Category: History

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Thomas’ 50th Birthday Bash.

The Author Rev. W. Awdry naming Thomas.

The Nene Valley Railway is home to a little blue engine named ‘Thomas’ by the Rev. W. Awdry author of the famous books about Thomas and Friends. On 26th June 2021 it will be 50 years since Rev. W. Awdry signed Thomas’ cab at The Nene Valley Railway & we at the railway want to celebrate this day with all of Thomas’ friends old & new.

The 0-6-0T engine No. 1800 was built by Hudswell Clarke in 1947 at about the time when Rev.W Awdry wrote his second book in which Thomas appeared. The little blue engine spent its entire working life at the British Sugar Corporation Peterborough factory pushing wagons of sugar beet up an incline until the day came when a diesel engine replaced the steam power of Thomas. The Peterborough Railway Society purchased this delightful little engine on 9th September 1973 and he was moved to the Nene Valley Railway, where he has since delighted his friends and children of all ages.

Thomas lives at Wansford and can been seen most of time in the yard when not in steam, on some occasions he is moved in the shed to let the engeineers work on him. 

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Coming soon….

A series of hand drawn to scale images of LNER stations between Peterborough & Doncaster, these colour drawings date from 1891 onwards to the 1930’s.

Here is a sample…

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The magic of The Nene Valley Railway.

When I joined the railway some sixteen years ago people often commented about the magic of the Nene Valley Railway, and I never quite understood what they were on about.

Today I am sitting here watching families arrive at Wansford Station, and see them showing their young children the view through the gates. I see the children hopping from one foot to another excitedly, looking forward to seeing Thomas and having a trip behind him.

Then I see the adults smiling as well already enjoying their visit and looking forward to what’s ahead.

Looking at that I now understand what people mean when they talk about the magic of the Nene Valley Railway.

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Ready Steady GO!!!!!!!!

Tomorrow sees the recommencement of services on the NVR, hopefully with no more lockdowns ahead.

Services will still be far from what we are used to, we still have social distancing.

Looking at the official railway web site we have lots of special events coming up, please support them. This is still a critical time for the railway.

For those who do visit and travel, you are most welcome, thanks for your support it is appreciated.

The railway has played a very important part in Peterborough’s history and development and it’s fair to say the city would be very different if that first train had not steamed into the city in 1845.

Whilst we can’t fully recreate those days, travelling on the railway does give you the opportunity to travel on part of the first railway route into the city.

If you take some nice photographs during your visit and would like to share them please feel free to send them to me and I would love to include them on the blog. The email address can be found to the right of this posting.

Welcome back to The Nene Valley Railway.

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Coming to a screen near you.

For several years Railcam have had three cameras on the NVR.

Well I am pleased to announce that one of the cams showing the Main Wansford station and crossing is now available on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mO_xi4GHig for the direct connection

Our thanks to Railcam for providing this for the railway it is appreciated.

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Oh those tickets are big!

I was reminded today of a comment often heard when people looked at the display on the walls of Orton Mere station.

We had pictures of various things on the wall, amongst them were pictures of old tickets enlarged to A4.

One off the most common comments we heard was:-

“Oh look how big tickets were in the old days!”

Most were amazed when we told them that they had been enlarged so they were easier to see, I could never imagine anybody walking round with an A4 sized ticket in their pocket.

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Ghost train: Northampton to Peterborough.

I received this from Mark Hernandez Deputy Editor of Nene Steam. My thanks to him for this contribution.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ARtlQ16skU

I’ve seen the video above shared on a few local railway groups I belong to on social media and by a lot of NVR volunteers so I got in contact with James, the young lad who created it . He kindly agreed to a short Q&A over email which I’ve included below.

Hi Marc. No problem. I am glad you like the vid it is probably the longest I have made in this format! (Ghost Train)I’ll try and answer as best I can.

Q – What made you decide to produce a then and now animated journey on the Northampton-Peterborough railway? I take it’s part of a series you’ve been doing of lost/closed railways

A –  I chose the Northampton – Peterborough line in part via a suggestion from one of my followers. Every now and then I will throw a poll or question as to where I should explore next with my various projects – after I had produced several “Ghost Train” films in this style it was recommended that I take a look at the Northampton to Peterborough line. On quick inspection I discovered some interesting changes to the local landscape. (A lot of the track seems to be cutting through water/ lakeland in many places.) I myself am not a local being based in North Norfolk.  However I am always interested in dramatic change from anywhere in the country and railways provide a striking albeit poignant one. 
Q – Have you got any local connections to the original railway or ‘Nene Valley’ area?

A – I have not been to the Nene Valley but no doubt its on the to do list after all these lockdowns!
Q – Can you briefily talk us through the process of how you created the video? Time it took etc
A – I split into phases with these films. First I research the stations along the route – what images are available to use etc then I plot the route out on both the old map and the modern day. I then synchronize the two so they work in tandem with one another. I can then animate the train and add in any extra “cutscenes” showing the on the ground locations as they are now. True trainiacs will note that the locomotive I have been using isn’t authentic to the line but that is more a limitation of my resources and should be taken as illustrative of the route rather than a reflection of the original railway. I can usually get one of these done in a matter of a few days – with the pandemic I have had more time than usual to devote to such projects!
If you could link to my youtube channel that would be a great help. https://www.youtube.com/c/JamesFoxTimeTravelArtist/  Let me know if there are any other questions and I will try  and answer as best I can!

Please visit the James Fox YouTube channel. The history of the railway and its social implications are my areas of interest, so I personally found this video very interesting.

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The Wansford to Stamford Branch Line.

Occasionally you will, when trawling through the junk on YouTube come across little gems. Here is one such gem.

© Peterborough Images

The video is from Peterborough Images, please look at their YouTube channel and also their excellent web site at www.peterboroughimages.co.uk where there are many pictures of not only the railways of Peterborough but also pictures from around the city.

My thanks for their permission to link to the video.

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Great Northern Lamp

Just a couple of images of a Great Northern Railway Company lamp from New England I photographed a few years ago.

Not the greatest of images but they do show the lamp and also it’s identification plate.

© Robert Maskill
© Robert Maskill