Wansford railway station

Wansford
Wansford
Station on heritage railway
	The new station building at Wansford.
General information
Location	Wansford, Cambridgeshire ; England
Coordinates	52°34′06″N0°23′22″W / 52.568325°N 0.389540°W
Grid reference	TL092979
Platforms	2
History
Original company	Northampton and Peterborough Railway
Pre-grouping	London and North Western Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
2 June 1845	opened
1 July 1957	closed for passengers
13 July 1964	closed for freight
1 June 1977	reopened

Last updated November 03, 2024

Nene Valley Railway

Legend

					Ely–Peterborough line
					Peterborough East
					Peterborough North
					East Coast Main Line
					Peterborough Nene Valley
					Longville Junction
					Orton Mere
					Overton for Ferry Meadows
					Ham Lane
					Castor
					Stamford and Essendine Railway
					Old Great North Road
					Wansford
					Wansford Tunnel (616 yards)
					Yarwell Junction
					Northampton and Peterborough Railway
					GN&LNW to Rugby

Wansford railway station is the headquarters of the Nene Valley Railway in Cambridgeshire, England. The station building was opened in 1995 and contains a ticket office, shop, cafe and toilets. The locomotive sheds are located at this station. Also at the station there is a picnic area and children's playground. The station was formerly the junction for a branch to Stamford, which separated to the north just east of the river bridge at Wansford.

History

The station opened with the Northampton and Peterborough Railway from Blisworth to Peterborough in 1845. Being located on the Great North Road, it was for a few years the railhead for Grantham, Lincoln, etc., which at this time were not served by any railway lines. The branch line to Stamford opened in 1867. The route to Rugby became available when the LNWR built a line from Yarwell Junction, west of Wansford tunnel, to their existing 1850 Rugby to Stamford line at Seaton. At the same time, the Great Northern began a service from Peterborough North to Leicester Belgrave Road via Wansford, Seaton and the newly opened Great Northern and London and North Western Joint Railway in east Leicestershire. The Leicester trains were stopped as a war economy in 1916. The Stamford branch closed in 1929, having never properly recovered from the 1926 general strike. The station closed for regular passenger services on 1 July 1957 but passenger services from Peterborough continued to use the line to Northampton until 1964, and to Rugby until 1966. The Rugby line remained open for freight as far as the sand and gravel quarries at Nassington. When these stopped, the line closed but the track remained in situ. The line became the Nene Valley Railway heritage railway and was reopened on 1 June 1977.

Station features

Barnwell station building

The waiting room on platform two is referred to as "The Barnwell Building" due to it having been moved from Barnwell station to Wansford on 5 April 1977. The building is of typical LNWR wooden construction. It was originally built in 1884 for use by members of the royal family when visiting Barnwell Manor, home of the Duke of Gloucester.

Old Wansford station building

The original Wansford station, designed by John William Livock, is located on platform three and was built in 1844–1845 in Jacobean style for the opening of the railway. This building was finally purchased by the Nene Valley Railway in 2015. In October 2011 it appeared on the list of the ten most threatened Victorian and Edwardian buildings, published by the Victorian Society.^[1]

Wansford signal box

The signal box was built in 1907 by the London and North Western Railway to replace three smaller boxes. It was originally built with 60 levers and is one of the largest preserved signal boxes in its original location.

Turntable

The turntable is located behind the new station building, and was built by Ransomes & Rapier of Ipswich in 1933. Originally it was 60 feet (18 m) long and was installed at Bourne in Lincolnshire for use on the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway. It continued in use there until 1959 when Bourne shed closed and the turntable was moved to Peterborough East; its last duties being to turn Travelling Post Office (TPO) coaches for use on the East Anglian TPO.

In 1977 the turntable moved to Wansford where it was extended by 7 feet (2.1 m) to make it 67 feet (20 m) in length and was commissioned in September 1978. The turntable has been in use ever since to turn the locomotives and carriages at the NVR.

Model railway

On platform 4 there is a model railway which has been put together by enthusiasts over five years, housed in a converted rail coach. This coach is a BR Mk2e FO ex 'London's Burning' coach, number W3227. The main layout, called Hammerton Junction, is mainly 00 gauge; one end is raised up and has N gauge on it. There is a small layout called Iron Sidings built on top of an ironing board.

