On course for expansion
Nicola Fox visits the Northampton & Lamport Railway and meets a team of staff and volunteers full of enthusiasm to expand their operation, which lies on the former LNWR Northampton to Market Harborough line.
Nicola Fox visits the Northampton & Lamport Railway and meets a team of staff and volunteers full of enthusiasm to expand their operation, which lies on the former LNWR Northampton to Market Harborough line.
The Northampton & Lamport Railway (NLR) sits in beautiful countryside on the site of the former Northampton to Market Harborough line. A little off the beaten track, the railway’s current headquarters are approximately five miles north of Northampton.
Perhaps not the most imposing of facades upon arrival, the railway buildings hide behind a nearby pub and accompanying car park. The sole station of Pitsford & Brampton comprises a single platform, around which are housed a jumble of buildings – including a makeshift shed and workshop for engineering work, alongside which several temporary buildings and a former signalbox act as offices, mess rooms and passenger facilities.
At first glance the site has a rather ramshackle feel, although the smart signalbox at the heart of the station is imposing. However, this exterior belies an organisation that – after years of slow progress – is starting to move forward with a smouldering determination that is worth taking notice of.
Route origins
The Northampton to Market Harborough line was conceived to transport the large amounts of ironstone discovered in Northamptonshire in 1851. A George R Stephenson railway, it was opened by the London & North Western Railway (LNWR) in 1859 between the existing station at Market Harborough and a new station at
Northampton, enabling passenger services as well as freight.
Originally built in 1859, today’s mainline station of Northampton was the second station to be built in the town, (Northampton Bridge on the Peterborough line had the honour of being the first) and was known as Northampton Castle. At the opposite end, the line joined the existing station of Market Harborough. Built in 1850 by the LNWR to serve the Rugby to Stamford branch, the station was also shared by the Midland Railway.
The line initially had just three intermediate stations – Pitsford, Brixworth and Lamport. Three more were added, bringing the total number of stations to eight: Northampton Castle, Pitsford & Brampton, Spratton,
Brixworth, Lamport, Kelmarsh, Clipston and Market Harborough.
Following the usual pattern, closures began with the rural stations of Spratton and Pitsford & Brampton in 1947 and 1950 respectively, with the remaining passenger traffic withdrawn in 1960.
Two decades later, with complete closure scheduled for August 16, 1981, a special train was chartered by the newly formed Welland Valley Railway Revival Group. The train ran on the penultimate working day, carrying passengers from Northampton to Market Harborough and back. Crowds flocked to the old station buildings, bridges and crossings to bid the line farewell; a last hurrah to end 123 years of service. The metals were lifted in sections over the next five years until little remained but the trackbed.
Preservation
Members of the charter organising group were not prepared to say farewell to the line and sought to obtain a light railway order, with a view to one day running heritage trains, establishing the Northampton Steam Railway as a company in the process. The accompanying society moved through several names before settling on the Northampton & Lamport Railway and the two organisations now operate side by side.
Meanwhile, the line was purchased from British Rail by Northamptonshire County Council in 1987 and turned into a linear park and cycleway, called the Brampton Valley Way. The NLR had already made its home at the former goods yard at Pitsford & Brampton, and so was able to lease a short section of the line, officially reopening to the public in March 1996. Twenty-four years later, the NLR consists of 1½ miles of track and a sole, one platform station, Pitsford & Brampton, unusually located in the middle of the line. The railway is currently fundraising £50,000 to rebuild the station building.
The present
Today the railway is a cheerful place, run almost entirely by volunteers, who are all clearly passionate about the place and eager to share their stories. Although volunteer numbers are low, those that the railway has are dedicated, with many starting in their teens. Unusually for such a small organisation, there seems to be a healthy quota of young volunteers across the board. The footplate department in particular has a high proportion of young volunteers, with most in their twenties or thirties. Indeed, the chairman of the Northampton Steam Railway Ltd, Adam
Giles, is a man in his thirties. A longstanding volunteer, he has a forthright and breezy attitude, far from the stereotype that has dogged railway preservation.
