Tuxford Central railway station

Tuxford Central railway station is a former railway station in Tuxford, Nottinghamshire, England.

Tuxford Central
General information
Location	Tuxford, Bassetlaw, Nottinghamshire England
Grid reference	SK 734 702
Platforms	2[1][2]
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	LD&ECR
Pre-grouping	Great Central Railway
Post-grouping	LNER British Railways
Key dates
15 December 1896	Opened as Tuxford
1 July 1923	Renamed Tuxford Central
19 September 1955	Closed[3]

v t e Lancashire, Derbyshire & East Coast Railway
Legend
Chesterfield (Market Place) Boythorpe Viaduct over MR Brampton Branch and Boythorpe Railway   Horns Bridge over Midland Main Line GCR Chesterfield Loop River Rother Duckmanton Tunnel Great Central Main Line Arkwright Town Arkwright Town Jct (1907) River Doe Lea Doe Lea Viaduct over MR Doe Lea Branch Bolsover South Bolsover Tunnel Scarcliffe Summit MML to St Pancras Sheffield Midland Attercliffe Road (MR) Rotherham Masborough West Tinsley (SDR) Catcliffe (SDR) Rotherham Masborough Treeton (MR) Woodhouse Mill (MR) Beighton (GCR) Beighton Junction Killamarsh West (MR) Beighton (GCR) Upperthorpe and Killamarsh Spinkhill Spinkhill Tunnel Clowne South Summit Markland Grips Viaduct Creswell and Welbeck Shirebrook North (Originally Langwith Junction) Langwith Junction shed Shirebrook South GNR to Nottingham Victoria (1901) Shirebrook West MR (now Robin Hood Line) Nottingham Midland to Worksop Warsop Clipstone Colliery Sidings Mansfield Railway to Nottingham Victoria (from 1917) Edwinstowe Ollerton Boughton Tuxford Central Tuxford Works Tuxford shed Dukeries Junction GNR (now ECML) Kings Cross to Retford Fledborough Fledborough Viaduct over River Trent Clifton-on-Trent Doddington and Harby Skellingthorpe GN&GEJR to Saxilby Pyewipe Junction Lincoln to Peterborough

LD&ECR and Sheffield District Railway

1950 Excursion Advert

See also

There were three Tuxford stations, though none was very near the centre of the town. They were:

• Tuxford Central, the subject of this article
• Dukeries Junction, the next station east, about a mile away, and
• Tuxford North, about a mile to the north east on a different line.

The positions of the three stations are most easily seen on the "External Links", below.

Context

The station was opened by the LD&ECR on its main line from Chesterfield Market Place to Lincoln. The LD&ECR was taken over by the GCR in 1907 and subsequently became part of the LNER in 1923 then British Railways on nationalisation in 1948. The station buildings were in the company's standard modular architecture,^[4][5][6] very similar to Edwinstowe and Bolsover South. Of the LD&ECR stations only Tuxford Central and Dukeries Junction were recorded as being electrically lit, the others being lit by gas or oil.^[7]

The line crossed a series of ridges between river valleys. From Ollerton it climbed at around 1 in 150 to Boughton after which it descended through Tuxford Central heading towards the River Trent.^[8]

A mile to the east at Dukeries Junction the LD&ECR line crossed the GNR's main line, now known as the ECML. On 16 November 1896 a substantial, 60 chains (1.2 km)^[9] double-track, West-North connection ("chord") was built between the two lines east of Tuxford Central, effectively forming a triangle,^[10][11][12] as shown on the 1947 map linked below. The northern point of the triangle was Tuxford North Junction, a short distance south of Tuxford North station.^[13]

The station opened in March 1897 and closed in 1955. The station building has since been razed to the ground.

Former Services

There was no Sunday service at Tuxford Central, apart from summer Sundays before World War I.^[14]

In 1922 3 trains per day plied between Chesterfield Market Place and Lincoln with a market day extra on Fridays between Langwith Junction and Lincoln. All these trains called at Tuxford Central.^[15]

From 1951 trains stopped running through to Chesterfield, turning back at Langwith Junction instead. Otherwise the same pattern continued until the last train on 17 September 1955.

