Melbourne Line
| Melbourne Line | |
|---|---|
| Overview | |
| Locale | Derbyshire, Leicestershire |
| Stations |
Worthington, Tonge and Breedon, Melbourne |
| Operation | |
| Opened | 1868 (Derby Midland – Melbourne), 1874 (Melbourne – Ashby-de-la-Zouch), 1939 (as military railway) |
| Closed | 1945 (as military railway), 1980 (as civilian railway) |
| Owner | LMS (during military use) |
| Operator(s) | War Department |
| Depot(s) | Melbourne |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) |
The Melbourne Line was a railway line which ran from Derby to Ashby de la Zouch. It was used by the British Army and Allied engineers during the Second World War from 1939 until late 1944 to prepare them for the invasion of mainland Europe. Engineers practised the demolition and rebuilding of railways and the running and maintenance of a railway line and its rolling stock. There was also a bridge building school at Kings Newton.
The section used by the military was between junctions near Ashby-de-la-Zouch in Leicestershire and Chellaston and Swarkestone in Derbyshire. Its principal station was Melbourne, which was actually at the hamlet of Kings Newton. Troops camped mainly at Weston-on-Trent from 1940. A suspension bridge linked the camp with Kings Newton over the Trent.
In the early stages of the War it was soon realised that the military railway at Longmoor would have to be expanded if the capacity to train the necessary railway personnel was to be met.
A second training establishment was sought. Derby Midland was a major railway centre. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway staff college there was about to close and its Principal, Colonel Lionel Manton recommended the nearby rural freight line between Derby and Ashby de la Zouch be used as a training line. On 19 November 1939 the section of the line from Chellaston East Junction to the Smisby Road crossing, just north of Ashby, was handed over to the War Department. It was named the No. 2 Railway Training Centre (No. 1 being at Longmoor).
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Wikipedia