GCR London Extension stations - Nottingham Victoria
Channel 5's "Walking Britain's Lost Railways"
It helps to start with an episode of this series about the GCLE between Nottingham Victoria-Rugby Central which I watched with gritted teeth. There were almost twenty cases of error and fabrication, some of them tabloid-style. The raison d'etre given for construction of the Extension was baloney and among the locations portrayed, Catesby Tunnel - which cuts through the high ground of the Northamptonshire Wolds and is well known for its deep ventilation shafts (still there and a sight to see) - was stated as "was planned to be a cutting". It's sad to see so much baloney about this line which I shall be dealing with in due course.
Misrepresentations at Nottingham included erroneous easy gradients and presentation of the Mansfield Road tunnel end at Nottingham Vic as if the whole site was that deep. In fact, most of the site was so shallow that buildings had to be supported to enable the railway to pass beneath. Amid constant reference to demolition of houses it wasn't mentioned that the GCR replaced a good deal of the slum area - whose removal (and hence the local prison), the Council endorsed wholeheartedley - with new houses. And that some of the new streets acquired GCR-related names, such as Watkin Street. It wasn't even the only place along the GCLE where this sort of thing happened.
Parts of the C5 programme were on a media shock-horror basis and this isn't the place to correct the whole shebang, but I can offer illustrations showing what the station site actually looked like and an idea of the services that it offered for local people, rather than a fabricated notion of "high-speed freight" which was presented as the raison d'etre for building the GCLE.
I've been told that programmes like this are "for entertainment" and despite pretentions to the contrary, clearly lack historical credibility. C5 actually contacted me just before the programme was aired and took no notice of my pointing out their fundamental errors.
See also under Catesby Tunnel (link below).
Nottingham Victoria
Showing what Nottingham Vic actually looked like and correcting baloney in the C5 programme is the best that can be done at the moment and the sequence so far is:
1 - The station buildings 2 - The deep north end 3 - The shallow middle and south end 4 - Up non-passenger facilities 5 - Down non-passenger facilities 6 - Secondary services - GC Section 7 - Secondary services - GN Section 8 - 1960s specials
Further sections will follow about the long distance expresses which called at Nottingham Vic, the initial emphasis being on what might be called "local" Ordinary Passenger services which have tended to fall under the radar.
1 - Station building and the train shed
The first three views are from the early 1900s when the station was new and are colourised postcards, and all three are quite different in their treatment of the brickwork and stone!
This rather beautiful postcard was produced by R.Leeman & Sons Ltd in their "Broad Marsh Series" and posted on 8th November 1905, from Nottingham, to a lady in Dublin. Alas, apart from the clock tower which is shown correctly in red brick, the colouring is fictitious, and that includes the red brick Victoria Hotel. Today, only the clock tower remains, and the hotel, which is now a Hilton Hotel. C. Golder collection.
Click on the image for an enlargement
Next is a Raphael Tuck's Post Card in their "Charmette" series and unposted. In this production red brick colour was applied correctly to most of the building. A warmer shade would have been more realistic but it's by far the best effort of this trio. It's tempting to correct using Photoshop and I may do that later, with the aim of showing how stunning the building actually was.
Details were in Darley Stone, which is similar to Millstone Grit, both of which blacken with exposure to industrial smog (a good example of the original cream colour can be seen on buildings that have been cleaned/restored, such as Leeds Town Hall).
Barely visible on the far left side of the station forecourt is the cabman's shelter (better seen in the next view) and just beyond it, between the wooden fence and the Players Cigarettes hoarding was the approach road that descended to the non-passenger wharf and fish dock. C. Golder collection.
Click on the image for an enlargement
Thirdly, a Postcard posted on 5th September 1903 from Nottingham to Bedford. In this version the whole building has been colourised an elegant cream, alas falsely. On the awning can be seen the name, "Victoria Station".
Somewhat intriguingly, an earlier version of this card from the same source was black and white and captioned as "Great Central Station" even though underneath the station name can be seen "Great Central and Great Northern Railways".
It's to the earlier style in which only the address was written on the back and the front offered some white space where a message could be squeezed in. It had been posted by a man to his young son in Exmouth . C. Golder collection.
Click on the image for an enlargement
The fourth view is from 1953 and shows an enquiry office added in front of the awning and "LNER Victoria Station" high up on the clock tower. Queen Elizabeth's coronation took place that year and the number of flags and shields bedecking the frontage is astonishing. LGRP, author's collection.
Click on the image for an enlargement
Moving inside, this sepia postcard is from the late Victorian era soon after opening and was taken on Platform 4. A light engine is standing on the central road between the platforms. The glazed roof is pristine. To the right is a "Dining Room" and a busy bookstand. Platform 10 is on the far side. Kingsway Real Photo Series Post Card, unposted, author's collection.
Click on the image for an enlargement
Platform 10 as seen on 18th September 1964, now looking light and airy thanks to extensive removal of the roof cladding. M. Morris collection.