The facilities at Pitsford and Brampton might be a hodgepodge of fixed and temporary buildings, but the station nonetheless has a good sized and impressively well-stocked shop, with everything from books to toys, art work and memorabilia. The Pitsford site also houses the engineering department, a newly built locomotive shed (at the time of writing just awaiting the installation of shed doors), a yard and several sidings all controlled from the aforementioned smartly turned out signalbox. Pitsford & Brampton is one of three functioning boxes on the line, with yet another being restored for future use.
For such a small line, the required number of signalboxes is a rarity (one box per half a mile) and something which sets the NLR apart from railways of a similar size.
“We are very proud of it – our S&T (signal & telecommunications) team put an awful lot of hard work into it,” enthused Adam Giles. “Considering we started with absolutely nothing, to have re-created a full signalling system is quite something.”
The engineering department
The NLR website boasts a full roster of locomotives, listing 14 engines and one steam powered crane. Sadly, few of these are operational but many of them have chosen to make the NLR their home to benefit from the society’s busy engineering department.
Mick Hooper is the railway’s chief mechanical engineer and the only the paid member of staff. Mick works full-time, generating income through restoration contracts and engineering parts for other railways. When shown around his (albeit rather cluttered) domain, Mick proudly points to the new vertical boring mill and lathe that the society has just purchased, machinery that will help to tackle even bigger jobs.
Currently on Mick’s ‘to do’ list is a ground up restoration of Andrew Barclay 0-4-0ST Firefly and the complete restoration of badly deteriorated BR Mk.1 carriage, which Mick describes as “in worst case scenario condition.” The team have their work cut out as Mick Cooper’s restoration brief is to return it to service in as original condition as possible.
The extension
The current southerly limit for passenger trains is Pitsford Sidings – the location of the second signalbox. The line curves invitingly away around the corner, though passenger trains may not continue in that direction – yet!
For the past seven years, the NLR has been working on a half-mile extension from Pitsford Sidings to Broughton Crossing. Roughly halfway been the historic stations of Pitsford & Brampton and Northampton, this new station will finally provide a destination for the line and has the added advantage of being within walking distance of a very pleasant pub! With another hostelry already next door to Pitsford station, could future rail ale events be in the offing?
Progress
The track has already been laid, with the accompanying signalling finished and test trains have been down the extension, including freight trains during the February winter gala.
Some work remains, including the refurbishment of the 140-year-old Bridge 11; a seven-arch low brick viaduct which has been the victim of water ingress, and the completion of the station platform. Already partially-built, the platform will be completed as soon as volunteer numbers permit, according to Adam.
To increase the number of hands on deck, the railway is working with the local college, in a community partnership. “We’ve got Northampton College involved, with some people doing their bricklaying course. On the Saturday of our winter gala, we had six bricklayers down from the college,” explained Adam.
“However, still, more willing hands are needed to complete construction. The materials are all there, it’s all down to volunteers now; our biggest problem is the shortage of people.”
Volunteer numbers
A small organisation with limited people power, Adam freely admits that the project has not been without its challenges. “There’s so few of us,” he said, referencing not just the extension but the increased volunteer requirement to run the beefed up timetable the extension will make possible.
“We’ve got some volunteer drives going, but it’s scary how much of a recruitment push we need.”
The railway is currently using targeted appeals, which Adam hopes will bring more volunteers on board, particularly in the under populated permanent way department. Time is a factor here, as the extension is being financed by grant money from Daventry Council, The Leader programme and a European Development Grant, with a deadline for completion by May this year. When asked if these volunteer shortages pose any risk that the extension won’t be completed, Adam is cheerfully, if not slightly fatalistically upbeat: “It’s got to be done. We can’t afford not to.”
Why stop there?
