Image Up & down slow lines looking north, Wymington SP958633
Up & down slow lines looking north, Wymington SP958633
Up & down slow lines looking north, Wymington SP958633 I stood to photograph 6233 'Duchess of Sutherland' on the MML near to Wymington in the previous picture with the recently electrified Sharbrook summit avoider line behind me. The line remains unfenced so I could not resist a picture to show the scene now that the second track has been laid. The history of this section of the line is an interesting one. The mainlines of the Midland route were constructed with a 1:119 gradient from the south at Sharnbrook which took the line to three hundred and thirty feet above sea level at the summit. From about 1880, the line was quadrupled, with the new freight lines going through the newly constructed one thousand and eighty hundred and seventy-yard Sharnbrook Tunnel. This meant that combined with the Wymington deviation that follows the contours, freight trains had a much less taxing climb and did not hold up faster passenger workings. With the decline in freight by the late 1980s the freight lines were singled with full closure beckoning. However, by 1987, the single line was upgraded to passenger standards again. As can be seen in this image, the second line has recently been re-laid and they are about to see much more use again with Wellingborough station also having its fourth platform reinstated. Thus, I believe that this could be the longest section of continuous quadruple track in the country stretching from London St. Pancras to Kettering North Junction, a distance of seventy-four miles. I am open to correction on this fact! Keywords: Up & down slow lines Wymington SP958633
Up & down slow lines looking north, Wymington SP958633 I stood to photograph 6233 'Duchess of Sutherland' on the MML near to Wymington in the previous picture with the recently electrified Sharbrook summit avoider line behind me. The line remains unfenced so I could not resist a picture to show the scene now that the second track has been laid. The history of this section of the line is an interesting one. The mainlines of the Midland route were constructed with a 1:119 gradient from the south at Sharnbrook which took the line to three hundred and thirty feet above sea level at the summit. From about 1880, the line was quadrupled, with the new freight lines going through the newly constructed one thousand and eighty hundred and seventy-yard Sharnbrook Tunnel. This meant that combined with the Wymington deviation that follows the contours, freight trains had a much less taxing climb and did not hold up faster passenger workings. With the decline in freight by the late 1980s the freight lines were singled with full closure beckoning. However, by 1987, the single line was upgraded to passenger standards again. As can be seen in this image, the second line has recently been re-laid and they are about to see much more use again with Wellingborough station also having its fourth platform reinstated. Thus, I believe that this could be the longest section of continuous quadruple track in the country stretching from London St. Pancras to Kettering North Junction, a distance of seventy-four miles. I am open to correction on this fact! Keywords: Up & down slow lines Wymington SP958633


I stood to photograph 6233 'Duchess of Sutherland' on the

MML near to Wymington in the previous picture with the recently electrified Sharbrook summit avoider line behind me. The line remains unfenced so I could not resist a picture to show the scene now that the second track has been laid. The history of this section of the line is an interesting one. The mainlines of the Midland route were constructed with a 1:119 gradient from the south at Sharnbrook which took the line to three hundred and thirty feet above sea level at the summit. From about 1880, the line was quadrupled, with the new freight lines going through the newly constructed one thousand and eighty hundred and seventy-yard Sharnbrook Tunnel. This meant that combined with the Wymington deviation that follows the contours, freight trains had a much less taxing climb and did not hold up faster passenger workings. With the decline in freight by the late 1980s the freight lines were singled with full closure beckoning. However, by 1987, the single line was upgraded to passenger standards again. As can be seen in this image, the second line has recently been re-laid and they are about to see much more use again with Wellingborough station also having its fourth platform reinstated. Thus, I believe that this could be the longest section of continuous quadruple track in the country stretching from London St. Pancras to Kettering North Junction, a distance of seventy-four miles. I am open to correction on this fact!