First railways; and the rise of George Hudson

The beginnings of the Syston to Peterborough line in 1846

On 10 May 1844, the Midland Railway Act was passed, creating a new company by the amalgamation of three smaller concerns. From the outset, its Chairman was George Hudson, the so-called 'Railway King'. Hudson was a skilful manipulator, and his methods were often dubious. He dominated several railway companies, and his ambition was to get them working together to form a near-monopoly, at a time when control of a large district of the country by a railway concern was feasible. His lines formed a through route from York to Rugby, where it joined the London and Birmingham Railway (later the London and North Western Railway—LNWR), giving access to London. Although long-distance passenger business was important, the transport of coal from colliery districts to industrial areas was dominant; and transport of manufactured goods to areas of consumption was also key.^[1][2][3][4]

Great Northern Railway proposed, and opposed by Hudson

In 1844 promoters put together a scheme to link London and York; it became considerably modified and was later called the Great Northern Railway (GNR), to connect London and Doncaster. Hudson saw this as a competitive threat to his lines: as well as providing a more direct route between London and York than his own affiliated companies, the GNR would block the route by which Hudson's lines might connect to East Anglia. Hudson also controlled the Eastern Counties Railway, and the area it served was a large consumer of coal and agricultural supplies, hitherto not well connected to the railway network north of London. Hudson’s plan was that his Midland Railway and his Eastern Counties Railway would link and monopolise that traffic.

Accordingly Hudson went to great lengths in an attempt to frustrate the Great Northern Railway's authorisation in Parliament, but ultimately he failed and the Great Northern Railway Act was passed, on 26 June 1846. The GNR promoters had spent £590,355 on Parliamentary expenses.^{[note 1][5]}

Authorisation

Rearsby station

Having failed to kill off the Great Northern Railway promoters' scheme, Hudson now took steps to enhance his access to East Anglia. The Eastern Counties Railway was established there and was planned to reach Peterborough. Hudson now proposed a new railway from the Midland Railway main line at Syston, north of Leicester, to Peterborough, where it could link with the Eastern Counties Railway.^[6] The new line was expected to cost £700,000.^[7]

The Syston and Peterborough line was authorised by Parliament on 30 June 1845.^[8][6]

The Act authorised construction of a branch line to Peterborough from a triangular junction at Syston; the line would run through Melton Mowbray, Oakham, Luffenham and Stamford, forming a junction at Peterborough, not with the north-south Great Northern Railway, but the intended west to east Eastern Counties Railway. The Midland trains were to have running powers into the ECR's passenger station and goods yard there.^[8][9]

The Battle of Saxby

Frisby signal box and station site

Lord Harborough had his estate at Stapleford Park, near Saxby. The Midland Railway’s intention was to make the line of railway pass the margin of his estate, but Lord Harborough was exceptionally hostile to the railway’s incursion. As well as his personal aversion to it, he was a major shareholder in the Oakham Canal;^[10] this had opened in 1802, bringing coal to Oakham and taking agricultural produce away; the canal was threatened commercially by the railway.

In an encounter that marked the first phase of what came to be called the Battle of Saxby, seven of Hudson's surveyors arrived in the Stapleford area in November 1844 to survey the route of the line. Lord Harborough had fixed notices at the boundaries of his lands, notices prohibiting entry to his park for surveying purposes, and he had stationed estate workers at strategic points along his boundaries. As they approached the Park, the Midland surveyors were confronted by several of Lord Harborough's men, armed with pitchforks and sticks, and ordered away, even though they were still on public land. When they refused to turn back, they were "arrested", and taken by cart to the local magistrate. Since the Midland men had committed no crime, there was no legal action that could be taken against them; a policeman pointed this out to Harborough's man, and he had to be content with tipping them out of the cart into the road.

