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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Longstanton viewed from the B1050 Wllingham Road on 7th May 1979. An RCTS special stands at the platform.
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Longstanton viewed from the B1050 Wllingham Road on 7th May 1979. An RCTS special stands at the platform.

Longstanton67579

  • Long Stanton signal box and gates on 27th October 1973. The gates were operated by a wheel in the box.
  • Longstanton viewed from the brake van of a Fen Drayton bound sand train. 24th June 1975.
  • Long Stanton. Crossing Keepers hut.
  • A Railway Correspondence and Travel society special arrives at Longstanton on 7th May 1979 with Inspector Alec Stanley with the hat, to the right.
  • Longstanton viewed from the B1050 Wllingham Road on 7th May 1979. An RCTS special stands at the platform.
  • 37026 heads a rake of empty sand wagons over the crossing gates at Long Stanton on 24th April 1978.
  • Long Stanton trackplan. Courtesy of Richard Pike.<br /> Longstanton had an Up goods loop with a capacity of 95 standard wagons and a Down goods loop with a capacity of 100 standard wagons. The box had 48 levers.
  • Class 37 D6723 passes Windmill Bridge with the last up parcels to use this route, 4th March 1967. Photo with kind permission of Stewart Ingram.
  • The three arch Windmill Bridge (No:-2260) between Longstanton and Swavesey which carried the road from Over to Longstanton, locally known as Gravel Bridge Road. The bridge was demolished on 9th January 2008 during work for the guided busway and replaced by a featureless concrete structure. Picture dated 12th April 1980
  • 37097 passes under Windmill Bridge with a Railway Development Society special on 12th April 1980.
  • 37075 approaches Windmill Bridge between Swavesey and Longstanton with a Saturday afternoon sand working from Fen Drayton. 9th December 1978
  • Driver, Bill Duncan, poses for the shot as 37078 makes an unscheduled stop at Windmill Bridge (No:-2260) between Swavesey and Long Stanton so that the guard can buy some flour at nearby Over Windmill. I was lucky enough to get a cab ride that day and climbed down to get the photo. Thanks to all three of the train crew for an excellent early morning out and back in time for breakfast. Image dated:- 24th June 1975. Note the up line at this time was out of use and single line working in force.
  • With Long Stanton station in the distance 37026 passes under Windmill Bridge with a sand working from Fen Drayton. 24th April 1978.
  • The destruction of Windmill Bridge. 9th January 2008. Source Guided Busway Update. Cambridgeshire County Council.
  • Swavesey to St Ives 1
  • Swavesey to St Ives 2
  • The platform is crowded at Swavesey with the arrival of the first Railway Development Society Special to Cambridge. The first passenger train to arrive here in nearly nine years. No trace of the station remains today. 31st March 1979.
  • Swavesey on 31st March 1979 with the visit of the Railway Development Society special.
  • April 1979.
  • Swavesey on 4th March 1967, the last day of through services to March. Note fluorescent lamps and crossing keepers hut. Photo with kind permission of Stewart Ingram.
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