Click on the image for an enlargement
This view from the same day shows the panelled booking and ticket offices. W.H. Smiths has a prestigious location nearby. M. Morris collection.
Click on the image for an enlargement
This view from June 1910 is useful for showing the original frontage of the train shed with its exuberant glazing. Alas, this late Victorian magnificence was to gradually go downhill.
Parked on the central road is GCR Class 8E (LNER C5) No 364 Lady Henderson (renamed Lady Faringdon in 1917). At the time all four compound Atlantics were allocated to Gorton and used for expresses to Marylebone and back. No lights are being carried as yet and its likely next turn in 1910 may been the 12.30pm Manchester-Marylebone express which was due to arrive at 2.37pm with a five-minute pause for a leisurely loco change.
Behind it is an ex-GNR secondary set, alas unidentifiable. T.J.Scott-Morgan collection.
Click on the image for an enlargement
Captured a little later on 4th June 1912 and showing the GNR terminal platform is GNR Ivatt small Atlantic, No 258 (LNER C2). It would work back to the GNR at Grantham where it was allocated. J.Scott-Morgan collection.
Click on the image for an enlargement
The LNER began modifications to the front of the train shed and in this late 1930s view partial removal of the glazing can be seen to improve the ventilation.
"Footballer" B17 No 2853 Huddersfield Town is pausing with the Newcastle-Swansea express. Note the through carriage (BCK) from Hull behind the tender carrying triple destination boards. Photo: Author's collection.
Click on the image for an enlargement
By 1945-46 more of the front glazing had been removed, a precursor of what was to follow.
The platform roads were used for all traffic passing through the station and a Class C goods train is waiting for a clear path. In charge is ex-NER Q6 0-8-0 No 2274, a long way from its home shed, Newport on the NEA.
Perhaps of greater interest is the 4-4-0 to the far right: it was the unique D3 which was rebuilt in 1944 for use with officers' saloons. A side-window cab was provided and a unique green livery with "N E" on the tender and the company crest in between, which is fairly clear on the print. It also received a Thompson number, 2000, which can just about be discerned. Photo: J.Scott-Morgan collection.
The south end of the platforms looking north in 1952, after large areas of the glazed frontage had been removed and only partly replaced with sheets of white corrugated asbestos. It may be viewed as post-WW2 austerity but tasteless, especially when compared with the original handsome design. In addition, roof cladding over non-platform parts of the station were removed. It's hard to imagine a London terminus being treated like this. Smoke and grime gradually toned down the garish appearance of the asbestos and eventually gave it something of a "modern" look, but these things are in the eye of the beholder, really.
It's a quiet time of the day with some Gresley bow-ended carriages parked on one of the central roads and a B1 alongside with a modest Ordinary Passenger train. Photo: LGRP, author's collection.
Click on the image for an enlargement
Another view from the same location but on Friday, 18th September 1964 showing how the roof on the far west side was also stripped. Rising high to the left is the rear of the station hotel. Half a dozen parcels vans stand in one of the south-facing bays. A B1 waits in the central road to the right while a goods train can be seen approaching. Photo: M. Morris collection.
Click on the image for an enlargement
2 - The north end
My apologies for quite a poor print but this is interesting for showing Parker Class 2 No 706 ready to depart northwards. By the date of this photograph (21st May 1911) many were based at Sheffield and some at Nottingham on secondary services, around Sheffield and, to a lesser degree, Nottingham. They reached Leicester but no further south, more powerful 4-4-0s working from there. This one was probably captured with a train to Sheffield. Built from 1885 with withdrawals commencing in 1926, they are a largely forgotten class. Photo: author's collection.
Click on the image for an enlargement
A rare and undated photograph from early GCR days shows ex-MS&LR Class 2 4-4-0 No 708 (built 1892) at the head of an Ordinary Passenger train to an unknown destination, possibly a long distance all-stations working to Sheffield.
Perhaps the most interesting part is that the nameboard on the signal box cannot be seen. This would be because the GCR originally put them on the sides of the boxes, only later moving them to the ends. Photo: Author's collection.
Click on the image for an enlargement
Pictures of the turntable at the north end of the station are rare because unlike at the other end, it was some distance from the platforms and not reached without a permit. In this view ex-GNR C1 4-4-2 No 1404 is close to the turntable, looking like it's just come off it after being turned to work a train back to Grantham where, in 1923 and 1924, it was allocated. Its later number of 4404 was applied in July '24 and the loco transferred soon after to King's Cross. Unusually, Express lights are already being carried. Photo: author's collection,
Click on the image for an enlargement
Ex-GCR Class B4 No 6097 Immingham waits to collect a northbound train. The loco was at Copley Hill for most of the 1930s and often used for excursions from Leeds. Photo: author's collection.
Click on the image for an enlargement
A general view of the north end showing the deep end and the scale of the excavations. The rock was self-supporting, but the higher levels needed a retaining wall. An 8F is emerging from the Mansfield Road tunnel with a coal train. To the left is the turntable (there was one at each end) and to the right, Victoria North signal box. It's September 1966 and all the lower quadrant signal arms had been replaced by Upper Quadrants, on the original GCR posts. Photo: G. Dawson.
