Weedon–Marton Junction line

The Weedon–Marton Junction line (also known as the Weedon–Leamington line) was a rural branch line in England that ran from the West Coast Main Line at Weedon, via Daventry to Marton Junction, where it joined the Rugby–Leamington line and thus connected to Leamington Spa.

Opening in stages between 1888 and 1895, the line was closed to passengers in 1958, and to freight in 1963, however a short section of the line at the western end from Marton Junction to Southam, remained open for freight trains serving the cement works until 1985.

Route and stations
1946 Ordnance Survey map: The route of the Rugby-Leamington and Weedon-Leamington lines can be seen

There were six stations on the line:

Trains to Leamington called at the now closed Leamington Spa (Avenue) station, and either terminated at the now closed Milverton station, or continued to Nuneaton.

Weedon, Daventry and Braunston stations were in Northamptonshire, while the remainder were in Warwickshire.

The line was single track throughout with passing loops at each of the stations except Flecknoe. Provision was made for a passing loop at Flecknoe, but it was never used.[1] The line passed under the Great Central Main Line at Wolfhampcote between Braunston and Flecknoe, but there was never any physical connection between the two lines.[2]

History

The market town of Daventry had been bypassed by the construction of the London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR) in the 1830s (now part of the West Coast Main Line) which passed to the east of the town through Weedon. Desiring a railway connection to their town, in 1861 a group of Daventry businessmen founded the Daventry Railway Company to promote the construction of a branch line to Daventry from Weedon. However the company was unable to raise sufficient funds for the scheme and it was abandoned.[1]

The scheme was revived in the 1880s by the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) the successor to the L&BR, who constructed the line in two phases. Firstly, they obtained powers in 1885 to construct a four-mile (6 km) long branch to Daventry from Weedon, this was opened on 1 March 1888. In 1890 the LNWR obtained powers to build a 14-mile (22 km) extension of the branch to reach their existing Rugby–Leamington line at Marton Junction (just south of the village of Marton). The extension was opened on 1 August 1895.[1]

The line was built with economy in mind, and contained some steep gradients of up to 1 in 80, especially near Daventry. In 1906 a railmotor was experimentally used on the line, however it proved to be underpowered. Passenger services reverted to push–pull operation with a conventional locomotive for the rest of the line's existence.[2]

Ownership of the line passed to the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) in 1923. And then British Rail in 1948.

Passenger services originally consisted of four trains each way per day, with additional services between Weedon and Daventry, however by the 1920s and 30s this had grown to eleven trains each way per day, some of which continued to either Nuneaton or Northampton (requiring reversal at Blisworth). Additional trains also ran in the mornings and afternoons between Leamington and Flecknoe (later cut back to Napton) for the benefit of schoolchildren. A short lived slip coach service from London was introduced for a while in the 1900s but was not a success. The service was cut back sharply during World War II, and the pre-war timetable was never fully reintroduced. The growth in bus and car traffic meant that the passenger numbers declined from the 1940s onwards. Flecknoe station was the most remote station on the line and closed to passengers in 1952 but remained open for freight until 1956. All passenger services on the line were withdrawn on 13 September 1958.[1][3]

The site of Marton Junction in 2009: The line to Rugby ran straight ahead, whilst the line to Weedon diverged to the right.

The main source of freight traffic on the line was the cement works near Southam, and this provided enough traffic to keep the line open for a number of years after passenger services had been withdrawn. However, the line was closed as a through route in December 1963, and the tracks between Weedon and Southam were lifted the following year. A short section was retained between Marton Junction and Southam to serve the cement works, along with a stretch of the Rugby-Leamington line from Rugby. Freight trains running to Southam had to reverse at Marton Junction. This last stretch was closed on 20 June 1985, and the tracks were lifted in 1987.[1]

See also

References
  1. Hurst, Geoffrey (1993). LNWR Branch Lines of West Leicestershire & East Warwickshire (First ed.). Milepost Publications. pp. 69–81. ISBN 0-947796-16-9.
  2. Kingscott, Geoffrey (2009). Lost Railways Of Warwickshire. Countryside Books. ISBN 978-1-84674-174-6.
  3. Warwickshire railways
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