4. GE mainline & home-18.08.81

THE ARCHIVE FILES > Archive-1981 > 16. East of England tour-14-18.08.81 > 4. GE mainline & home-18.08.81

The final day of our Eastern Counties summer trip found Graham and I surveying the line between King’s Lyn and Cambridge but avoiding the Ely area as that was visited the previous day. After doing some signal boxes southwest of Cambridge we headed for home via, as my notes state, via Hitchin, Luton, Oxford and Swindon arriving back at 21.45. I did not know it at the time, but this would be my final ‘big’ summer trip with Graham as we both moved in slightly different directions.

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Images 1-22 of 22 displayed.

King's Lynn Junction signal box (GE, c.1880)
King’s Lynn Junction signal box was once a busy place to work controlling a complex network of lines as well as the level crossing with Tennyson Road where the line ran into the station, the busy yard and shed. In quieter times with just the Derham line open as far as Middleton Towers (freight only) and fewer trains operating on the lines south to Cambridge the Great Eastern box dating from c.1880 is seen complete with its wooden nameboard. The unusually robust brick footbridge can just be seen that gave pedestrians a chance to cross the line when the gates were shut on the busy level crossing. This footbridge was removed when the electrification wires were installed with the box still extant at the time of writing in 2023.
Keywords: King's Lynn Junction signal box GE Great Eastern railway

Harbour Junction (King's Lynn) signal box (GE, c.1880)
King’s Lynn Harbour Junction signal box was a charming little Great Eastern structure dating from c.1880. It was built just south of King’s Lynn where the two branches to South Lynn and the harbour diverged from the mainline south of the town. In this view the relatively new A47 King’s Lyn southern bypass bridge somewhat dwarfs the box that itself, after being reduced to a ground frame was closed 10.02.85. Looking at an Ordnance Survey map of the area today reveals the routes of the two branches and there is a very informative article about the area by Roger Farnworth, see….https://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/09/16/kings-lynn-harbour-branch/
Keywords: Harbour Junction King's Lynn signal box GE Great Eastern Railway

Magdalen Road signal box (GC, 1927)
Magdalen Road signal box looks very neat and tidy and as if it has recently had a coat of paint. Eagle-eyed readers will also recognise that this is a Great Central box that is way off GCR territory deep into GE/LNER land. It was moved here by the LNER (the parent company of the GC after grouping took place) in 1927. Another curiosity is its name, it is located adjacent to Magdalen station which takes its name from the village, Wiggenhall St. Mary Magdalen over a mile to the west. The station and the box are actually in the village of Watlington so why the box and station took the name of the more distant village is a railway mystery! However, matters were addressed somewhat in 1975 when BR reopened the station (following closure just seven years earlier in 1968) at Watlington. My notebook from the day of this visit states ‘LNER blue enamel on the entrance gate to the signal box’ but I suspect that this was a BR (E) variant.
Keywords: Magdalen Road signal box GCR Great Central Railway 1927

Enamel, Magdelen station
In my contemporary notebook from 1981, I wrote that at Magdalen there was an 'LNER blue enamel on the entrance gate to the signal box.' Looking at the sign now it appears to be of BR (Eastern) heritage rather than LNER but its existence is still of interest. Notice that when the gate was painted the sign was not removed with rather crude over painting around the edges; perhaps the flat head screws were too rusted up or was it just laziness on behalf of the operative?
Keywords: Enamel Magdelen station

Stow signal box (GE, c.1881)
Wearing its shortened name of Stow the correct and full name of this Great Eastern c.1881 box should be Stow Bardolph located between Magdalen Road and Downham Market. The box was a crossing box on a very quiet road to the village of Stow Bridge. It closed in 1992 when the crossing was automated. Notice the unequal size of the roof with the front pitch having a deep overhang whilst the rear one does not; I wonder what the reason for this design was.
Keywords: Stow signal box GE Gret Eastern Railway