In addition to this southern extension, the railway also has a Light Railway Order to allow it to extend initially 250 yards north to Merry Tom Crossing, which would enable it to put a run round loop and halt in. Plans are also afoot to re-create Pitsford & Brampton’s station building. Money is currently being
raised through an appeal and the new building is expected to be in the LNWR style, but to cater to modern passenger needs and requirements. The intention is to complete this before embarking upon any further significant extensions.
According to Adam, the railway is clear on its priorities: “You can have a 10-mile long railway, but if your facilities aren’t good, you won’t get the visitors.”
Once the station building is complete, the railway has no intention of resting on its laurels and hopes to press onwards a further 1.7 miles to Spratton. Unsurprisingly, this will provide a home for the signalbox currently being restored. The ultimate goal is to continue through Brixworth to Lamport, creating a line of over six miles in length.
With the support of its local authority and no major developments on its proposed route, the future for the NLR seems full of possibility. However, the recent conversation around the viability of reinstating many of the lines cut by Beeching may throw a spanner in the works.
A cloud on the horizon
In autumn last year, the West Northamptonshire Strategic Plan mooted the possibility of reinstating a main line service between Market Harborough and Northampton, to link the Midland Main Line with the West Coast Main Line. Steve Jones, chairman of the Harborough Rail Users Group, welcomed the idea, saying “it would plug a major gap in the rail network if it went ahead.”
This notion was given further credibility after the Government confirmed on January 20 that it was setting aside £500 million ‘aimed at kick-starting reversal of the Beeching cuts.’
£500 million will not buy you a lot of railway line – indeed more than half of this budget alone would be needed to reopen the stretch in question – and none of the money in question has been allocated to pursuing this proposal, so the threat to the NLR is not immediate. However, local press has been quick to pounce on the issue and Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has stated his support for the idea, so the NLR has rightly followed the consultation on this project with great interest and a certain level of nerves.
The timing of this proposal is particularly frustrating, as after a slow beginning, the NLR is finally finding its feet and beginning to expand. Given the recent growth, to cut the railway down now would be especially cruel, jeopardising so much that volunteers have worked for.
At present however, the scheme is by no means guaranteed. According to a statement made at the end of last year by Chris Heatonharris, MP for Daventry, there are “no concrete proposals” – and the housing and retail development in Market Harborough “may well be a barrier to any reopening of the line in terms of connection to the Midland Main Line at Market Harborough.”
Returning the north-south corridor would require new construction circling the outskirts of the town, joining the Midland Main Line outside of Market Harborough, rather than straight into the station. Other impediments include crossing the main roads and the impact on the cycleway. Add to that, the loss of a tourist attraction and the prohibitive costs involved in compensating the NLR, should its eviction be necessary, the idea of reinstating this line – whilst possible – begins to look less likely.
Despite this, the NLR is taking no chances with its future and has submitted a detailed consultation response. Contrary to what might be expected, Adam is not wholly against the idea, proposing a Swanage-style community railway scheme as “a better all-round option.” In this scenario, the NLR would share the trackbed with the national network as part of a Community Rail Partnership, allowing it to serve smaller stations that may otherwise go without.
Adam said: “We would love to be able to deliver a community rail solution, to enable us to benefit more of the local area, as the current proposal includes no stations for places such as Chapel Brampton, Brixworth etc. We could serve the local area and potentially reduce congestion on the roads, having a park and ride scheme.”
As these proposals are so fresh, we cannot expect answers any time soon, and the consultation process will be ongoing, likely taking many years before the area can expect to see the realisation of any of these plans. During this time the NLR plans to keep pushing forward, refusing to allow stagnation to set in through uncertainty. After such a long period of stillness, the railway seems to be fired by renewed purpose and with the dynamism of youth at the helm, hopefully its days of stillness are behind it.
With so many irons in the fire, the railway is certain to need more volunteers to achieve its goals, so if you would like to get involved, please visit the NLR website: www.nlr.org.uk or email commercial@nlr.og.uk