Click on the image for an enlargement
The same scene from platform level on a sunny day. The signal box is seen more clearly and the strategically placed water columns, just right for tender locos. Photo: Author's collection.
Click on the image for an enlargement
Back to ground level at the north end with a GN Ordinary Passenger headed by J6 No 64225 (Colwick - some records have it as a Woodford Halse engine). 1952. Photo: R.K. Blencowe Archive.
Click on the image for an enlargement
The early 1950s and A3 No 60052 Prince Palatine is passing Victoria North as it enters the station with the Up "Master Cutler". PhotoL T.G. Hepburn.
Click on the image for an enlargement
"
A view showing D11 No 62664 Princess Mary running light at the north end. The scale of the excavations at the north end really shows. Photo: D.B. Swale.
Click on the image for an enlargement
Moving away from the tunnel mouth to the platforms and already it's possible to see a reduced depth of excavations and a brick abutment sufficing.
It's the mid-1920s and ex-GCR D9 No 6017 (Sheffield) has an unidentified train with a GWR 6w passenger brake van at the head which would have come via Banbury. It could be the "Ports to Ports" or the Southampton-Glasgow. Photo: Author's collection.
Click on the image for an enlargement
An undated view as V2 No 60878 drifts into the station with the Up South Yorkshireman. This V2 was a Leicester loco from 1954-58 and the date may be c1958 judging by the maroon livery of most of the coaches. The train was now a substantial formation and modernised with BR Mk.1 stock, except for the two-car catering:
RF 1st restaurant Gresley TO 3rd open dining Thompson
The restaurant car is in fact quite elderly and on turnbuckle trussing from the late 1920s which would make it around thirty years old. Photo: RS. Carpenter.
Click on the image for an enlargement
3 - The shallower middle and south end.
Looking down on the south end and middle of the station from Lower Parliament Street, which you can see is not very high up. It is often presumed that the whole site was at a great depth like the extreme north end but it was cut into the side of a hill and shallower in the middle and this end, to the height of Lower Parliament Street and a modest retaining wall sufficed. This level continued along Glasshouse Street and the ground and the city can be seen rising further away from the site of the station.
Part of the exit from King's Cross was the same. It's also reminiscent of other GCLE stations which were built on falling ground, such as Helmdon and Brackley.
The turntable at this end was alongside the platforms and occasionally photographed with a loco on it. B1 No 6419461232 is waiting to take over from a failed "Black Five" on the 17.15 Marylebone. August 1965. Photo: G. Dawson.
Click on the image for an enlargement
The south end of the station from the OS 25" map of 1911-13. In the lower right hand corner is a triangle of housing that was not demolished. Nearby stands a cinema where the local prison used to be while, out of sight to the north was the Nottingham Union Workhouse, reminders of the slum district which the GCR demolished and replaced with newly built houses. One of the new roads was even named "Watkin Street". Source: National Library of Scotland.
The garage belonged to R. Cripps & Co. Ltd. Note the twin stairs from Lower Parliament Street onto the platforms
Click on the image for an enlargement
An undated view from around 1910 showing GNR Single No 1006 at the south end of the station, turned, coaled and ready to take a train back to Grantham. No 1006 was one of the last ones built and apart from the preserved No 1, the class ceased to exist in 1916, having spent their last years in secondary services like this.
In the background is a Howlden 45' bogie van with plug doors. Photo: Author's collection.
Click on the image for an enlargement
A 1920s panorama showing how shallow much of the station was with short staircases onto the platforms. It was a convenient access from that part of town. In the middle distance is the road descending to the Up-side goods/parcels bay and platform, which had an end load for carriage trucks. An ex-GCR NPCS vehicle is parked there. Note the lower quadrant signals.
In the foreground stands one of Colwick's ex-GNR "Standard Goods", J3 No 4117. At their peak Colwick had 60 of them and they were at home on the GN passenger service to Grantham and Derby; note that lights are being carried for an Ordinary Passenger train. Photo: a much-repaired print from the HMRS.
Click on the image for an enlargement
One of Grantham's s ex-GNR D2s, No 3045, in 1934 at the south end of the platforms with a good view of the steps descending from Lower Parliament St. which was at normal bridge height. The excavation of most of the site was at this depth for the streets that crossed it - this one and Charlotte Street (later named Central Road and then Union Rd) - and did not need to be any deeper. From this angle the landing halfway down is seen clearly. My apologies for retaining some of the tilt but correcting it would have meant cropping more of the steps.
The south signal box can be seen beyond the bridge carrying Lower Parliament St., originally named Victoria South, later Nottingham Victoria South. Photo: J. Scott-Morgan Collection.
Click on the image for an enlargement
A relatively rare picture of an Up train departing, which has captured part of the steps onto the platform. Ex-GCR "Improved Director" D11 No 5502 Zeebrugge is setting off with the 2.20pm Manchester-Marylebone on 21st May 1933. Photo: Author's collection.
