Wansford railway station

Not to be confused with Wansford Road 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.

Wansford
Station on heritage railway
The new station building at Wansford.
General information
Location	Wansford, Cambridgeshire England
Coordinates	52.568325°N 0.389540°W / 52.568325; -0.389540
Grid reference	TL092979
Platforms	2
History
Original company	Northampton and Peterborough Railway
Pre-grouping	London and North Western Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
2 June 1845	opened
1 July 1957	closed for passengers
13 July 1964	closed for freight
1 June 1977	reopened

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 Stamford and Essendine Railway Old Great North Road Wansford Wansford Tunnel (616 yards) Yarwell Junction Northampton and Peterborough Railway GN&LNW 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.

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.

Summary of Services

Lines around Wansford in 1903

Preceding station	Heritage railways			Following station
Yarwell Junction		Nene Valley Railway		Ferry Meadows
	Historical railways
Nassington		London and North Western Railway Leicester Belgrave Rd to Peterborough		Castor
Elton		London and North Western Railway Northampton to Peterborough East		Castor
Sibson		Great Northern Railway Stamford and Essendine Railway		Terminus

Sample Train Timetable for April 1910

The table below shows the train departures from Wansford on weekdays in April 1910.

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.

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.

Present Day

In the year 1977, the station was reopened as the headquarters for the Nene Valley Railway. The original station is currently not being used, as it is in a state of needing a repair. As mentioned earlier, the station from the town of Barnwell was moved her and acts as the station today. The stations has a total of two platforms serving the trains that come in from either direction. Trains here run between the town of Yarwell to the Peterborough Nene Valley station.

External links

Media related to Wansford railway station at Wikimedia Commons