The following day the surveyors returned, supported by a large group of navvies, as well as some prize-fighters from Nottingham. Lord Harborough's men had also reinforced their numbers, and a general fight followed. The Midland surveyors were eventually put to flight. Violence escalated again a couple of days later in another battle, during which surveying equipment was badly damaged. Several prison sentences and fines were awarded to the fighting men on both sides, and surveying activities were suspended for the time being.^[11]

Further obstruction from Lord Harborough

Melton Mowbray station up platform

Even after the MR had gained Parliamentary approval for its route in June 1845, Lord Harborough stubbornly refused to allow any construction work to be started anywhere near his estate. Faced with this unreasonable opposition, the Midland Railway decided to re-route the line a little further away from Stapleford Park, but when the surveyors arrived, with a bodyguard, to take new measurements and levels they were once again confronted by a group of Lord Harborough's men, and the second Battle of Saxby was soon in full swing.^{[note 2]} This time Lord Harborough himself participated by driving his carriage into the ranks of the surveyors. The surveying did eventually get done, and the deviation was authorised by Act of 16 June 1846, with the provision for a tunnel to be driven underneath a spinney of fine trees known as Cuckoo Plantation, on Lord Harborough's estate so that the offending trains would be hidden from his Lordship’s view. Unfortunately during construction the tunnel collapsed, causing subsidence to the trees and increased hostility from Harborough.^[11][12]

A legal battle followed, and yet another deviation was authorised on 22 July 1847. By this time, the two sections of line on either side of the Saxby area had already been built and were in operation, that from Syston to Melton from 1 September 1846, and from Peterborough to Stamford from 2 October 1846. Because of Lord Harborough's intransigence, it was not until 1 May 1848 that these two sections were linked, and the whole through route in operation.

The Midland Railway had agreed to purchase the Oakham Canal in April 1845, for the sum of £26,000 and 200 new Midland £40 shares. Traffic on the canal was clearly declining, and in the very dry summer of 1844 the waterway had been unnavigable for five months and goods had to be transported by road.^[11]

Opening

Stamford railway station

Notwithstanding Lord Harborough's obstructive tactics, the Midland Railway had got the authorising Act for its line, and at length was able to construct the line, if not to its preferred alignment near Saxby.

The line opened in stages: from Syston South Junction (as it became) to Melton Mowbray on 1 September 1846; and from a temporary station at Stamford to the ECR station at Peterborough on 2 October 1846. There was to be a tunnel at Stamford, its construction accounting for the delay.^[13]

At first the only station at Peterborough was the Eastern Counties Railway station, on a west to east alignment (much later known as Peterborough East). In fact the ECR itself did not reach there (from Ely and March) until 1847, so that for a time from 2 June 1845, it was only served by London and Birmingham Railway trains from Northampton.^[14]

The London and Birmingham Railway had suggested to the Eastern Counties Railway that a joint station would be mutually beneficial, but this was opposed by the ECR. The ECR's Ely line was not opened for goods traffic until 10 December 1846 and for passengers until 14 January 1847.

Meanwhile, traffic on the L&BR branch had so expanded that the track into Peterborough was doubled in September 1846. On 2 October 1846 of that year, still in advance of the ECR, the Midland Railway line from Stamford was opened, crossing the River Nene by a timber bridge, and using the ECR station and goods facilities. In 1923 this station was renamed Peterborough East, but for the time being it was the only Peterborough station, owned by the ECR and only used by two guest railways, the L&BR and the Midland Railway.^[15]

The Stamford to Peterborough line of the Midland Railway was of course cut off from the rest of the Company’s network, and the MR arranged for it to be worked at first by the London and North Western Railway, of which the London and Birmingham Railway had become a part, and then, with a Stamford-Ely service, by the Eastern Counties Railway.^[15][16] The Midland line was single track at first but soon converted to double track.^[17]

The Syston to Peterborough line in 1848

The central section of the line opened on 20 March 1848 to goods trains, and fully on 1 May 1848.^[13]

The authorisation for the line had included an east-to-north curve at Syston. This was opened in early 1854.^[13]

Manton – Melton – Nottingham

The Syston to Peterbrough in 1879

As traffic developed, the Midland Railway found that the Leicester are became congested, and that a heavy and slow coal traffic and a frequent express passenger service were difficult to manage. The company decided on a new railway from Nottingham to Rushton, near Kettering, which was more direct. The new route joined the Syston line at Melton Mowbray, and it diverged again at Manton. The line opened to goods traffic on 1 November 1879, to local passenger trains on 2 February 1880, and to through express trains on 1 June 1880. In 1903 it was carrying over a dozen express and stopping trains each way daily.^[19]

The Midland and Great Northern Joint Line

The Eastern and Midland Railway had been formed by takeover of several smaller Companies controlling the lines between Bourne and Lynn. In 1888, in collaboration with the Midland Railway, the E&MR proposed a line westwards from Bourne crossing the GNR main line south of Little Bytham station, where there would be a connecting junction and making an end-on junction with the existing MR mineral branch line at Cottesmore. This involved a commitment from the E&MR to favour the Midland over the GNR, and when Parliamentary authorisation was sought, this favouritism caused the Bill to be rejected.

