Wansford railway station


Wansford railway station is the headquarters of the Nene Valley Railway in Cambridgeshire, England. The station building was opened in 1995 and contains a ticket office, shop, cafe and toilets. The locomotive sheds are located at this station. Also at the station there is a picnic area and children's playground. The station was formerly the junction for a branch to Stamford, which separated to the north just east of the river bridge at Wansford.
Wansford station and the line immediately either side of it, including the level crossing and the river bridge appeared several times in the James Bond film Octopussy.

History

The station opened with the Northampton and Peterborough Railway from Blisworth to Peterborough in 1845. Being located on the Great North Road, it was for a few years the railhead for Grantham, Lincoln, etc., which at this time were not served by any railway lines. The branch line to Stamford opened in 1867. The route to Rugby became available when the LNWR built a line from Yarwell Junction, west of Wansford tunnel, to their existing 1850 Rugby to Stamford line at. At the same time, the Great Northern began a service from Peterborough North to Leicester Belgrave Road via Wansford, Seaton and the newly opened Great Northern and London and North Western Joint Railway in east Leicestershire.
The Leicester trains were stopped as a war economy in 1916. The Stamford branch closed in 1929, having never properly recovered from the 1926 general strike. The station closed for regular passenger services on 1 July 1957 but passenger services from Peterborough continued to use the line to Northampton until 1964, and to Rugby until 1966. The Rugby line remained open for freight as far as the sand and gravel quarries at Nassington. When these stopped, the line closed but the track remained in situ. The line became the Nene Valley Railway heritage railway and was reopened on 1 June 1977.

Station features

Barnwell station building

The waiting room on platform two is referred to as "The Barnwell Building" due to it having been moved from Barnwell station to Wansford on 5 April 1977. The building is of typical LNWR wooden construction. It was originally built in 1884 for use by members of the Royal family when visiting Barnwell Manor, home of the Duke of Gloucester.

Old Wansford station building

The original Wansford station, designed by John William Livock, is located on platform three and was built in 1844–1845 in Jacobean style for the opening of the railway. This building was finally purchased by the Nene Valley Railway in 2015. In October 2011 it appeared on the list of the ten most threatened Victorian and Edwardian buildings, published by the Victorian Society.
in foreground

Wansford signal box

The signal box was built in 1907 by the London and North Western Railway to replace three smaller boxes. It was originally built with 60 levers and is one of the largest preserved signal boxes in its original location.

Turntable

The turntable is located behind the new station building, and was built by Ransomes & Rapier of Ipswich in 1933. Originally it was long and was installed at Bourne in Lincolnshire for use on the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway. It continued in use there until 1959 when Bourne shed closed and the turntable was moved to Peterborough East; its last duties being to turn Travelling Post Office coaches for use on the East Anglian TPO.
In 1977 the turntable moved to Wansford where it was extended by to make it in length and was commissioned in September 1978. The turntable has been in use ever since to turn the locomotives and carriages at the NVR.

Model railway

On platform 4 there is a model railway which has been put together by enthusiasts over five years, housed in a converted rail coach. This coach is a BR Mk2e FO ex 'London's Burning' coach, number W3227. The main layout, called Hammerton Junction, is mainly 00 gauge; one end is raised up and has N gauge on it. There is a small layout called Iron Sidings built on top of an ironing board.

