Wansford railway station

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.

Not to be confused with Wansford Road railway station.

Wansford
Station on heritage railway
The new station building at Wansford.
General information
LocationWansford, Cambridgeshire
England
Coordinates52.568325°N 0.389540°W / 52.568325; -0.389540
Grid referenceTL092979
Platforms2
History
Original companyNorthampton and Peterborough Railway
Pre-groupingLondon and North Western Railway
Post-groupingLondon, Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
1845opened
1 July 1957closed for passengers
13 July 1964closed for freight
1977reopened
Nene Valley Railway
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
Great Northern to Stamford
Old Great North Road
 Wansford
Wansford Tunnel (616 yards)
 Yarwell Junction
Northampton and Peterborough Railway
London & North Western to Rugby

Wansford station and the line immediately either side of it, including the level crossing and the river bridge appeared several times in the James Bond film Octopussy.

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]

Signal Box at Wansford Station with level crossing in foreground

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.

Preceding station Heritage Railways  Heritage railways Following station
Yarwell Junction   Nene Valley Railway   Ferry Meadows

Summary of Services
Lines around Wansford in 1903
Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
London and North Western Railway
London and North Western Railway
Rugby to Peterborough East
Great Northern Railway
Leicester Belgrave Road to Peterborough North
TerminusGreat Northern Railway
Wansford branch

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]

References
  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. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfZjr_hUGLk at 3m:30s, retrieved 21 November 2010

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