Click on the image for an enlargement
Ex-GCR B3 No 6166 Earl Haig of Neasden stands at Nottingham in May 1937 with what looks like an excursion returning to London. Behind the Gresley 3rd brake is an ex-GN&NE 3rd of 1906, two of which were cascaded to the GC Section in 1934 and numbered 52056/7. Photo: author's collection.
Click on the image for an enlargement
Gorton's A1 No 2558 Tracery passes Nottingham South signal box as it leaves the station on Monday 8th May 1939 with the off-peak 2.20pm Manchester-Marylebone. The formation was a standard 6-set with catering (RF,TO) and on arrival was turned round and returned as the 4.55pm Marylebone-Manchester flyer. Photo: T.G.Hepburn.
Click on the image for an enlargement
4 - Up non-passenger facilities
Which the company titled "Wharf" and "Horse and carriage dock".
Caption improved
A tantalising partial view from the late 1930s showing the access road descending to the Up goods and parcels platform with various items scattered around. A loading gauge was placed by the plaftorm to guard against over-loading of open wagons. The term "parcels" denotes traffic sent by or attached to passenger trains, especially the perishable kind, as well as horses and heavy items loaded on a carriage truck, for which an end load was provided, for all of which a road vehicle could get close without any trouble. Cattle would have been handled in goods yards equipped with pens. Light parcels were handled on the passenger platforms using the van space in passenger train brake-ends, and long distance passenger brake vans. Routine parcels traffic was well organised and my aim here is merely to show the different methods and facilities provided in such a large station.
In the foreground stands one of Leicester's C4s, No 5260, about to depart southwards. It looks like the 5.35pm all-stations Nottingham-Leicester, based on a non-gangwayed 4-set of ex-GCR 50' carriages of c1904 - clerestory and London Suburban - to which a contrasting modern carriage has been added as a strengthener: a 61'6" Gresley BTK. Photo: HMRS.
Click on the image for an enlargement
Looking across the tracks in 1956-57 towards the east side and the earthworks so low that they can hardly be seen. To the right the access road descends to the Up goods and parcels platform. A Colwick ex-GNR J6, No 64256, has a Derby-Grantham train with a modern Thompson carriage at the head. Photo: R.S. Carpenter.
Click on the image for an enlargement
An enlargement of the 25" OS map (1911-13) for the Up goods and parcels platform, how it was reached, and how it stretched from the abutment by Glasshouse St. to a ramp beyond the bay with the end load. The loco turntable was nearby. Source: National Library of Scotland.
Click on the image for an enlargement
A general view from track level looking towards the Up goods and parcels platform with Glasshouse St. behind.
The height of the abutment is deceptive because it was only up to the architectural feature just above the arches, a mere 15 feet or so. Above that was a high wall by the side of the street to prevent horses - which were the main motive power on the roads - from being distracted by the sight and sound of steam engines whose safety valves blowing off could frighten a horse and make it shy. A panicking horse was a danger to all around as well as itself and its rider. Cases are known of a panicking horse jumping a wall and falling onto the railway with fatal consequences. It was a well recognised problem when horses were everywhere and railway companies took sensible precautions. In other words we're not looking at a deeply excavated area but a shallow one with a high safety wall.
The end load for flat wagons and carriage trucks stands out with its lack of buffers. The date of the BR-period picture is not known but it looks like the goods platform was out of use, the original loading gauge removed, and the area serving as a car park. I recognise a Farina-design 1100 (my dad had one) and a Morris Minor.... Photo: Author's collection.
Click on the image for an enlargement
This view from the late 1920s shows how ex-GCR C5 No 5365 Sir William Pollitt has come off an Up Ordinary Passenger train to collect a CCT from the bay and is now heading back to its carriages. The train loco was routinely used when NPCS had to be added or set down. Photo: W. Leslie Good, author's collection.
Click on the image for an enlargement
The final view in this sequence shows ex-GCR D9 No 6035 being turned on the Up turntable. It was at Colwick 1928-36 and would have been rostered for Ordinary Passenger services up and down the Extension, which lights it is carrying. Note the AVB-fitted van at the NPCS platform.
By the way, the curvature of the high wall by Glasshouse Street is not real - it's an optical effect called barrel distortion from a very poor lens (the sharpness isn't anything to write home about either)! Photo: LGRP.
Click on the image for an enlargement
5 - Down non-passenger facilities
Which the compant titled "Wharf" and "Fish Dock".
The facilities on the down side were a marvel of squeezing a quart into a pint pot with an Alpine-style descent from Milton Road close to the main station frontage which can just be glimpsed on the old colourised potscards. Alas, I have only two detail pictures and they only show part of the scene so it's best to begin with the OS 25" map:
Taken from the 1913-15 edition, the access can be seen by the public house (P.H.) on the Milton Road and how the platform was arranged. Source: National Library of Scotland.
