2. Sharnbrook to Market Harborough-18.08.80

THE ARCHIVE FILES > Archive-1980 > 14. East of England Summer Tour-17-22.08.80 > 2. Sharnbrook to Market Harborough-18.08.80
A day cruising the Midland Mainline between Sharnbrook and Market Harborough taking in the delights of its Victorian signalling. Little did I know some eight years later that this part of the country would become my home area with me moving to Northamptonshire after securing a job in Wellingborough and I have been here ever since! The day was marred slightly by UAM (the orange Mini) developing a persistent misfire that Graham tried to sort out a number of times. In addition, the weather was not as nice as yesterday, after starting off bright and sunny by the end of the day full cloud had enveloped the summer sky.
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Images 1-17 of 17 displayed.

Sharnbrook signal box (Mid, date not known) I last visited Sharnbrook just over a year ago and took a photograph of Sharnbrook's Midland signal box then but in cloudy conditions and from a different angle to this one, see..... https://www.ontheupfast.com/p/21936chg/26818863804/sharnbrook-signal-box I must have figured that a bit of summer sunshine warranted another Kodachrome slide being used for a second photgraph! Unfortunately, I still do not know its date of construction but I do know that it closed just under a year from the day of this visit. Keywords: Sharnbrook signal box
45117, 09.01 Nottingham-London St. Pancras (1C23), Sharnbrook TL005592 Graham and I scrambled up the embankment from road level in Sharnbrook to secure this photograph of 45117 heading south with the 09.01 Nottingham to St. Pancras service. I am standing rather too close to the up slow line with Sharnbrook signal box seen in the distance with some of its associated signals. The bracket signal with its submissive home controls the crossover between the fast and slow lines referred to as Sharnbrook Junction that still is in use today. Keywords: 45117 09.01 Nottingham-London St. Pancras Sharnbrook TL005592 Peak 1C23
Irchester South signal box (Mid, 1881) (Courtesy of GGV) Irchester South signal box was located at a very remote spot with no vehicular access so signalmen would have to either walk to work or ride their wife's red bike as is the case on the day of our visit! For those interested in its location, it was at the following Ordnance Survey grid reference SP938652. It was located in between the slow and fast lines where the former just begin to diverge as they take their slightly different route south utilising Sharbrook tunnel. In this photograph, the 1881 Midland box looks remarkably original with its external gallery and finials still in place. It was closed on 06.12.87 but due to its remote location remained in situ for sometime after this date relatively immune from the scourge of vandals who could not be bothered to wander across fields to get to it! The building in the background, partially surrounded by trees, is Knuston Hall owned by Northamptonshire County Council. Little did I know when I took this photograph that I would visit this historic house many times in my working career ten years on! Keywords: Irchester South signal box Midland Railway
45141, 07.58 Leeds-London St. Pancras (1M14), site of Irchester station 45141 gathers speed on its assault of Sharnbrook bank from the north. It is seen passing the site of Irchester station leading the 1M14 07.58 Leeds to St. Pancras service. ETH Class 45s (45/1 subclass) were the mainstay of MML services for many years supplemented by Class 47s until June 1987. Irchester station closed on 07.03.60 twenty years prior to this photograph being taken but nothing remains of the platforms with just some buildings and goods shed giving the game away. The station building was located on the bridge I am standing on with access straight down on to the island platform from it. Keywords: 45141, 07.58 Leeds-London St. Pancras site of Irchester station 1M14
45010, up freight, Irchester SP930663 (Courtesy of GGV) 45010 leads a long unfitted freight mainly composed of what appears to be rake of sixteen-ton mineral wagons past the site of Irchester's closed station taken from the former goods yard. The distant signal is controlled by Irchester South signal box some distance from this location thus would be motorised, hence the absence of trackside signalling wires. The Peak would remain in service for another five years being withdrawn in March 1985 and eventually being cut up at Springburn (Glasgow) by January 1989. Keywords: 45010 up freight Irchester SP930663