A better approach was now adopted, in which the Midland Railway and the GNR collaborated in designing an alternative scheme. The E&MR was now in deep financial trouble and had to take a back seat. The new scheme would cross the GNR main line north of Little Bytham station and as before, have a connecting spur to it. As far as this point the line would be joint; the spur to the GNR would be GNR only, and the continuing line would be exclusively Midland Railway.

Up coal train approaching Manton

The alignment at Saxby, forced on the Midland Railway by Lord Harborough, was proving a significant hindrance to express trains on the route, and the scheme included the construction of an easier alignment as part of the new junction there. Plans for the new line were submitted for the 1889 Parliamentary session. The Bill passed, being given the Royal Assent on 24 June 1889. By this time it was obvious that the E&MR's financial problems were insuperable, and in 1891 the MR and GNR made an offer to take over the E&MR route jointly, and, after some negotiation, this offer was accepted. The new line was referred to tas the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway (M&GNJR). The Committee of the M&GNJR took control on 1 July 1893. The Bourne to Saxby line had been opened to goods traffic on 4 June 1893. The dominant traffic was coal eastbound; passenger operation was delayed until 1 May 1894.^[20]

The Little Bytham Loop on to the GNR main line was not proceeded with, because the GNR considered their access to the Joint Line at Spalding sufficient, bearing in mind their other access point from Essendine.^[21]

Quadruple track

The Syston to Peterborough line in 1893

As traffic grew, congestion on the double track railway became an increasing issue. This was particularly the case after the 1880 transfer of the Nottingham express trains to the line, as the disparity in speed between an express passenger train and a slow mineral train almost always reduced line capacity considerably. The opening of the M&GN Joint Railway added to congestion. Although some widening projects were described as "quadrupling", the Midland actually installed a series on long goods loops (or in some cases passenger loops). The MR always called the end of a four track section a junction whether or not another route was joining the main line there.

As part of the work to improve the junction and alignment at Saxby in connection with the construction of the line to Bourne, a four track section was established, running from Saxby to Wymondham Junction. The work was probably completed in 1892 and may have been removed in 1961.^[22]

Manton station was provided with up platform loop lines, shown in 1885 and 1930 diagrams.^[23]

Loops were provided between Oakham and Langham Junction, from 15 March 1891.^[24]

In the first years of the twentieth century it was decided to install goods loops between Melton Mowbray and Brentingby Junction. These were commissioned on 4 December 1904. The line was straight and level at Brentingby so it was an ideal place to install water troughs, which was done on all four tracks, coming into use on 3 May 1905. The troughs on the goods lines were of limited use due to the slower speed of trains there and they were removed in 1926.^{[note 3]} On the main line the troughs remained in use until steam traction finished, and they were removed around 1966. The Brentingby Junction signal box remained open until 25 June 1978, when the loops were shortened and worked from Melton signal box.^[25]

Cottesmore iron ore

An iron ore train at Brooksby

Iron ore was found in the area crossed by the Syston and Peterbrough line when the line to Nottingham was being excavated in 1878. Holwell ironworks was established to extract the mineral, at first brought to Ashwell station by horse and cart. A branch line to Cottesmore sidings opened on 27 November 1882, running from Ashwell Junction. Within the quarry area there was a network of narrow gauge lines to the quarry faces. The branch was always for mineral traffic only. The line closed on 13 March 1972; the quarry was unable to compete with cheap imported ore. A signal box was erected at Ashwell Junction in 1919, but it was never commissioned, the points being worked from a ground frame.^[26]

ROF Queniborough

Stamford railway station in modern times

During World War II a Royal Ordnance Factory filling station, ROF No 10, was established at Queniborough. It was rail connected on the south-east side of the line about two miles from Syston. Construction started in 1940 and it was producing output in 1942; the railway connections were commissioned on 9 November 1941. Workers’ trains were run into the site, and passenger platforms were provided. It was decommissioned in 1959, and the railway facilities were removed on 8 February 1970. The area has now been developed as a domestic housing and light industrial estate, known as East Goscote.^[27][28][29]