The only ordinary timetabled passenger trains to run over the West-North chord were an all-year weekday service between Leeds, Doncaster, Mansfield and Nottingham (with through carriages to Bournemouth), from 11 July 1927 until withdrawn from 1 May 1933;^[16] they did not call at either Tuxford station. Thereafter, Summer holiday trains from Nottinghamshire via Mansfield Central to the Yorkshire Coast^[17] did so for many years, passing through Tuxford Central and Tuxford North without stopping. During World War II these were suspended, but an unadvertised workers' train between Mansfield and Ranskill used the curve between 1942 and 1945.

Trains continued to pass, with Summer excursions both via Lincoln^[18] and via the North-West chord continuing until 1964, but the picture was of progressive decline. The chord was closed on 3 February 1969, ending one source of through traffic. The run-down was abruptly accelerated in 1980 when a derailment east of Fledborough Viaduct led to the immediate closure of the line as a through route.

From 1980 the only traffic, apart from occasional enthusiasts' specials, was coal to High Marnham Power Station. After the power station closed in 2003 the track through the station site became redundant.

Tuxford Works and Engine Shed

North west of the triangle of lines described above was Tuxford Locomotive Works and within the triangle was Tuxford Engine Shed.

The locomotive works, known locally as "The Plant", was small but capable of performing most engineering functions, other than locomotive building. It could, for example, replace locomotive boilers and fireboxes. It employed 130 men. The LNER closed it as a locomotive works in 1927, but it continued as a carriage and predominantly wagon works for many years thereafter. The buildings were more or less intact in 1972, but by 1977 had all been razed to the ground except the main erecting halls, which are still used, albeit not for railway purposes.^[19][20]

The engine shed^[21] was originally expected to be the line's principal depot, however, it was soon realised that the main centre of activity would be Langwith Junction.

On 1 January 1923 the following classes of locomotive were allocated to Tuxford.^[22]

GCR class	LNER Class	Wheel Arrangement	No. allocated	Remarks[23]
D	M1	0-6-4T	8	Trip, shunting and assistance (banking) duties
A	N6	0-6-2T	8	Trip and shunting locomotives

Nevertheless, the shed continued to house goods and shunting locomotives until closure on 31 January 1959. The shed was equipped with a water softening plant, but no turntable. Coaling facilities were crude to the end. The shed was the final home of the original LD&ECR 0-6-4T "Big Tanks" (LNER Class M1.)^[19][24][12]

Upon closure locomotives and jobs were transferred to Langwith Junction, so a daily Dido train was provided for the staff concerned.^[25][26]

Modern Times

The line through Tuxford Central was reopened to non-passenger traffic in August 2009 as the High Marnham Test Track. The line is used by Network Rail to test new engineering trains and on-track plant.

The new test line runs from Thoresby Colliery Junction to the site of the partially demolished High Marnham Power Station, and passes former station sites of Ollerton, Boughton (Nottinghamshire), Tuxford Central and Dukeries Junction.^[27]

Preceding station		Disused railways		Following station
Boughton Line and station closed		Great Central Railway Lancashire, Derbyshire and East Coast Railway		Dukeries Junction Line and station closed

References

Notes

1. Stewart-Smith 2016a, p. 34.
2. Stewart-Smith 2016b, p. 23.
3. Butt 1995, p. 236.
4. Little 2002b, p. 2.
5. Anderson 2013, p. 340.
6. Booth 2013, p. 45.
7. Dow 1965, p. 164.
8. NoAuthor 2011, p. 16.
9. Dow 1965, p. 159.
10. Kaye 1988, p. 70.
11. Greening 1982, p. 63.
12. Stewart-Smith 2016b, p. 25.
13. Mitchell 2008, p. 50.
14. GCR working timetable for 1910
15. Bradshaw 1985, p. 718.
16. LNER public and working timetables
17. Marsden 2004, 4:30 minutes from start.
18. Walker 1991, Inside front cover.
19. Little 2002b, p. 7.
20. Dow 1965, p. 163.
21. Little 2002b, pp. 4, 6 & 8.
22. Yeadon, W B (1996). LNER Locomotive allocations 1 January 1923. Oldham: Challenger Publications. p. 38. ISBN 1-899624-19-8.
23. "Lner Encyclopedia - Locomotives". LNER ENCYCLOPEDIA. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
24. Ludlam 2013, pp. 137 & 142.
25. Little 2002c, p. 11.
26. Little 2002b, p. 34.
27. "Preparing for the Future: Network Rail Opens Vehicle Development Centre". Press Releases (Press release). Network Rail. 10 July 2009. Retrieved 31 August 2012.^{[permanent dead link‍]}