MML looking north with Wellingborough MPD from Mill Road The view looking north from Wellingborough's Mill Lane bridge. It shows the up and down slow and fast lines with some sidings and, to the right, Wellingborough's former steam shed (15A, later to become 15B). At this time Wellingborough still stabled and fueled diesel (WO) but on the day of our visit only a lone and unidentified Class 25 could be seen. Today the shed still exists and is the process of being turned into a supermarket with this scene is very similar apart from the recent arrival of the electrification masts. However, taking this equivalent photograph needs a ladder as Network Rail has installed totally ridiculous concrete parapet extensions. Keywords: MML looking north with Wellingborough MPD from Mill Road
Finedon Road signal box (Mid, 1893) & yard Taken trackside Finedon Road signal box is seen along with part of the extensive yard and sidings. The box is a classic Midland 2B structure dating from 1893 signalled its last train on 05.12.87 with control moving to Leicester PSB. In this view is a vintage Midland bracket signal with two dolls of traditional timber construction. I am not quite sure how Graham and I secured access to this location, we probably clambered across a fence from the adjacent industrial estate that itself occupies the site of Wellingborough's former ironworks. Keywords: Finedon Road Signal Box Midland Railway
Neilson's Sidings signal box (Mid, 1893) Neilson's Sidings signal box (as opposed to Neilson Sidings) is seen next to the Midland Mainline just north of Wellingborough's Finedon Raod sidings. The box is a superb and very well kept Midland 2B box that had just over another seven years in service until closure came as the so-called 'missing link' of mechanical signalling on the MML was replaced by MAS signalling. Notice that one of the finials is missing from the roof. Another published photograph shows the other had gone by the time closure came. Keywords: Neilson's Sidings signal box
Neilson Sidings Signal Box (BR, c.1965) This is the nearest that Graham and I could get to Neilson Sidings signal box (as opposed to Neilson's Sidings) and even then we received a tirade of verbal abuse from the owner of the yard into which we had ventured to get the photograph. It is a British Railways (London Midland Region) Type 15 design fitted with a twenty lever London Midland Region standard frame and controlled the complex signalling and points within the yard that still exists today but that is mainly used by stone and infrastructure trains. Both boxes are named after a local farmer and landowner Walter Neilson who owned much of the land stretching out in the distance. He developed his land by mining iron ore and close to the surface and built a network of narrow gauge routes to get the ore to the mainline in this yard and also directly into the ironworks that was located where I am standing. Notice the spire of the fourteenth century St Mary the Virgin church in Finedon on the skyline. The current reverend is the well-known broadcaster and former Communards band member Richard Coles.
45112, 12.07 Derby-London St. Pancras (1C49) & Finedon station signal box (Mid, date not known) Seen yesterday evening passing Wellingborough and now seen again slightly further north 45112 'Royal Army Ordnance Corps' heads south with the 1C49 12.07 Derby to St. Pancras service. It is about to pass the delightful Finedon Station signal box a Midland structure that I do not have an exact date for but it will have originated from sometime around 1890. As the name of the box suggests, there was once a station at this location that closed very early on in 1940. Its premature closure was probably due to it being located nearly two and a half miles from the village that it purported to serve! Keywords: 45112 12.07 Derby-London St. Pancras & Finedon station signal box Peak Midland Railway Royal Army Ordnance Corps
25280, down freight, Kettering Junction 25280 trundles along the down slow line at Kettering Junction with a mixed train composed of what appears to be some loaded parcels wagons (judging by their white labels under the spring-loaded clamps) and some flats of some kind. The row of semi-detached houses on Sussex Road on top of the embankment are still there very much the same but their views of the MML are somewhat compromised by rampant tree growth Keywords: 25280 down freight Kettering Junction
Kettering Junction signal box (LMS, 1935) The LMS built Kettering Junction signal box in 1935 to replace two Midland boxes, one here and another slightly further south named Pytchley. This functional rather than attractive LMS designed box differs from the Midland boxes that it repaced by having a gabled roof and an attractive panelled brick base. This one controlled the double junctions of the crossovers between the fast and slow lines and the divergence of the single line to Huntingdon linking with the ECML. Notice the small extension to the steps at the far end of the box used by the signalmen for the exchange of the tokens for the said line. I have also seen a photograph taken inside the box of the unusual signal wire tightening device to take account of expansion during hot weather that would give inaccurate arm indication. Keywords: Kettering Junction signal box
