Nene Valley Railway | |
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The Polish 0-8-0T Class Slask No Tkp 5485 departs Wansford with a train for Yarwell | |
Locale | England |
Terminus | Peterborough |
Commercial operations | |
Name | London and North Western Railway |
Built by | London and Birmingham Railway |
Original gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
Preserved operations | |
Operated by | Nene Valley Railway |
Stations | 5 |
Length | 7 1⁄2 miles (12.1 km) |
Preserved gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
Commercial history | |
Opened | 1847 |
Closed to passengers | 1966 |
Closed | 1972 |
Preservation history | |
1974 | Line purchased by Peterborough Development Corporation |
1977 | NVR reopened |
1983 | Orton Mere (station building) opened |
1986 | NVR Extended Peterborough (Nene Valley) opened |
1995 | Wansford (current station building) opened |
2007 | Yarwell Junction (current terminus) reopened |
2008 | Yarwell Junction Station Building opens officially |
Headquarters | Wansford |
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The Nene Valley Railway (NVR) is a preserved railway in Cambridgeshire, England, running between Peterborough Nene Valley and Yarwell Junction. The line is 7 1⁄2 miles (12.1 km) in length. There are stations at each terminus, and three stops en route: Orton Mere, Ferry Meadows and Wansford.
In 1845, the London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR) company was given parliamentary assent to construct a line from Blisworth in Northamptonshire to Peterborough. Completed in 1847, it was Peterborough's first railway line. It terminated at Peterborough, later 'Peterborough East' station. The sheds and one platform face of this disused station are still clearly visible next to the former Matalan store on East Station Road, off London Road.
The line was of little significance until the late 19th century, when the London & North Western Railway (L&NWR), which had absorbed the L&BR, constructed a line via Nassington and King's Cliffe to Seaton, below Welland Viaduct. This turned Wansford, previously an unimportant village station, into a major junction. Its importance increased a few years later when the Great Northern Railway constructed another line via Sutton, Southorpe and Barnack to Stamford, on the Midland Railway line. In 1884 the line received a royal visit when the royal family travelled from Peterborough to Barnwell, some 13 miles (21 km) beyond Wansford, to visit Barnwell Manor, home of the then Duke of Gloucester. The station building is now preserved at Wansford station on the NVR, and is known as the Barnwell building.