Nene Valley Railway
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The Nene Valley Railway (NVR) is a preserved railway in Cambridgeshire, England, running between Peterborough Nene Valley and Yarwell Junction. The line is seven and a half miles in length. As well as stations at each terminus, there are three stops en route: Orton Mere, Ferry Meadows and Wansford.
History
In 1845 the London & Birmingham Railway (L&BR) company was given parliamentary assent to construct a line from Blisworth in Northamptonshire to Peterborough. Completed in 1847, it became Peterborough's first railway line, terminating at Peterborough, later 'Peterborough East' station. The sheds and one platform face of this redundant station are still clearly visible next to the current Matalan store on London Road.The line was of little significance until the late 19th century, when the London & North Western Railway (L&NWR), which had absorbed the L&BR constructed a line, via Nassington and King's Cliffe to Seaton, below Harringworth Viaduct. This turned Wansford, previously an unimportant village station, into a major junction. Its importance was increased a few years later when the L&NWR constructed another line, via Sutton, Southorpe and Barnack to Stamford, on the Midland Railway line. In 1884 the line received a royal visit when the royal family travelled between Peterborough and Barnwell, some 13 miles beyond Wansford, to visit Barnwell Manor, home of the then Duke of Gloucester. The station building is now preserved at Wansford station on the NVR, and is known as the Barnwell building.
Between the turn of the century and the 1960s, the line formed an important connection from Norwich, Cambridge and eastern England to Northampton and the Midlands. The line was generally acknowledged to be a secondary mainline and regularly saw large engines such as Black 5s and B1s. However, the NVR was one of the last passenger line closures of the Dr Beeching era, services to Northampton and Rugby having ceased 1964 and 1962 respectively. It remained open until 1972 for freight traffic only.
Peterborough Locomotive Society
In 1968, the Reverend Richard Paten had bought British Railways Standard Class '5' 4-6-0 locomotive, number 73050, for its scrap value of £3,000. His intention had been to exhibit it outside Peterborough Technology College as a monument to Peterborough's railway history. However, there was one problem - the locomotive was found to be in good working order. Because of the engine's condition there was a large amount of opposition to the idea of the engine being 'stuffed'; many people pressed the idea of the locomotive being restored to full working order.
On 28th March 1969, the Peterborough Branch of the East Anglian Locomotive Society was formed, with the intention of purchasing and restoring the BR Pacific locomotive, number 70000 'Britannia'. By 1970, the group was sufficiently strong to form its own group-the Peterborough Locomotive Society (PLS). In 1971, 73050 was moved to the British Sugar Corporation's sidings at Fletton, where it was joined by Hunslet 0-6-0 locomotive 'Jack's Green'. Later that year, the PLS held a meeting at which the group's name was changed to 'Peterborough Railway Society' and the idea of the Nene Valley Railway was formally launched. In Spring 1989 the rock band Queen shot a video at the railway called Breakthru that reached number 7 in the British charts. They are videoed on a steam train that was given the name 'Miracle Express' after the title of their 1989 album 'The Miracle'.
In 1974 the Peterborough Development Corporation (PDC) bought the Nene Valley line between Longville and Yarwell Junction, and it began leasing it to the PRS to operate the railway - a major milestone in the society's history.
The Nene Valley Railway
When the PRS acquired the line, the intention was to work the line with British locomotives and stock. However, enthusiasts from other railways and preservation societies had already acquired almost all of the servicable ex-BR locomotives - all that was left was a collection of rusting hulks. Apart from 73050, the society's locomotives were mostly small, industrial shunting engines and therefore not suitable for the 11 mile round trip. Ex-BR rolling stock was also in very short supply following the disposal of most pre-nationalisation (pre-1948) stock. The PDC, having paid out a considerable sum of money for the line, was anxious that trains should start running as soon as possible - certainly before the opening of the new Nene Park in 1978. However, with the PRC's lack of stock and locomotives this looked highly improbable.
A Continental Solution
In 1973, PRS member Richard Hurlock had approached the society for a home for his ex-Swedish railways 2-6-4T class S1 oil-fired locomotive, number 1928. Because the engine was higher and wider than British stock it was to be a static exhibition only. During 1974 it was realised that the use of foreign stock and engines could answer the NVR's prayers. After a feasability study was carried out it was discovered that only one bridge would have to be demolished to allow the running to continental loading gauge. Some reductions would also have to be made to the width of the platforms. In 1973 BR gave PRS permission to use Wansford signal box and in September of that year, the first items of stock arrived at the PRS depot.
The First Train
Before the stock could be moved from the BSC depot to Wansford, the missing 400 yards of the Fletton Loop had to be rebuilt, allowing access to the Nene Valley line. The track was completed in March 1974, and the stock moved to Wansford in time for the Easter weekend, when the new 'Wansford Steam Centre' opened for the first time. Between 1974 and 1977, the line was upgraded to passenger-carrying standard and the first passenger train ran on 1st June 1977, hauled by the 'Nord' - a French locomotive and '1178' - another Swedish tank engine, pulling a set of ex-BR electrical Multiple Unit coaches owned by the Southern Electric group.[link].
The Peterborough Extension
in 1986, the NVR decided to extend its running line, which then terminated at Orton Mere station, along the route of the original NVR to a new station west of the East Coast Main Line, adjacent to the new Railworld Museum. This extended the length of the NVR to its current length, 7.5 miles. Since 1999, there has been talk of the 'crescent link' project - a scheme to allow the NVR to run trains through the westernmost end of the Nene Park, across the river Nene into the Peterborough mainline station to connect directly with GNER, Central Trains and First Capital Connect services. It is thought likely this might be done in accordance with the proposed redevelopment and modernisation of Peterborough station. However, no fixed date has been set for this development, so it is uncertain if the project will ever go ahead.
NVR stations
Stations currently on the Nene Valley Railway:
- Yarwell Junction (Currently under construction)
- Wansford
- Ferry Meadows (for Nene Valley Country Park)
- Orton Mere
- Peterborough Nene Valley
External links
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