2. 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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Somersham Station in April 1973. This was a junction station for the line to Ramsey East. In the background is the abandoned junction signal box. In 1982 the station buildings were dismantled and rebuilt at the Fawley Hill Railway at Henley on Thames.
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Somersham Station in April 1973. This was a junction station for the line to Ramsey East. In the background is the abandoned junction signal box. In 1982 the station buildings were dismantled and rebuilt at the Fawley Hill Railway at Henley on Thames.

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  • Needingworth Junction c1960 showing the signal box which had a sixteen lever Saxby and Farmer frame. Opened in 1878, closed 10th June 1965. The line to Ely went off to the right. In the distance on the GN and GE Joint line to March can be seen the three arched bridge carrying Bluntisham Heath Road over the line.
  • Needingworth Junction in May 1973. The line ahead was the main GN and GE joint line to Somersham and March. The line to the right went to Ely via Sutton. The signal box was to the left. The only remaining feature from the previous photo is the plate layers hut.
  • Site of Needingworth Junction on 17th August 2008. Nature has nearly completely taken over. Photo with kind permission of Steve Parker.
  • Extract from the train register at Needingworth Junction signal box. June 30th 1956. The box closed on 10th June 1965. Photo John Saxton.
  • Blink Bridge over Loundes Drove, North of St Ives. 13th August 2008. Photo with kind permission of Steve Parker.
  • March (31B) based Class K3, No 61948 crossing Blink Bridge. Photographer unknown
  • Blink Bridge over Loundes Drove North of St Ives. Looking South. 13th August 2008. Photo with kind permission of Steve Parker
  • This attractive three arch bridge was located between St Ives and Somersham and carried the road from Bluntisham to Wood Hurst known as Bluntisham Heath Road. The bridge still exists, but is buried underneath tons of landfill. Only part of the top parapet remains. Photo dated 4th March 1967. With kind permission of Stewart Ingram.
  • The three arch Bluntisham Heath Road bridge between St Ives and Somersham viewed from inside the cutting in September 1972. In three years time the process of land fill would begin here and soon the bridge would disappear from sight.
  • Bluntisham Heath Road Bridge on a rainy 18th August 2011. It is hard to imagine that a railway ever went under here. The cutting has been infilled and levelled with landfill and only part of the parapet of the bridge remains. The view is looking towards Wood Hurst. The existence of the bridge remains in the name of Bridge Farm Shop in the background. Land fill work here commenced on 30th June 1975 and was completed on 29th April 1994.
  • St Ives to Somersham 2
  • A two car Derby lightweight dmu set E79025/E79614 leave Somersham on a March to Cambridge working on the last day of operation: 4th March 1967. In the foreground are the crossing gates and underbridge (No 2301) for Chatteris Road and in the background Colne Road crossing. View looking south from the station footbridge. Photo with kind permission of Stewart Ingram.
  • Derby lightweight dmu E79025/E79614 stands at Somersham on a March to Cambridge working on the last day of services, 4th March 1967. In 1982 The station buildings were recovered and rebuilt at the Fawley Hill Railway near Henley on Thames, <a href="http://fawleyhill.co.uk/">http://fawleyhill.co.uk/</a> Photo with kind permission of Stewart Ingram.
  • Somersham exterior view. 4th March 1967. Chatteris Road gates to the right. Photo with kind permission of Stewart Ingram.
  • Somersham Station in April 1973. This was a junction station for the line to Ramsey East. In the background is the abandoned junction signal box. In 1982 the station buildings were dismantled and rebuilt at the Fawley Hill Railway at Henley on Thames.
  • A nice shot of a class 24 (D504X) passing Somersham signal box probably on a Peterborough to Cambridge working at around the time of the line closing in March 1967. To the left is the junction signal for the line to Ramsey East. Photo taken by a local farmer. With thanks to Adrian Sutterby.
  • Somersham. Date unknown.
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