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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  • Wimblington track plan in 1967. Courtesy of Richard Pike. The station had an Up goods loop which went behind the up platform rubbed out in this diagram. It had a capacity of 93 wagons.
  • End of the line where it joined the Ely to March line at March South Junction. Track plan of the signal box in 1967. Plan thanks to Richard Pike.
  • M and GN Society special railtour leaves the branch at March South Junction. 4th March 1967. Photo with kind permission of Stewart Ingram
  • March South Junction Signal Box. December 2008. Photo with kind permission of Peter Heath
  • March South Junction in the nineteen eighties. The fifty one lever frame. Image thanks to Mark Brammer.
  • Wimblington to March South Junction.<br /> 1:- Manea Road Crossing<br /> 2:- King Street Crossing<br /> 2:- Eastwood End Crossing<br /> 3:- Upwell Road crossing
  • The Cambridge- St Ives-March timetable from the summer of 1954. Of interest is the column marked HN on the weekdays section which was a through train from Clacton to Leicester running summer Saturdays only. It took the Stour Valley line at Marks Tey via Haverhill then on to Cambridge and St Ives. It then took the Huntingdon East line to Kettering and up the main line to Leicester.<br /> The column marked J on the Sunday timetable is a through train to Hunstanton from Histon stopping at all stations to Wimblington. It then worked non stop to Kings Lynn via March, Wisbech and Magdalene Road.
  • March-St Ives-Cambridge timetable from the summer of 1954. Column HK on the weekdays timetable is a through train from Leicester to Clacton which ran summer Saturdays only. See next picture.<br /> <br /> Column J on the Sunday timetable is a through train from Hunstanton to Histon which ran non stop from Kings Lynn to Wimblington via Magdalene Road, Wisbech and March.
  • Passenger Timetable 13th June to 11th September 1960.
  • 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.
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