1. Railways

Cambridge-St Ives-March

This collection is dedicated to the memory of the late Steve Wilkinson of Histon who fought tirelessly in conjunction with the Railway Development Society (Rail Future) to re open the Cambridge- St Ives line.

Timeline:-
Chesterton Junction to St Ives- opened 17th August 1847.
St Ives to March South Junction- opened 1st February 1848.

The fifteen and a half mile line from St Ives to March South Junction closed on 6th March 1967 when freight traffic declined. The passenger service was also recommended for closure in the Beeching Report of 1963. Little trace of this section of the line exists today. Long sections have been converted to road and the various cuttings to landfill. Many thanks to Stewart Ingram for permission to include some of his pictures from the last day of working. The passenger service from St Ives to Cambridge closed on 5th October 1970, but fortunately the line stayed open for freight traffic to Chivers at Histon until 1983 and a long term sand contract from ARC at Fen Drayton ensured the line stayed open until May 1992. This section of the line has been totally destroyed by the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway which opened on 7th August 2011. Here are a few photos to show how it looked in it's final operational days plus a few relics. The line was once a very busy freight route to March, Whitemoor Yard and the Yorkshire coalfields with over 70 workings a day, the line being open all night.

Maps used in this gallery. Ordnance survey- 1" to a mile. Sheet 135 Cambridge and Ely (1954) and Sheet 134 Huntingdon and Peterborough (1954)

Cast Iron http://www.castiron.org.uk/

Film of the line in 1968
http://player.bfi.org.uk/film/watch-cambridge-st-ives-1968/

Cambridge- St Ives- March/ Death of a railway 1964.
http://player.bfi.org.uk/film/watch-death-of-a-railway-1964/
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Summer 1954 Timetable. A through service from Leicester to Clacton which took the route from Kettering to St Ives via Huntingdon East then on to Cambridge and then Clacton via The Stour Valley Line.
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Summer 1954 Timetable. A through service from Leicester to Clacton which took the route from Kettering to St Ives via Huntingdon East then on to Cambridge and then Clacton via The Stour Valley Line.

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  • Passenger Timetable  13th June to 11th September 1960.
  • Summer 1954 Timetable. A through service from Leicester to Clacton which took the route from Kettering to St Ives via Huntingdon East then on to Cambridge and then Clacton via The Stour Valley Line.
  • A selection of Tickets.
  • Tickets from Histon.
  • Extract from Mandatory Trains Notice,  working timetable,12th April 1980. Railway Development Society special, Fen Drayton to Liverpool Street.  Outgoing trip  hauled by 37097, return trip 31313.
  • Unfortunately now faded and barely readable, but this is the public notice of the proposal  to close the Cambridge- St Ives - March  line, October 28th 1966. Transport Minister Barbara Castle approved the closure of the St Ives to March section, but not the Cambridge to St Ives part which had a reprieve for a further three years.
  • February 1973.
  • 20th April 1973.
  • Extract from British Railways Freight Working Timetable. Nov 1959- June 1960.  This shows the distance between signal boxes and capacity of the various goods loops. Of interest is the box at Milton which controlled the sidings at the American/WD army camp, located about where the Cambridge Science Park is now. The box closed in September 1959.
  • The line had a route availability of 7 which only allowed certain classes of engines. This shows the additional engines allowed over the route with associated restrictions. ie Class K3, K5 etc.  Nov.1962.
  • Untitled photo
  • Typical Sunday excursion to Hunstanton in the late fifties/early sixties
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