Reference
X410
Title
Plans bought from British Rail Nov 1970
Bedford; Leicester & Hitchin; Hatfield Luton & Dunstable; London Midland & Scottish Railways
Date free text
1846 - 1925
Production date
From: 1846 To: 1925
Scope and Content
Bedford Railway: X410/1-2
This was the first railway in the county, opened 17 Nov 1846. It ran from a junction with the London & North Western Railway at Bletchley through Fenny Stratford, Woburn (later Woburn Sands), Ridgmont, Lidlington, Marston (later Millbrook), to the station now called "St John's" in Bedford. After the opening of the Bedford to Hitchin line in 1857 the station was usually referred to as "Bedford L & N W" to distinguish it from the Bedford Midland station. However, when the London & North Western and the Midland Railways were united in the same group in 1923, differentiating labels had to be affixed to the stations, and the names used were "Bedford St John's" and "Bedford Midland Road". The name "St John's" was chosen as the station stands near St John's Street. It was built on the site of the former St Leonard's Hospital.
Leicester & Hitchin Railway: X410/3-12
The Midland Railway made two moves to reach London. The first was in 1857 and reached Hitchin only. The second was in 1868 when the Company was successful in running its trains on its own metals first to Moorgate Street, and soon after, to St Pancras. In 1844 the Midland had been formed by the fusion of three smaller lines - the Midland Counties, The Birmingham & Derby Junction and the North Midland. It could therefore be described as a provincial line with ambitions to reach the capital. As long ago as 1840 the Midland Counties Railway had constructed a line from Leicester to Rugby, and was thus able to obtain a small share of the London traffic by sending its passengers and goods to the junction with the London & Birmingham Railway at Rugby, whence they travelled to Euston. The Rugby line ran south to Wigston before turning away to Rugby, and Wigston accordingly became a natural "jumping off" point for future extensions to the south. In the event, the Rugby line proved unsatisfactory, and under the guidance of their great chairman, John Ellis, the Midland planned a more direct route. Under pressure from the owners of the iron ore quarries of Northamptonshire, and the influential landowners of Bedfordshire (such as W H Whitbread), the line was plotted to run through Desborough, Kettering, Wellingborough and Bedford to Hitchin. Except for the high ground lying between the Nene valley and the Ouse valley, the terrain offered little trouble to the civil engineer, and there was only one tunnel between Wigston Junction and Hitchin, viz. Warden (880 yards). The Sharnbrook tunnels came about thirty years later. However, the Ouse valley alone required several bridges and viaducts. This route had been surveyed by other projected railways, notably the South Midland Railway (from Wigston). The SMR was unsuccessful with its Bill and the assets were purchased by the Midland Railway. The South Midland survey of 1845 shows the mileage to Bedford as 46, whereas Bedford is of course about 49 miles from Leicester. The difference of approximately 2 3/4 miles is due to the survey having commenced from Wigston.
Hatfield Luton & Dunstable Railway: X410/13-17
This line was opened throughout in 1860 after there had been several unsuccessful schemes to link the towns by rail. The route was from Hatfield to Welwyn (near where the later Garden City Station was built), then north west across to Ayot, Wheathampstead, Harpenden (East), Luton Hoo (first called New Mill End) to Luton and Dunstable. There were two stations at Dunstable - Church Street (later called Dunstable Town), and North, where there was a joint station with the London & North Western Railway. The latter had reached Dunstable from Leighton Buzzard, via Stanbridgeford, in 1848.
London Midland & Scottish Railway: X410/18-19
After the 1914-18 war the railways of the country were not only very much in need of refurbishing but were also facing increased competition from the roads. The consequent difficulties would have proved too much for the resources of the many small private companies, and Parliament decided that the companies should amalgamate into four large groups. This was enforced by the Railways Act of 1921 and the Groups were to commence operations as from 1 Jan 1923. This was Parliament's alternative to nationalisation. The largest constituents of the LMSR were the Midland and the London & North Western, previously great rivals. The four Groups brought railways up to a pitch of efficiency not reached before, and they lasted until 1 Jan 1948. This was due to the Transport Act of 1947, passed by Parliament to combat the difficulties similar to those after the 1914 war but more intense.
All the plans are drawn with the accuracy to be expected from civil engineers, and should form a useful source of information
Level of description
fonds