Frontage, Downham Market station
Back in 1981 I waxed lyrical in my notebook about Downham Market station building quoting from G. Biddle’s book Victorian Stations. He said of the station ‘who’s plain ogee gables and lozenge-latticed windows betokened a delightfully cosy simplicity entirely fitting in North Norfolk’. Built in 1847 by the Lyn and Ely Railway it is constructed out of carrstone with pale brick dressings but I did note that the replacement white painted corrugated iron roof was not really in keeping! Thankfully, the roof has been returned to its original condition with the stone tiled roof now much more in keeping permitting the station to retain a Grade II listing by English Heritage. I am not sure that the tatty and rust-stained 1964 ‘B’ registered Vauxhall Victor HB parked in front of the station will still be on the road!
Keywords: Frontage Downham Market station

Downham Market signal box (GE, 1881)
Downham Market’s signal box still stands and, at the time of writing in 2023, is still in use as a crossing box and virtually identical today as per this 1981 photograph. It’s a Great Eastern Type 2 box dating from 1881 that stands at the southern end of the down-platform ramp with passengers using a flat crossing to join and leave the platform but today this arrangement has been revised with the exit and entry behind the box. As the box is now listed its future is secure in one form or another when closure eventually comes. The large building that dominates the background is Heygates 1851 built and once steam-powered flour mill. Today, the scene is the same barring a new office building constructed where the Heygates lorry is parked up to the right.
Keywords: Downham Market signal box GE Great Eastern Railway

Withdrawal of Service notice, Downham Market station
A closure notice posted inside Downham Market station regarding the impending closure of the former GN&GE/Joint line from March to Spalding that we surveyed over the previous two days. The same closure notice also lists the Lincoln Avoiding line from Greetwell West Junction to Pyewipe a line that Graham and I visited last year, see…. https://www.ontheupfast.com/p/21936chg/C377646004/x4-essendine-to-lincoln-20-08-80. Notice on this closure notice that the line was due to shut on 15.05.82 some three months previous to this photograph being taken. However, in red a sticker added to the notice reveals that ‘an objection’ had been received thus delaying the inevitable with the final train running on 29.11.82. Hindsight is a fine thing but with the changes and increase in freight traffic the Joint Line would be a valuable asset today and there is continual talk of its reopening even if on a slightly different route in places due to the trackbed being built on.
Keywords: Withdrawal of Service notice Downham Market station

Denver Junction signal box (GE, date not known)
DenverJunction signal box rarely saw use in its later years spending most of its time switched out being located only a couple of miles south of Downham Market. It stood at the point where the branch to Stoke Ferry branched east from the King's Lyn line. It was manned when rail access was required as far as the sugar beet loading depot at Abbey that itself was rail-connected to the Wissington beet factory via a light railway that was once part of a much wider network. With the transportation of sugar beet being transferred to road in 1982 Denver Junction was no longer required so it was closed. It was a Great Eastern box with an unknown date of construction unless anybody can advise me.
Keywords: Denver Junction signal box Great eastern

West River signal box (GE, date not known)
West River signal box was located just south of Ely on the Cambridge route. ISeen in its twilight years of operation, it was located at the eastern end of the small village of Little Thetford. It controlled access to a dead-end minor road that ended on the banks of the Ouse that flowed just beyond the wheat field in the background. The box is a standard Great Eastern design but I can find no date of construction unless anybody can advise me. Notice the blanket attached above the door and I cannot work out what item is seen hanging by a strap to the bottom of the steps.
Keywords: West River signal box Great eastern railway

Class 101 DMU, 13.36 Peterborough-Cambridge, West River
A smart-looking Class 101 speeds across the flatlands south of Ely with the 13.36 Peterborough to Cambridge service. Often referred to as ‘The Ship of the Fens’, one of the finest medieval wonders of the world in the form of Ely Cathedral is seen on the skyline locating this image to a dead-end road crossing known as West River near the village of Little Thetford. The home signal that the train has just passed is controlled by the Great Eastern signal box on the opposite side of the line to me over my right shoulder. Apologies for the blurring of the train caused by me not selecting a fast enough shutter speed on my Pentax ME Super which could go up to 1:2000/sec. that was pretty good for a consumer SLR from the early 1980s!
Keywords: Class 101 DMU 13.36 Peterborough-Cambridge West River First generation DMU