The better view is from BR days and shows the bottom of the descent and part of the NPCS platform with the Union Road bridge (where Charlotte Street used to be and initially named Central Road) rising above it. Railings were provided to aid visibility on the reverse bend on the descent and the platforms were also arrangement in a different way.
Two sidings can be seen, protected by ground signals and an upper quadrant on a tubular post. The nearer siding is for the main platform, the further one for the end load. The original loading gauge is still in place despite having been retired. The tall building on the corner was shown on the 1901 plan as "GNR Footpan Ho." which I'm afraid I cannot explain. Photo: author's collection.
Click on the image for an enlargement
This view from the other direction is useful although I apologise for the dire quality and shall refrain from identifying its source. The view is not dated but it looks like around the time of closure. In the distance, it's possible to see more of the descent from Milton Road, the non-passenger platform and end load, and how the platform ran underneath the station building. Photo: author's collection.
This picture shows the downside NPCS platform and the descending approach from street level on the other side of the bridge in 1958 - and is also under "Parcels Traffc in BR Days" because it the loco (ex-GCR D11 No 62668 Jutland which was transferred to Darnall that year) is facing northwards with a GWR design Siphon G, the last of these built by BR during the 1950s and looking good in BR crimson.
The loco is carrying a random single lamp in the manner of a light engine but unfortunately it's impossible to tell if it's backing into the bay or coming out of it. Nor is it possible to tell if the move is associated with a parcels or a passenger train. I suspect it may be the latter although it's also possible that the loco was acting as a station pilot but not carrying pilot lights (one over each buffer at both ends). Sorry, folks, there are too many possibilities here to say definitively what was happening. Photo: Colour-Rail.
Click on the image for an enlargement
6 - Secondary services - GC Section
This is part of the map supplied by the LNER with its Passenger Timetables booklet for 1939, the thick red lines being LNER, the thin red ones, LMS. Lines originally part of the GCR run north-south and the GNR, west-east. Off the map to the west lay Stoke and to the east, Grantham.
In LNER days the service was combined with the engine shed at Colwick taking over so it's hard to separate the workings entirely, which are often ambiguously and incorrectly described as "suburban services" but as the maps shows, they covered a wide area. It's just a pity that photographers were so smitten by the good ol' choo-choo that most of the pictures taken here were of the locos and rarely of the trains they worked. Some of the pictures are in the station sections and I have not repeated, focus here is on the workings and the locos employed.
The GCR built a 4-road engine shed just south of Arkwright St. station and known as such but, locally, as Queen's Walk (a photograph miscaptioned as "Queen's Road" threw me on a long wild goose chase - grr)! It closed in 1909 only remaining as a servicing point thereafter. Loco allocations were then to Annesley until LNER days when the ex-GNR shed at Colwick took over as the shed for the district.
Click on the image for an enlargement
(i) Along the GCLE
The station, with its near NE-SW alignment was a popular location with photographers for views of trains and portraits of locomotives, especially at the southern end and here is an example. However, this is more than a choo-choo picture and much can be said about the GCLE and its workings!
This picture of ex-GCR D9 No 6022 was taken on Tuesday 7th June 1927 and being a sunny day with clear shadows, a lot can be worked out using WTTs and CWBs. Note that a single light is being carried per a light engine movement. Train lights will be added when the loco couples up to its train.
In the background is one of Colwick's J2s, No 3078. Photo: Author's collection.
Click on the image for an enlargement
The loco was based at Annesley and my estimate of the time of day is approx 3pm for which there were two possibilities for trains that the loco was about to take charge of:
2.50pm Nottingham Vic - Rugby 3.40pm Nottingham Vic - Leicester
- The second one can be ruled out because this was the daily express from Cleethorpes-Leicester and was normally worked through by an Immingham 4-6-0.
- The earlier train was an Ordinary Passenger which was part of a complex roster for a Leicester non-gangwayed 4-set (BT, F, T, BT), probably made up with ex-GCR clerestories, which shuttled up and down the GCLE and was well suited to a light passenger 4-4-0.
The set's immediately prior working was to Ollerton (on the former LD&EC to the NE of Nottingham) and back, which may have been worked by a passenger tank engine. On arrival at Nottingham Victoria at 2.7pm, almost 3/4hr was allowed for the loco to come off and a tender loco to take over for the rest of the roster. Note how full the tender was, an indication that there would be no more refuelling during the day.
The roster varied between Saturdays and Saturdays Excepted - the latter being the case here - and the next journey was all-stations to Rugby Central where the train terminated from 4.26pm to 5.45pm. The loco would have drawn the carriages into one of the sidings and eventually run round them ready for departure all-stations to Loughborough, which would have been worked tender-first.
At Leicester, five minutes were allowed before continuing to Loughborough where the train changed direction again and the D9 had to run round once more. This this time, however, in returning to Leicester, it ran chimney-first.