Summary of Services

Preceding station	Heritage railways		Following station
Yarwell Junction		Nene Valley Railway	Ferry Meadows
	Historical railways
Nassington		London and North Western Railway Leicester Belgrave Rd to Peterborough	Castor
Elton		London and North Western Railway Northampton to Peterborough East	Castor
Sibson		Great Northern Railway Stamford and Essendine Railway	Terminus

Sample Train Timetable for April 1910

The table below shows the train departures from Wansford on weekdays in April 1910.^[2]

Departure	Going to	Calling at	Arrival	Operator
03.54	Peterborough East	Peterborough East	04.05	LNWR
06.31	Northampton Castle	Elton, Oundle, Barnwell, Thorpe, Thrapston, Ringstead & Addington, Higham Ferrers & Irthlingborough, Ditchford, Wellingborough, Castle Ashby & Earls Barton, Billing, Northampton Bridge Street, Northampton Castle	08.00	LNWR
08.25	Northampton Castle	Elton, Oundle, Barnwell, Thorpe, Thrapston, Ringstead & Addington, Higham Ferrers & Irthlingborough, Ditchford, Wellingborough, Castle Ashby & Earls Barton, Billing, Northampton Bridge Street, Northampton Castle	09.50	LNWR
08.29	Peterborough North	Castor, Overton, Peterborough North	08.48	GNR
08.40	Peterborough East	Castor, Overton, Peterborough East	09.04	LNWR
08.45	Rugby	Nassington, King's Cliffe, Wakerley & Barrowden, Seaton, Rockingham, Ashley & Weston, Market Harborough, Lubenham, Theddingworth, Welford & Lutterworth, Yelverton & Stanford Park, Lilbourne, Clifton Mill, Rugby	10.34	LNWR
08.50	Stamford East	Wansford Road, Ufford Bridge, Barnack, Stamford East	09.15	GNR
09.48	Leicester Belgrave Road	Nassington, King's Cliffe, Wakerley & Barrowden, Seaton, Rockingham, Medbourne, Hallaton, East Norton, Tilton, Loseby, Ingersby, Thurnby & Scraptoft, Humberstone, Leicester Belgrave Road	11.22	GNR
10.19	Peterborough East	Castor, Peterborough East	10.37	LNWR
10.50	Peterborough East	Overton, Peterborough East	11.05	LNWR
10.52	Stamford East	Wansford Road, Ufford Bridge, Barnack, Stamford East	11.15	GNR
11.09	Northampton Castle	Elton, Oundle, Barnwell, Thorpe, Thrapston, Ringstead & Addington, Higham Ferrers & Irthlingborough, Ditchford, Wellingborough, Castle Ashby & Earls Barton, Billing, Northampton Bridge Street, Northampton Castle	12.35	LNWR
11.42	Rugby	Nassington, King's Cliffe, Wakerley & Barrowden, Seaton, Rockingham, Ashley & Weston, Market Harborough, Lubenham, Theddingworth, Welford & Lutterworth, Yelverton & Stanford Park, Lilbourne, Clifton Mill, Rugby	13.30	LNWR
11.47	Peterborough North	Castor, Overton, Peterborough North	12.06	GNR
11.55	Stamford East	Wansford Road, Ufford Bridge, Barnack, Stamford East	12.20	GNR
12.28	Peterborough East	Peterborough East	12.40	LNWR
13.05 Fri only	Stamford East	Wansford Road, Ufford Bridge, Barnack, Stamford East	13.28	GNR
13.52	Peterborough East	Castor, Overton, Peterborough East	14.12	LNWR
14.14	Northampton Castle	Elton, Oundle, Barnwell, Thorpe, Thrapston, Ringstead & Addington, Higham Ferrers & Irthlingborough, Ditchford, Wellingborough, Castle Ashby & Earls Barton, Billing, Northampton Bridge Street, Northampton Castle	15.40	LNWR
14.37	Leicester Belgrave Road	Nassington, King's Cliffe, Wakerley & Barrowden, Seaton, Rockingham, Medbourne, Hallaton, East Norton, Tilton, Loseby, Ingersby, Thurnby & Scraptoft, Humberstone, Leicester Belgrave Road	16.10	GNR
14.37	Stamford East	Wansford Road, Ufford Bridge, Barnack, Stamford East	15.02	GNR
14.49	Peterborough East	Overton, Peterborough East	15.05	LNWR
15.56	Stamford East	Wansford Road, Ufford Bridge, Barnack, Stamford East	16.21	GNR
16.02	Northampton Castle	Elton, Oundle, Barnwell, Thorpe, Thrapston, Ringstead & Addington, Higham Ferrers & Irthlingborough, Ditchford, Wellingborough, Castle Ashby & Earls Barton, Billing, Northampton Bridge Street, Northampton Castle	17.38	LNWR
16.16	Peterborough East	Castor, Overton, Peterborough East	16.33	LNWR
16.37	Rugby	Nassington, King's Cliffe, Wakerley & Barrowden, Seaton, Rockingham, Ashley & Weston, Market Harborough, Lubenham, Theddingworth, Welford & Lutterworth, Yelverton & Stanford Park, Lilbourne, Clifton Mill, Rugby	18.23	LNWR
17.30	Peterborough North	Castor, Peterborough North	17.46	GNR
18.37	Northampton Castle	Elton, Oundle, Barnwell, Thorpe, Thrapston, Ringstead & Addington, Higham Ferrers & Irthlingborough, Ditchford, Wellingborough, Castle Ashby & Earls Barton, Billing, Northampton Bridge Street, Northampton Castle	20.05	LNWR
18.40	Stamford East	Wansford Road, Ufford Bridge, Barnack, Stamford East	19.03	GNR
19.37	Peterborough East	Castor, Overton, Peterborough East	19.58	LNWR
19.42	Leicester Belgrave Road	Nassington, King's Cliffe, Wakerley & Barrowden, Seaton, Rockingham, Medbourne, Hallaton, East Norton, Tilton, Loseby, Ingersby, Thurnby & Scraptoft, Humberstone, Leicester Belgrave Road	21.11	GNR
19.55	Stamford East	Wansford Road, Ufford Bridge, Barnack, Stamford East	20.20	GNR
20.11	Rugby	Seaton, Market Harborough, Welford & Lutterworth, Rugby	21.32	LNWR
22.01	Peterborough East	Peterborough East	22.15	LNWR
22.35	Peterborough East	Peterborough East	22.48	LNWR