Sources

• Anderson, Paul (June 2013). Hawkins, Chris (ed.). "Out and About with Anderson". Railway Bylines. 18 (7). Clophill, Beds: Irwell Press Ltd. ISSN 1360-2098.
• Booth, Chris (2013). The Lancashire, Derbyshire and East Coast Railway A pictorial view of the "Dukeries Route" and branches. Vol. Two: Langwith Junction to Lincoln, the Mansfield Railway and Mid Nott's Joint Line. Blurb. ISBN 978-1-78155-660-3. 06884827.
• Bradshaw, George (1985) [July 1922]. Bradshaw's General Railway and Steam Navigation guide for Great Britain and Ireland: A reprint of the July 1922 issue. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 978-0-7153-8708-5. OCLC 12500436.
• Butt, R. V. J. (October 1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199. OL 11956311M.
• Cupit, J.; Taylor, W. (1984) [1966]. The Lancashire, Derbyshire & East Coast Railway. Oakwood Library of Railway History (2nd ed.). Headington: Oakwood Press. ISBN 978-0-85361-302-2. OL19.
• Dow, George (1965). Great Central, Volume Three: Fay Sets the Pace, 1900–1922. Shepperton: Ian Allan. ISBN 978-0-7110-0263-0. OCLC 500447049.
• Greening, David (1982). Steam in the East Midlands. Kings Lynn: Becknell Books. ISBN 978-0-907087-09-0.
• Kaye, A.R. (1988). North Midland and Peak District Railways in the Steam Age, Volume 2. Chesterfield: Lowlander Publications. ISBN 978-0-946930-09-8.
• Little, Lawson (Summer 2002c). Bell, Brian (ed.). "Lancashire, Derbyshire & East Coast Railway A personal View 1945–74 (Part I)". Forward. 132. Holton le Clay, Grimsby: Brian Bell for the Great Central Railway Society. ISSN 0141-4488.
• Little, Lawson (Autumn 2002a). Bell, Brian (ed.). "Lancashire, Derbyshire & East Coast Railway (Part II) A lineside look at Langwith Junction: (1) the 1940s". Forward. 133. Holton le Clay, Grimsby: Brian Bell for the Great Central Railway Society. ISSN 0141-4488.
• Little, Lawson (Winter 2002b). Bell, Brian (ed.). "Lancashire, Derbyshire & East Coast Railway (Part III) Brief History of Tuxford". Forward. 134. Holton le Clay: Brian Bell for the Great Central Railway Society. ISSN 0141-4488.
• Ludlam, A.J. (March 2013). Kennedy, Rex (ed.). "The Lancashire, Derbyshire & East Coast Railway". Steam Days. 283. Bournemouth: Redgauntlet 1993 Publications. ISSN 0269-0020.
• Marsden, Michael (2004) [1962-6]. Retford Marsden Rail 18 (DVD). Birkenshaw, West Yorkshire: Marsden Rail 2004. DVD18.
• Mitchell, Alan (June 2008). Holley, Mel (ed.). "My First A1 Turn". Steam World. 252. Peterborough: Steam World Publishing.
• Stewart-Smith, Robin (October 2016a). Milner, Chris (ed.). "Tuxford: The growth and decline of a railway centre, Part 1". The Railway Magazine. 162 (1387). Horncastle: Mortons Media Group Ltd. ISSN 0033-8923.
• Stewart-Smith, Robin (November 2016b). Milner, Chris (ed.). "Tuxford: The growth and decline of a railway centre, Part 2". The Railway Magazine. 162 (1388). Horncastle: Mortons Media Group Ltd. ISSN 0033-8923.
• NoAuthor (2011) [1948]. British Railways Atlas 1947: The Last Days of the Big Four. Shepperton: Ian Allan Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7110-3643-7.
• Walker, Colin (1991). Eastern Region Steam Twilight, Part 2, North of Grantham. Llangollen: Pendyke Publications. ISBN 978-0-904318-14-2.

External links

• All Tuxford Stations: old O.S. Map via npemap
• All Tuxford Stations: old maps via Old-Maps
• Tuxford Stations and former signalboxes: via signalboxes
• High Marnham Test Track: via signalboxes

53.2243°N 0.9032°W / 53.2243; -0.9032