s Lost Railways, Stenlake Publishing, 2003, ISBN   1 84033 251 4
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.