Waterbeach signal box (GE, 1882)
The fortunes of Waterbeach station have gone through many changes over the years. Today it is a relatively busy commuter station just over sixty miles from London with passenger numbers on the ascendancy after the COVID dip. The platforms are now extended and staggered being either side of the level crossing as well as the route now being electrified. This means that in the 1981 view of the former signal box the up platform is now located to the left beyond the level crossing. The 1882-built Great Eastern Type 2 looks a little tatty which is not surprising really as it was set to close just four years after this photograph was taken. Notice the six bells on the gable end above the door that would have created quite a crescendo when the gates were to be closed. The saga of Waterbeach station is not yet over as there are now controversial plans to relocate it further north in response to plans to develop a New Town of between eight and nine thousand homes on the former Waterbeach Barracks.
Keywords: Waterbeach signal box GE Great Eastern Railway

Chesterton Junction signal box (LNER, 1931)
Chesterton signal box was once located in almost open countryside to the north of Cambridge adjacent to the tranquil River Cam. The 1931 LNER box is seen here taken from the level crossing that it controlled via a large wheel. It was located at the point where the St. Ives branch diverged westwards from the Ely/King’s Lyn mainline. Most of the trackbed of the St. Ives branch is now part of the infamous guided busway that opened in 2011. The box closed in November 1985 when the route between here and Ely came under the control of the Cambridge PSB. Today, the location is highly urbanised being part of north Cambridge with the city’s new Science Park (North) station being located a short distance north (over my right shoulder) from here; a very different scene than when the box first opened!
Keywords: Chesterton Junction signal box LNER London and North Eastern Railway

31218, down Presflo freight, Chesterton Junction
Technically not a very good quality photograph in tricky lighting sees 31218 passing Chesterton Junction just north of Cambridge. The Class 31 is leading a down train of Presflo wagons. I do not know where they may have been heading but there were flows of dried hydrate of alumina from Burtisland to Welwyn Garden City as well as sodium tripolyphosphate from Albright and Wilson at Corkickle to Procter & Gamble at West Thurrock both of which could well have passed this way, local advice appreciated! The train is passing the 1931 LNER box that was to close three years after this photograph was taken with the locomotive succumbing in 1988.
Keywords: 31218 down Presflo freight Chesterton Junction

Cambridge Coldham Lane Junction signal box (LNER, 1896)
The impressive and substantial LNER Cambridge Coldham Lane Junction signal box dating from 1896 is seen to the north of Cambridge station and the associated sidings. As can be seen, it was extended when a new one-hundred-and-one lever frame was installed in 1959. The box still wears its large relief wooden nameboard (on this, the northern end of the box at least). Notice the huge mound of coal at the bottom of steps no doubt to service the needs of the signalmen over the coming months. The box was to close less than a year after this photograph was taken.
Keywords: Cambridge Coldham Lane Junction signal box LNER London and North Eastern Railway

Class 114 DMU & class 37s, stabled, Cambridge North signal box (LNER, 1926)
Taken from Cambridge's Mill Road bridge the stabling point is seen along with Cambridge North signal box. In the background, a number of Class 37s are seen that were used extensively on East Anglian services including trains between here and Liverpool Street. The first generation Class 114 DMU stabled displays two liveries indicating that the leading car is unrefurbished with the trailing car having been treated. Cambridge North box is an LNER structure dating from 1926 that was to close two years after this photograph was taken on 16.10.82 with the opening of Cambridge PSB. Notice the extensive timber yard behind the box and sidings, it is still trading today now being Cambridge's branch of Travis Perkins.
Keywords: Class 114 DMU class 37s Cambridge North signal box LNER London and North Eastern Railway