Summary of Services

Sample Train Timetable for April 1910

The table below shows the train departures from Wansford on weekdays in April 1910.
DepartureGoing toCalling atArrivalOperator
03.54Peterborough EastPeterborough East04.05LNWR
06.31Northampton CastleElton, Oundle, Barnwell, Thorpe, Thrapston, Ringstead & Addington, Higham Ferrers & Irthlingborough, Ditchford, Wellingborough, Castle Ashby & Earls Barton, Billing, Northampton Bridge Street, Northampton Castle08.00LNWR
08.25Northampton CastleElton, Oundle, Barnwell, Thorpe, Thrapston, Ringstead & Addington, Higham Ferrers & Irthlingborough, Ditchford, Wellingborough, Castle Ashby & Earls Barton, Billing, Northampton Bridge Street, Northampton Castle09.50LNWR
08.29Peterborough NorthCastor, Overton, Peterborough North08.48GNR
08.40Peterborough EastCastor, Overton, Peterborough East09.04LNWR
08.45RugbyNassington, King's Cliffe, Wakerley & Barrowden, Seaton, Rockingham, Ashley & Weston, Market Harborough, Lubenham, Theddingworth, Welford & Lutterworth, Yelverton & Stanford Park, Lilbourne, Clifton Mill, Rugby10.34LNWR
08.50Stamford EastWansford Road, Ufford Bridge, Barnack, Stamford East09.15GNR
09.48Leicester Belgrave RoadNassington, King's Cliffe, Wakerley & Barrowden, Seaton, Rockingham, Medbourne, Hallaton, East Norton, Tilton, Loseby, Ingersby, Thurnby & Scraptoft, Humberstone, Leicester Belgrave Road11.22GNR
10.19Peterborough EastCastor, Peterborough East10.37LNWR
10.50Peterborough EastOverton, Peterborough East11.05LNWR
10.52Stamford EastWansford Road, Ufford Bridge, Barnack, Stamford East11.15GNR
11.09Northampton CastleElton, Oundle, Barnwell, Thorpe, Thrapston, Ringstead & Addington, Higham Ferrers & Irthlingborough, Ditchford, Wellingborough, Castle Ashby & Earls Barton, Billing, Northampton Bridge Street, Northampton Castle12.35LNWR
11.42RugbyNassington, King's Cliffe, Wakerley & Barrowden, Seaton, Rockingham, Ashley & Weston, Market Harborough, Lubenham, Theddingworth, Welford & Lutterworth, Yelverton & Stanford Park, Lilbourne, Clifton Mill, Rugby13.30LNWR
11.47Peterborough NorthCastor, Overton, Peterborough North12.06GNR
11.55Stamford EastWansford Road, Ufford Bridge, Barnack, Stamford East12.20GNR
12.28Peterborough EastPeterborough East12.40LNWR
13.05
Fri only		Stamford EastWansford Road, Ufford Bridge, Barnack, Stamford East13.28GNR
13.52Peterborough EastCastor, Overton, Peterborough East14.12LNWR
14.14Northampton CastleElton, Oundle, Barnwell, Thorpe, Thrapston, Ringstead & Addington, Higham Ferrers & Irthlingborough, Ditchford, Wellingborough, Castle Ashby & Earls Barton, Billing, Northampton Bridge Street, Northampton Castle15.40LNWR
14.37Leicester Belgrave RoadNassington, King's Cliffe, Wakerley & Barrowden, Seaton, Rockingham, Medbourne, Hallaton, East Norton, Tilton, Loseby, Ingersby, Thurnby & Scraptoft, Humberstone, Leicester Belgrave Road16.10GNR
14.37Stamford EastWansford Road, Ufford Bridge, Barnack, Stamford East15.02GNR
14.49Peterborough EastOverton, Peterborough East15.05LNWR
15.56Stamford EastWansford Road, Ufford Bridge, Barnack, Stamford East16.21GNR
16.02Northampton CastleElton, Oundle, Barnwell, Thorpe, Thrapston, Ringstead & Addington, Higham Ferrers & Irthlingborough, Ditchford, Wellingborough, Castle Ashby & Earls Barton, Billing, Northampton Bridge Street, Northampton Castle17.38LNWR
16.16Peterborough EastCastor, Overton, Peterborough East16.33LNWR
16.37RugbyNassington, King's Cliffe, Wakerley & Barrowden, Seaton, Rockingham, Ashley & Weston, Market Harborough, Lubenham, Theddingworth, Welford & Lutterworth, Yelverton & Stanford Park, Lilbourne, Clifton Mill, Rugby18.23LNWR
17.30Peterborough NorthCastor, Peterborough North17.46GNR
18.37Northampton CastleElton, Oundle, Barnwell, Thorpe, Thrapston, Ringstead & Addington, Higham Ferrers & Irthlingborough, Ditchford, Wellingborough, Castle Ashby & Earls Barton, Billing, Northampton Bridge Street, Northampton Castle20.05LNWR
18.40Stamford EastWansford Road, Ufford Bridge, Barnack, Stamford East19.03GNR
19.37Peterborough EastCastor, Overton, Peterborough East19.58LNWR
19.42Leicester Belgrave RoadNassington, King's Cliffe, Wakerley & Barrowden, Seaton, Rockingham, Medbourne, Hallaton, East Norton, Tilton, Loseby, Ingersby, Thurnby & Scraptoft, Humberstone, Leicester Belgrave Road21.11GNR
19.55Stamford EastWansford Road, Ufford Bridge, Barnack, Stamford East20.20GNR
20.11RugbySeaton, Market Harborough, Welford & Lutterworth, Rugby21.32LNWR
22.01Peterborough EastPeterborough East22.15LNWR
22.35Peterborough EastPeterborough East22.48LNWR

Use in film and television

The old station building appeared in the 1983 James Bond film Octopussy, in which Bond drove a Mercedes-Benz car along the railway tracks after its tyres were punctured in pursuit of a train on which the villainous Kamal Khan was transporting a bomb. This scene was scripted as being in East Germany.
A station identified by a sign as Wansford appears in the music video for the 1991 single 'The Air that You Breathe' by UK band, Bomb the Bass.