Use in film and television

The old station building appeared in the 1983 James Bond film Octopussy , in which Bond (played by Roger Moore) drove a Mercedes-Benz car along the railway tracks after its tyres were punctured in pursuit of a train on which the villainous Kamal Khan (Louis Jourdan) was transporting a bomb. This scene was scripted as being in East Germany.^[3]

A station identified by a sign as Wansford appears in the music video for the 1991 single 'The Air that You Breathe' by UK band, Bomb the Bass.^[4]

Present Day

In the year 1977, the station was reopened as the headquarters for the Nene Valley Railway. The original station is currently not being used, as it is in a state of needing a repair. As mentioned earlier, the station from the town of Barnwell was moved her and acts as the station today.^[5] The stations has a total of two platforms serving the trains that come in from either direction. Trains here run between the town of Yarwell to the Peterborough Nene Valley station.^[6]

Related Research Articles

Rugby railway station serves the market town of Rugby in Warwickshire, England. The current station dates from 1885; two previous stations dating from 1838 and 1840 respectively, existed at locations to the west of the current one. It has been Rugby's only station, since the closure of the former Rugby Central station in 1969, on the now-abandoned Great Central Main Line route through the town. Between 1950 and 1970, the station was known as Rugby Midland before reverting to its original title. The station underwent an extensive remodelling between 2006 and 2008; new platforms were added and a new ticket office and entrance building were constructed. The original Victorian part of the station was retained in the upgrade.

The Nene Valley Railway (NVR) is a preserved railway in Cambridgeshire, England, running between Peterborough Nene Valley and Yarwell Junction. The line is 7+1⁄2 miles (12.1 km) in length. There are stations at each terminus, and three stops en route: Orton Mere, Overton and Wansford.

Peterborough railway station serves the cathedral city of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. It is sited 76 miles 29 chains (122.9 km) north of London King's Cross. The station is a major interchange serving both the north–south East Coast Main Line, as well as long-distance and local east–west services. The station is managed by London North Eastern Railway. Ticket gates came into use at the station in 2012.

Wansford is a village straddling the City of Peterborough and Huntingdonshire districts in the ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. It had a population of 506 at the 2021 Census. It is situated 7 miles (11 km) west of Peterborough and 8 miles (13 km) miles south of Stamford. It is close to the county boundary with both Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire. The village is also located close to the A1 road and was on the route of the original Great North Road before the modern A1 was built. The village has since been bypassed by the A1 but the former Great North Road still exists through the village.

Stamford railway station serves the town of Stamford in Lincolnshire, England, and is located in St Martin's. The station is 12.5 miles (20 km) west of Peterborough. It was opened by the Syston and Peterborough Railway, part of the present day Birmingham to Peterborough Line. CrossCountry operate the majority of services as part of their Birmingham to Stansted Airport route. It is owned by Network Rail and managed by East Midlands Railway

Ferry Meadows is a station on the Nene Valley Railway between Wansford and Orton Mere. The current station has one platform, and has no car park of its own. In 2004, a new station building was added. Previously at Fletton Junction on the East Coast Main Line, the building was dismantled, moved to Ferry Meadows and rebuilt brick-by-brick in its current location. In the Nene Park close by, there is a watersports centre as well as three children's play areas, three lakes and a miniature railway. The Park is open throughout the year, but most facilities such as the miniature railway and pedaloes only run from Easter to the end of October. Ferry Meadows station is on the site of the former Orton Waterville station.

