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.
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Wimblington. Eastwood End Crossing on 10th January 1962. Viewed facing west. Photo thanks to Mark Brammer.
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Wimblington. Eastwood End Crossing on 10th January 1962. Viewed facing west. Photo thanks to Mark Brammer.

wimblington

  • Chatteris
  • Chatteris
  • Chatteris
  • Chatteris
  • 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
  • Wimblington facing south in April 1973. No trace of the station remains, the A141 road " Isle of Ely Way" uses the track bed.
  • Class 24 D5043 in Brunswick Green livery, heads a freight near Wimblington on 4th March 1967. These were my favourite locos at the time. They made a refreshing change from the ubiquitous class 31's. Photo with kind permission of Stewart Ingram.
  • Wimblington Station on 4th March 1967, the last day of services on this section of the line. The view is looking south with a Cambridge to Peterborough working. No trace of the station exists today as the A141 Wimblington bypass uses the track bed. Photo with kind permission of Stewart Ingram. Wimblington had an up goods loop with a capacity of 93 wagons.
  • Wimblington facing south towards Chatteris..
  • Wimblington Signal Box located at the end of the Down platform.
  • Wimblington. Eastward End Crossing facing south towards the station on 10th January 1962. The A141 "Isle of Ely Way" now follows the line's alignment and no trace exists. Wimblington Church adjacent to the station can be seen to the right of the right hand gate post.<br /> <br /> Image thanks to Mark Brammer.
  • Wimblington. Eastwood End Crossing on 10th January 1962. Viewed facing west. Photo thanks to Mark Brammer.
  • Wimblington looking north on 4th March 1967, the last day of through workings.Photo with kind permission of Stewart Ingram
  • Wimblington. Eastwood End Crossing. Viewed facing north towards March on 10th January 1962. Image:- thanks to Mark Brammer.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
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