In this third visit of the day to Leicester, the pause was an extended one lasting 49 minutes and it allowed the D9 to be turned to face north for its final leg: Leicester-Nottingham and Mansfield.The day ended with another tender-first leg, ECS to New Basford carriage sidings.
A key element of this roster was the service to Rugby and Loughborough at both of which the train changed direction and the loco had to run round and, because neither station had a turntable, a certain amount of tender-first running was required. This kind of thing is rarely "seen" by modellers, because it was rarely photographed! Such services with intermittent use of a set during the day were often provided for passengers to and from wayside stations connecting with through expresses.
I have found a second picture of D9 No 6022, taken in 1928 approaching Loughborough from the north with a non-gangwayed Ordinary Passenger 4-set. It's impossible to say for certain if this was the roster described above but it's quite likely. The formation is the same (BT, F, T, BT) and the carriages were:
ex-GCR |
BT |
3rd brake |
50' London Suburban |
ex-GCR |
F |
1st |
50' London Suburban |
ex-GCR |
T |
3rd |
60' Robinson |
ex-GCR |
BT |
3rd brake |
50' London Suburban |
The 50' London Suburban carriages had been cascaded from Marylebone after arrival off Robinson's matchboard versions, of which the 60' 3rd was an example; it was a 10-compartment carriage. Photo: W.L. Good.
Click on the image for an enlargement
New info:
I have also worked up a similar loco at the same place around the same time with part of the train visible, actually a bogie fish at the head. See "GCR bogie fish vans" (link below) under "In Service":
This train would have been a good candidate for routing NPCS from Nottingham to Leicester, another picture of an Ordinary Passnger service between the two cities conveying a cattle wagon.
(ii) To Mansfield and the LD&EC
A5 4-6-2T No 68905 first came to Colwick in 1950 for a period of 6 months, and again between May 1957-September 1959. It's about to depart from one of the north bays, possibly towards Mansfield, and the leading carriage is a Gresley 51' 1 1/2" brake end. Photo: R.S. Carpenter collection.
Click on the image for an enlargement
Seen at Mansfield, which closed to normal service passenger trains in January 1956, is A5 No 69821 with a train for Nottingham Victoria. It was twice at Langwith Jc (40E) as seen here, briefly in 1952 and 1955, then being transferred to Colwick. Only the leading carriage can be seen and it's an ex-GCR 50' London Suburban 3rd brake of c1905, which means that it was almost 50 yrs old and a good example of how elderly carriages were retained on minor lines where there was little or no competition. Photo: author's collection.
Click on the image for an enlargement
Another view at Mansfield but of a train that has terminated there and the unidentified Colwick J6 has run round and is about to work back to Nottingham. The leading carriage is a late 1930s-built Gresley BT(6) and the formation appears to be:
BT |
51'1 1/2" Gresley |
CL |
52'4" Thompson |
BT |
52'4" Thompson |
Photo: author's collection.
Click on the image for an enlargement
7 - Secondary services - GN Section
The GN Section trains served Derby to the NW and to the SE, Grantham and Leicester Belgrave Road and two inner and outer suburban lines:
The two inner and outer suburban lines built by the GNR are relevant because when the GCR arrived, they were connected to Nottingham Victoria and this map from an Ian Allan article by A.G.Cramp c1950 which I have redrawn shows what may be called inner and outer suburban lines. The route through Thorneywood was originally called the "Nottingham Suburban Railway" but suburban housing was slow to develop and city trams captured the traffic anyway. Rundown began during the Great War when the three stations were closed to passengers, and stayed closed, although some services to Derby continued to use the route until 1929. The goods traffic was handled from the north and almost entirely incoming (mostly coal?) and lasted until 1951 when the line was closed.
The line in bold sometimes called "the Back Line" continued to carry passengers (the colliery service was replaced by a bus) with 9 trains each way between Nottingham Vic and Basford & Bulwell in 1939. Haulage is believed to have been by Colwick's 0-6-0 tender locos and 4-4-0s which means that some of the trains photographed at Nottingham Vic's south end could have been serving either of these routes, but the only one I have seen accredited accordingly, was taken in 1938 with D2 No 3050 in charge for the Gedling route. There is a separate story here for ex-GNR 4-8-0 tanks (LNER Class R1) were also used but no photograph at Nottingham Victoria has been found. Reduction came after WW2 to five passenger trains and closure to those passenger services soon after (the route was more useful for through trains between Grantham and Derby and especially for goods and coal traffic). Click on the image for an enlargement
A variety of passenger tanks and tender locos - and former goods 0-6-0s in a mixed traffic role - were employed on these routes over the years.
GNR and LNER era
Caption expanded
This pre-Grouping view shows GNR Class C2 (LNER C12) of 1899, No 1515, which had been built for King's Cross with low chimney and dome. The photographer's note on the back states "The 4-4-2Ts had just arrived from KX", which would have been between 1918-23 and, once at Colwick, this one remained there most of the rest of its life. Nearly half of the class was to work out of Colwick.