37028, 14.05 London Liverpool Street-Cambridge (2L85) ECS, Cambridge North
Having just arrived with the 2L85 14.05 from Liverpool Street 37028 eases the empty coaching stock out of Cambridge station to go off to the carriage sidings for servicing. Notice the huge and extensive new complex of sidings to the left that are not yet in use indicated by the red flags draped across the tracks. Their installation was part of the modernisation of the Cambridge area that included resignalling thus sealing the fate of Cambridge North box seen to the right. Ultimately, in 1988, the electrification of the area was completed changing this scene, taken from Mill Road bridge, substantially. The split box Class 37 led a varied life including being one of a number sent to France for work with Fertis ending its life at EMR in Kingsbury in the winter of 2008.
Keywords: 37028 14.05 Liverpool Street-Cambridge 2L85 ECS Cambridge North

Frontage, Cambridge station
I am sure that when Cambridge station opened in 1845 its long classical façade and porte-cochère (crudely infilled during the 20th century as seen here) it seemed a large and substantial building. Today it is very similar to this 1981 view apart from the removal of the slats to be replaced by glazing but the building is now dwarfed by the huge developments around it. Designed by Sancton Wood and Francis Thompson the station is now Grade II listed. Notice the bikes, including a Raleigh Chopper leaning against the front of the station, being holiday time I suspect that they did not belong to students. Also, spot the 1973 Peterborough registered brown Audi 80 at the front of the station that was last on the road in early 1989. Of note are the coats of arms that adorn the frontage located between the arches. Carved and painted in relief twenty-nine were installed when the station was built. They are the coats of arms of various local noteworthy people, the colleges and one of the City of Cambridge itself.
Keywords: Frontage Cambridge station

Cambridge South signal box (LNER, 1925)
Cambridge South signal box was located on the platform end of the station so was easy to photograph as seen here. It is an LNER box dating from 1925 that has had its locking room windows bricked up probably as a wartime blast protection measure. The box controlled an odd mix of mechanical signals and colour lights using electronic control rather than the more conventional levers. The box was to close on 16.10.82 with control moving to the newly built PSB with electrification arriving six years later. Notice the rail worker taking some sort of break on the box steps, today he would be head to foot in hi-viz and a white helmet back then, just an orange tabard sufficed!
Keywords: Cambridge South signal box LNER London and North Eastern Railway

Shepreth Branch Junction signal box (GER, 1893)
A classic Great Eastern Railway Type 7 box at Shepreth Junction was a superb original condition structure when photographed here in 1981. It still retains its old Eastern Region green and cream colour scheme, something it did right up until its closure in February 1983. The box was fitted with a twenty-lever McKenzie & Holland frame and controlled the junction where the Great Eastern route to King's Cross via Royston and Baldock diverged from the Liverpool Street route via Bishop's Stortford. Notice the rather austere personal needs addition to the left of the box and the large building between the two that is the world-famous Papworth and Addenbrooke's Hospital complex.
Keywords: Shepreth Branch Junction GER Great eastern Railway

Foxton signal box (GN, 1883)
At the time of writing in 2023, Foxton 'signal' box is still open and looks very similar and indeed, much smarter to this 1981 view apart from the usual 'upgrades' in the form of new windows, steps and the removal of the external gallery this probably when the line was electrified. Of particular note is the ornate bargeboarding and tall finials both features of many a Great Northern box. From February 1983 the box was downgraded to a crossing box, a situation that remains the same today.
Keywords: Foxton signal box GN Great Northern

Shepreth signal box (GN, 1878)
Another classic Great Northern box this time dating from 1878 at Shepreth. The photograph is taken from the down platform end of the station. Notice that the box is set back giving the signalman a better view of both the up and down lines that were sharply curving through the station at this point. The box was to close in February 1983 with control of this route passing to Cambridge's new PSB. Also notice the signalman in the box topless and appearing to be shaving between trains! I also love the super toilet block perched on the veranda reminding me somewhat of Grandpa's (played by Lionel Jeffries) hut that was carried away by the airship in the 1968 film Chity Chity Bang Bang!
Keywords: Shepreth signal box GN Great Northern

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