Kettering Station signal box (Mid, 1913) & curve to Cransley Graham and I had must have simply wandered off the end of the station ramp at Kettering to take this photograph....could you imagine the fuss that this would cause today with all trains between St. Pancras and Derby stopped no doubt! Back in 1980, there was no such attention paid to us as we took this image of Kettering Station signal box. It's a 1913 Midland box that controlled all movements around Kettering station including its yards, sidings and junctions. This included the line diverging off to the right here that was the freight only branch to Loddington that once served the extensive opencast ironstone workings close to the village. In later years only the shortened spur to Cransley remained synonymous as the location of the Cohen's scrapyard where many steam and first-generation diesel locomotives met their fate. Delivered by rail, these locomotives would have made their last journey down the short spur over the rails directly in the foreground that curve off to the right. The Midland Railway Type 4E signal box still exists having been dismantled and moved to The Midland Railway at Butterly named Swanick Junction. By way of comparison, some thirty-four years later, whilst the scene had changed considerably, the lamp posts still existed, see..... https://www.ontheupfast.com/p/21936chg/29948597604/x2-222020-em-09-29-london-st-pancras Keywords: Kettering Station signal box curve to Cransley
Down fast platform, looking north, Kettering station Platform four of Kettering station (the down fast) is seen looking north. This platform was constructed in 1879 along with the island platform (two and three) to match the original 1857 station building designed by the esteemed architect C H Driver. In this photograph, the single-storey weather-boarded waiting rooms and canopies, with cast-iron columns and spandrels are clearly seen. The condition of the glass is clear to see here, as well as being badly stained it is also cracked. BR in its cost-saving wisdom wanted to remove the canopies and glass to be replaced by plastic sheeting. Thankfully, Kettering Civic Society got to hear of their plans and created a fuss meaning that the plans were withdrawn. Eventually, the whole structure was comprehensively refurbished by Railtrack in 2000. Keywords: Down fast platform looking north Kettering station Midland Railway
Glendon North Junction signal box (Mid, 1904) Yet another very well presented Midland Railway signal box on the MML at Glendon North Junction. The box was a Type 3A design dating from 1904. It stayed in use until 05.12.87 when the semaphores, relief lines and junction were removed. The mechanics and other parts of the box live on and are now in use at Peak Rail's Darley Dale signal box. Keywords: Glendon North Junction signal box
Glendon Sidings signal box (Mid, C.1910) The fine and well-presented box seen here is Gleldon Sidings which has also been known as Glendon East signal box. It was located just a short distance from the point where the Corby route diverged from the MML. The tracks stretching of into the distance lead to Corby and thence onwards to Manton Junction via the famous Harringworth viaduct. As well as controlling the junction it also controlled access to some exchange sidings to the right of this view where Stewarts and Lloyds (towards the end of mining operations that is) mined iron stone. Whilst the box has long gone the line is in somewhat of a renaissance having now been re-doubled after BR singled it and is now electrified seeing a regular service to and from St.Pancras. The following photograph shows the scene in more recent years, see..... https://www.ontheupfast.com/p/21936chg/25598648204/x222010-10-41-corby-londonst-pancras Keywords: Glendon Sidings signal box Midland Railway
Frontage, Market Harborough station The grand frontage of Market Harborough station is seen at night taken as a time exposure utilising Graham's Velbon tripod. The station is Grade II listed and is the second station constructed in 1884 replacing the far simpler LNWR station built in 1850. The building was constructed by Parnell and Sons of Rugby designed by the esteemed architect John Livock. It cannot be seen clearly in this photograph but the building sits within a triangle of lines somewhat hemmed in as both are elevated. The line to the right is the Midland line to and from St. Pancras with the former line to the left being the now closed LNWR cross-country route to Northampton. At the time of our visit in 1980, this line was still open and in sporadic use for freight. It would take another forty one years before I would stand in a similar spot to this and take a daylight photograph of this fine structure, see..... https://www.ontheupfast.com/p/21936chg/30017882627/x5-frontage-market-harborough-station Keywords: Frontage Market Harborough station LNWR Midland Railway

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