Peterborough East was a railway station in Peterborough, England. It was opened on 2 June 1845 and closed to passenger traffic on 6 June 1966. Located on East Station Road just off Town Bridge, only the engine sheds and one platform remain. The station had services running west to Northampton and Rugby, as well as to the east to March, Wisbech, and Norwich.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yarwell Junction railway station</span>

Yarwell Junction is the current western terminus of the Nene Valley Railway. It opened at Easter 2007.

Wakerley and Barrowden railway station is a former railway station in Wakerley, Northamptonshire, England which also served the nearby village of Barrowden, Rutland. It was owned by the London and North Western Railway but from 1883 to 1916 was also served by trains of the Great Northern Railway.

Nassington railway station is a former railway station in Nassington, Northamptonshire. It was owned by the London and North Western Railway but from 1883 to 1916 was also served by trains of the Great Northern Railway. It opened for passengers along with Wakerley and Barrowden railway station and King's Cliffe railway station on 1 November 1879, on a new section of line constructed from Wansford Line Junction at Seaton to Yarwell Junction at Wansford.

Ketton and Collyweston railway station is a former station serving the villages of Ketton, Geeston, Aldgate and Collyweston, Rutland. It is located in Geeston adjacent to a level crossing on the Ketton to Collyweston road. It is under half a mile from Ketton but over a mile from Collyweston. It closed in 1966.

Morcott railway station is a former station in Rutland, near the village of Morcott.

Seaton railway station was a station serving the villages of Seaton, Rutland, and Harringworth, Northamptonshire.

Oundle railway station is a Grade II listed former railway station in Oundle, Northamptonshire on the former Northampton and Peterborough Railway line which connected Peterborough and Northampton. In 1846 the line, along with the London and Birmingham, became part of the London and North Western Railway. At grouping in 1923 it became part of the London Midland and Scottish Railway.

Barnwell railway station is a former railway station in Barnwell, Northamptonshire on the former Northampton and Peterborough Railway line which connected Peterborough and Northampton.

Wansford Road railway station was located in Northamptonshire serving the village of Wansford. It was some distance east of the village on the A47 road, although still nearer than the more important Wansford station of the London & North Western Railway. The station was built in 1867.

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 the 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).

The Rugby and Stamford Railway was an early railway in England built in 1850. The London and Birmingham Railway had already built a branch from Blisworth to serve Northampton and extend to Peterborough. The success of this, the Northampton and Peterborough Railway encouraged the directors to look for other ventures. They decided upon a branch from Rugby to Stamford which would link up with other new railways in the east of the country.

Wansford Tunnel is a railway tunnel on the preserved Nene Valley Railway in Cambridgeshire. The tunnel is situated to the south of the village of Wansford, but just to the west of Wansford railway station.

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.

References

↑ "We reveal the country's ten most endangered Victorian buildings - The Victorian Society". www.victoriansociety.org.uk. Archived from the original on 13 October 2011.
↑ Bradshaw's General Railway and Steam Navigation Guide, April 1910
↑ "Filming locations for Octopussy". IMDb . Retrieved 6 August 2010.
↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfZjr_hUGLk at 3m:30s, retrieved 21 November 2010
↑ "Disused Stations: Wansford Station". disused-stations.org.uk. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
↑ "Peterborough (Nene Valley) Station | Nene Valley Railway Ltd". nvr.org.uk. Retrieved 3 May 2024.

External links

Media related to Wansford railway station at Wikimedia Commons

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.

[1] "We reveal the country's ten most endangered Victorian buildings - The Victorian Society". www.victoriansociety.org.uk. Archived from the original on 13 October 2011.

[2] Bradshaw's General Railway and Steam Navigation Guide, April 1910

[3] "Filming locations for Octopussy". IMDb . Retrieved 6 August 2010.

[4] ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfZjr_hUGLk at 3m:30s, retrieved 21 November 2010

[5] "Disused Stations: Wansford Station". disused-stations.org.uk. Retrieved 3 May 2024.

[6] "Peterborough (Nene Valley) Station | Nene Valley Railway Ltd". nvr.org.uk. Retrieved 3 May 2024.

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