Station Name: CASTOR

[Source: Nick Catford]

Date opened: First in timetable April 1847
Location: End of Station Road
Company on opening: London & Birmingham Railway
Date closed to passengers: 1.7.1957
Date closed completely: 28.12.1964
Company on closing: British Railways (London Midland Region)
Present state: Demolished - the only evidence is an overgrown area of hard standing on what would have been the station forecourt.
County: Northamptonshire
OS Grid Ref: TL113978
Date of visit: 3.6.2006

Notes: The station was damaged by a 'doodle bug' V1 flying bomb during WW2. The crater where it landed can still be seen nearby.

Although the station was closed to passengers in 1957 it remained open for freight until 28th December 1964. There was a single goods siding behind the down platform. The station was demolished shortly after closure.

BRIEF HISTORY OF THE NENE VALLEY RAILWAY
The London & Birmingham railway was completed by the autumn of 1838 and immediately started considering expanding its territory to Northampton (which it by-passed by some 5 miles due to the hilly nature of the town) and then down the Nene valley to Peterborough. In 1843 the L&BR was given parliamentary assent to construct a line from Blisworth in Northamptonshire to Peterborough.

Twelve stations were built in an old English or Tudor style: the names on opening (some changed later) were Northampton, Castle Ashby, Wellingborough, Ditchford, Higham Ferrers (later renamed Irthlingborough), Ringstead, Thrapston, Thorpe, Barnwell, Oundle, Wansford and Overton. The line shared the Peterborough terminus with the Eastern Counties Railway in return for 'running powers' over the line to Northampton, giving it access to the Midlands and the North.

The Northampton to Blisworth section was officially opened on Tuesday 13 May 1845 and the complete track was opened on Monday 2 June 1845.

On 16 July 1846 the London and North Western Railway was formed by merging the London & Birmingham Railway with a number of other companies and during the mid 1800's, the development of iron ore mining in the area was reactivated having been suspended for 200 years by law due to the lack of wood for charcoal. All available wood being required for the Navy.

The Great Northern Railway opened a line

from Stamford to a junction with the Nene Valley line just east of Wansford on 9th August 1867 and Wansford became a major junction when the LNWR opened their new line from Yarwell Junction (just west of Wansford) to Seaton on 1st November 1879. The 1923 grouping took the line into the London Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS).

During the first half of the 20th century the line formed an important connection from Norwich, Cambridge and eastern England to Northampton and the Midlands. The line was generally acknowledged to be a secondary mainline and regularly saw heavy through traffic but operating costs were high with a large number of manned level crossings.

With the closure of many of the mines and the popularity of the car both passenger and freight traffic was in decline after WW2 and in July 1963 the withdrawal of passenger service between Northampton Castle and Peterborough East was announced. Despite a vigorous campaign against closure culminating in a public meeting at Thrapston, little could be done. A petition was started and action committee appointed but when the committee asked for a collection to meet their expenses only £1 18s 3d was raised! The line was formally closed on Monday 4 May 1964.

Iron Ore trains continued to use the line until 1966 with through freight traffic finally being withdrawn by British Rail in 1972.

In 1974 the Peterborough Development Corporation bought a section of the Nene Valley line between Longville and Yarwell Junctions and leased it to the Peterborough Railway Society to operate the railway. Between 1974 and May 1977 the line was upgraded to passenger standards and on 24 May the Railway Inspector passed the railway as fit for passenger carrying operations and the Nene Valley Railway between Wansford and Orton Mere was officially opened on 1 June 1977.

In 1986 the line was eastwards to a new terminus at Peterborough Nene Valley just short of the East Coast Main Line making a total running length of 7.5 miles and a new station is currently under construction at Yarwell Junction at the western end of the line. There are also proposals for a link with the ECML which would allow trains to run into Peterborough Station.

Route map drawn by Alan Young.

See also: Nene Valley Railway web site
Further reading: The Nene Valley Railway by Christopher Awdry ISBN: 1 85895 170 4

To see other stations on the Nene Valley Railway click on the station name: Northampton Bridge Street, Billing, Castle Ashby & Earls Barton, Wellingborough London Road, Ditchford, Irthlingborough, Ringstead & Addington, Thrapston Bridge Street, Thorpe, Barnwell, Oundle, Elton, Wansford, Orton Waterville, Peterborough Nene Valley & Peterborough East


Castor Station looking west c.1930.
Photo received from Dan McKenzie


1901 OS map

Castor station looking east c.1930s
Photo from Jim Lake collection

Castor booking office. The single goods siding can be seen behind the down platform.
Photo from Jim Lake collection

Castor booking office
Photo from Jim Lake collection

Castor station c.1950s.
Photo re3ceived from Dennis Taylor


B1 locomotive Mayflower passing the site of Castor Station bound for Wansford in April 2006
Photo by Mike Bardill from his Geograph web


The site of Castor Station looking west in June 2006
Photo by Nick Catford

The only evidence of Castor Station is some overgrown hard standing on what would have been the station forecourt (June 2006)
Photo by Nick Catford

                             

 

 

 

[Source: Nick Catford]


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