A headboard for BASFORD is being carried although that was to the north of the station and is hard to explain. Six carriages can be seen but, alas, no more. Leading is an articulated triplet set followed by two Howlden 8w carriages. More GNR carriages can be seen in the bay. The GNR TT for 1919 offers two possibilities - the 1.50pm to Newark or the 2.15pm to Grantham. Photo: T.G. Hepburn.
Click on the image for an enlargement
Seen in March 1931, C12 4-4-2T No 4530 stands in the middle road with no lights, possibly while serving as station pilot. This loco had come to Colwick just before the Grouping and stayed until 1933 (when it was moved to the West Riding). Photo: Real Photographs.
Click on the image for an enlargement
By May 1935, pre-Grouping arrival No 1515 had received a tall chimney and dome and been renumbered 4515. It's carrying Ordinary Passenger lights with an ex-GNR 6w carriage brake leading and more ex-GNR stock behind it, probably about to work one of the Nottingham-based local services. This C12 was to be one of the first withdrawals in 1937. Photo: Transport Treasury.
Click on the image for an enlargement
It's May 1938 and C12 No 4513 is at Platform 3 with quite likely a GC working to Mansfield and an ex-GCR matchboard carriage leading, cascaded from Marylebone when the LNER supplied new carriages for its Outer Suburban service and replacing, at Nottingham, the previous generation of cascaded carriages, ex-GCR 50' clerestory and London Suburban designs. Photo: J.P. Wilson.
Click on the image for an enlargement
An undated view from the 1930s show J2 No.3077 (COL) waiting to depart with a train of ex-GNR Howlden carriages for Grantham. Of all the ex-GNR 0-6-0 tender locos, the relatively small classes J1-J2 had larger wheels and soon after the Grouping, the LNER sent several of each type to Colwick for use on stopping passenger trains locally and to Grantham and Derby. The trio at Colwick (3076-78) stayed for about 20 years until 1943 but this is the only picture that I have come across. Photo: W. Leslie Good.
Click on the image for an enlargement
So many old photos carry guesswork captions and this one of Colwick's J5 No 3027 is an example. The date is quoted as "1925" but that can be ruled out by the loco livery and the modern, recently built teak carriage on steel angle trussing (actually built 1937/8 as a BT(6) to D.246). The train may be the 6.05pm all stations to Derby via Gedling or the 6.14pm to Grantham. Photo: Guillford collection.
Click on the image for an enlargement
This beautiful picture also dates from 1938-39 and shows tall chimney and dome C12 No 4016 which was at Colwick from 29-11-38. Behind it the footbridge shows well, and how its height was greater than required to cross the tracks, because it connected with a public entrance on Parliament Street. Photo: R.K. Blencowe collection.
Click on the image for an enlargement
The Ivatt D2s
Elderly and now secondary passenger tender locos were used for the longer distance workings to Derby, Leicester and Grantham, especially the ex-GNR D2s, nearly all housed at Colwick (with a smaller number at Grantham). The class was ideal for lightly loaded minor services and it tends to be forgotten that between the two wars, Colwick's allocation was by far the highest on the LNER with a total of 13 on its books. I suspect that being so common around Nottingham they were so taken for granted that relatively few were photographed and they are barely mentioned in RCTS 3B either. I have one LNER-period picture (which I've transferred here temporarily) yet three after WW2 when the class was scrapped out of existence. It's as if photographers had realised their demise was imminent and came to Nottingham for a last chance to record them. The very last one was at Colwick and scrapped in 1951.
Caption expanded
Tthis view dates from the 1920s when D2 No 4365 was captured with a full tender ready to work an Ordinary Passenger, possibly the 3.19pm all stations to Grantham. Photo: author's collection.
Click on the image for an enlargement
This undated picture of ex-GNR D2 No 3045 was probably taken in 1934 when it spent almost half a year at Grantham from where it would have worked in and was photographed before being turned to work back. The photograph also shows the footbridge and south signal box and is captioned accordingly in that section. Photo: J. Scott-Morgan Collection.
Click on the image for an enlargement
This picture shows D2 No 2193 (COL) whose Thompson number had been applied in December 1946 and the loco condemned in June 1949. It had come to Colwick in December 1947 so the photo can be dated between 12/47 - 6/49, which is relevant for the newly fitted white asbestos screens on the ends of the train shed.
It is standing in the centre road at the south end and the leading carriage is a relatively modern late-1930s Gresley BT(6) on steel angle trussing. In the background stands an N2 that has been relettered "BRITISH RAILWAYS". Five were allocated to Colwick for a few years around this time for local services, but apparently were unpopular and one suffered a derailment. Shades of their deployment in the West Riding. They were better suited to the extremely well-maintained GNML out of King's Cross. Photo: F.A.Blencowe.
Click on the image for an enlargement
Ex-GNR Ivatt 4-4-0 D2 No 2194 (COL) is seen c1948 with its Thompson number (of 1946, the loco was withdrawn in 1949). The loco may have been some forty years old but the leading carriage, a Howlden 45' 3rd brake, was older still. It dated back to 1891 which means it would have been about 57 years old.
Standing in the centre road is an LMS 4-4-0, a 2P No 402 with smokebox running number and shed plate, alas unreadable. Photo: Author's collection.
Click on the image for an enlargement
Ex-GNR Ivatt 4-4-0 D2 No E2188 (COL) received this BR version of its number in February 1948 and was condemned the following year in October 1949. It may have been a murky day but the loco, at least beyond the tender, looks quite clean and we may be seeing the post-works condition after its last general overhaul being maintained by the cleaners.
It was captured on Saturday 23rd July 1949 in one of the north bays with an Ordinary Passenger train, probably Nottingham-Derby. An element of upgrading can be seen via an ex-GER Holden 50' gangwayed 3rd brake - BTK(3) to GE.541E. Photo: Author's collection.
Click on the image for an enlargement
BR days
J5 No 65480 awaits departure with an OP for Grantham in an undated view but between March and June 1949 when the loco was renumbered and then given a general overhaul. A small class of 20 ex-GNR Ivatt 3F locos designed for goods traffic, the LNER had concentrated them at Colwick until the whole class was there, being used as a mixed traffic type (see also picture of No.3027 below). The class lasted until 1955.
The train may have been the c.6.0am "workman's" from Nottingham to Grantham, rostered for five carriages, which may explain the near-50-year old ex-NER clerestory 3rd behind the tender, still in LNER brown livery, number 2728. Such stock was cascaded to the GN Section to help replace ageing Howlden carriages and lasted until 1953. This set only worked in the morning making a single trip to Grantham and back and was put back in the carriage sheds at Basford.
Behind the train, the corrugated asbestos cladding on the ends of the train shed is very fresh but discolouration from loco exhausts can already be seen. Photo: G.F.Bullock (R.K.Blencowe Negative Archive - and covered in debris which I have had to repair)!
Click on the image for an enlargement
Click on the image for an enlargement
Another view at the south end of the station and a Cowick loco, this one dated 1952, shows J6 No. 64194 waiting in the Up NPCS bay to take its next train. Ordinary Passenger lights are aleady being carried for a train to Grantham. Photo: R.K. Blencowe Negative Archive (in a similar condition to the above)!
Click on the image for an enlargement
The quality of this anonymous copy may be iffy but it's another useful view of the Up "horse and carriage dock" being used. In 1952, K2 No 61729 with Ordinary Passenger lights is marshalling an ex-GWR horse box. This was a Colwick loco and it may have been working a train to Grantham rather than southwards on the GCLE. Photo: Author's collection.
Click on the image for an enlargement
A J6, No 64238, which was at Colwick between 1951-59, waits to leave one of the south bays with a train for Grantham. Only a fraction of the leading LNER steel-panelled carriage can be seen and it looks like a Thompson. Photo: author's collection.
Click on the image for an enlargement
Standing in the middle road with Thompson 52'4" stock is J39 No 64976 and it's not clear if this will be for a train to Grantham or Leicester. The loco was at Colwick between 1953-59 and it's the first view in this sequence in which no pre-Grouping stock can be seen. Photo: author's collection.
Click on the image for an enlargement
A more modern scene from 23rd August 1958 with A5 No 69807 about to depart with the 5.0pm Nottingham Victoria-Grantham. This loco came from Neasden in January 1950 and was at Colwick until withdrawal shortly after this picture was taken. Note the introduction of Thompson gangwayed stock, although it may only have been the odd coach. Photo: author's collection.
Click on the image for an enlargement
An undated view of a similar service now in the hands of Thompson L1 No 67771. The train is made up with Thompson 52'4" non-gangwayed stock. An unidentified ex-GCR A5 can be seen alongside. Photo; author's collection.
Click on the image for an enlargement
8 -1960s specials
In late 1966 there were identically named "Great Central Rail Tour" specials organised by the RCTS on 13th August 1966 and by the LCGB on 3rd September 1966. Much of the story can be found on the excellent w/s Six Bells Junction and I don't propose to go into details but I can offer a couple of pictures:
The first special by the RCTS ran from Waterloo to Penistone on the 1500DC lines and was brought into Nottingham Vic by ex-SR "West Country" Pacific No 34002 Salisbury. I think that this picture was taken as the loco was giving way to an 8F, then a B1 and on the final part, a Wath E260xx. Crikey, that was some tour! The return route was slightly different and Salisbury took the train back from Nottingham Vic to Marylebone, which was quite fitting really. Photo: author's collection possibly Mervyn Leah.
Click on the image for an enlargement
The second special was organised three weeks later by the LCGB with a broadly similar route but a "Merchant Navy" to Nottingham and two B1s (61131+61173) - that's more like it! - to the north. The picture appears to show 61173 taking water before being coupled to its partner.
My apologies for the quality of the picture but the slide is quite dark and has taken quite a visit by Ye Olde Photoshoppe. Photo: author's collection.
Click on the image for an enlargement
To be continued...
Other locations on the GCLE:
