History of Braunston & Willoughby Station
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The line was brought into use on 25th July 1898, with commercial coal traffic, and closed by the now famous "Beeching Axe" in 1956. The Great Central, as it was called, was formally opened to passenger traffic on 9th March, 1899, when special guests from Manchester, Sheffield, and Nottingham were conveyed to Marylebone. London, for a special luncheon to mark the occasion.
Braunston and Willoughby railway station was located on the former Great Central's main line to London. The station was situated close to the village of Willoughby and was originally known as Willoughby for Daventry. However the Great Central found that it was in fact the village of Braunston which was providing with the majority of business for the new Great Central station. This was recognised by the renaming of the station on 1st January 1904 to Braunston and Willoughby for Daventry. In 1938 the LNER, who subsumed the Great Central together with a number of other railway companies on 1st January 1923, dropped the reference to Daventry resulting in the station finally acquiring the name Braunston and Willoughby which it carried until its closure to passengers and goods on 1st April 1957. The main line itself closed on 5th September 1966 although the station's buildings had already been removed during 1961-2 whilst the island platform remained for a while longer. However, the stationmaster's house remains in use today as a private dwelling.
The station was designed as an island platform, a design typical of many of the stations built on the London Extension as they were very economic in sharing passenger facilities and staffing. What was less common was the station being built on an embankment reached by steps from a roadway, the A45 Coventry to Daventry road, which ran beneath the main line. Most of the station's buildings were located on the embankment to the south of the A45 London Road. There were three flights of steps with the landing area on the platform being covered by a glazed canopy. The station buildings were unchanged throughout the working life of the station offering the following office and passenger accommodation: Station Master's Office, Booking Office and Hall, General Waiting Room, Ladies Waiting Room with toilet and Gentlemen's toilet. Opposite the station, on the up side, was a tall water tower formed by an iron tank sitting on top of brick structure. This supplied the water to the water columns which were strategically located throughout the station, goods yard and refuge and loop sidings. The goods yard was also accessed from the A45, from the Coventry side of the railway bridge, and had a gated entrance a little distance from the station in order for the approach road to climb up to the sidings. Adjacent to the gated entrance was the weigh bridge and office. There was a refuge siding on the up side of the station similar to that first installed at Rugby Central. Access to this refuge siding was via trailing points which meant that trains had to reverse back into the siding. This was a safety measure as it reduced the chance of point failure when trains passed over them at speed. On the down side and more or less opposite the passenger station was the goods yard which again had a layout similar to that found at Rugby Central. There was a passing loop which combined the facility of a refuge siding with that of a siding for entering and leaving the goods yard. Access to the passing loop was a little more complex as again all the points were of a trailing nature. There was a siding which ran along the boundary of the yard to cattle and carriage docks. Separate to this was another siding which ran the length of the yard and was used for coal and other open wagons. The goods shed was accessed off this siding via another siding in the form of a passing loop. A 'pick up' goods train from each direction would also call at the yard to collect and deliver wagons for local merchants and coal merchants. The down 'pick up' would be from Woodford and call at the station at 10:00 am each weekday and Saturday whilst an up 'pick up' service from Annesley would call at 11:00 am.
Veiw of Willoughby & Braunston Station, c.1940 looking south on the A45 Taken from a point opposite the approach road to the Goods Yard
The same view during the 1947 Flood
One of the last trains to pass through the now deserted and derelict station 1961
The Platform,
Looking north with the old water tower on the right
View of Braunston & Willoughby station's signal cabin with staff posing for the camera circa 1910. The GCR used the term cabin rather than box when describing their signal, a practice also adopted by the LNWR. The cabin is an example of a type introduced by the MS&L in 1894, but was built after the company renamed itself the Great Central to emphasise its newly created London route.
Whilst the majority of these cabins were built with brick bases some, as seen above were an all-wood examples, and features included a shallower roof pitch and a lean-to porch. Only the corner window sections of the glazed windows slide open. This was to allow access to the foot-walk so that the
signalman could clean the windows.
A Third Class Ticket to Rugby
9d (abt 4p)
Looking South along London Road (A45) towards Braunston. The double plate girder span bridge (bridge no. 468) that brought the GC's Main Line into Braunston & Willoughby Station. Two spans were required because North & Southbound tracks split on their approach to pass either side of the single island platform. A staircase leading up from the centre of the southern abutment (on the Right) would eventually take passengers up to the station buildings. Note the wooden boards that have been slung under the girders for the navvies to work on,
Two girls at the bottom of the staircase leading up to Braunston & Willoughby station. The paved area in front of the stairs was the area situated at road level on the A45 in between the two girders which spanned the road. The lamp sited over the stairs would have been lit by oil, as would all of the others located on the station, requiring the most junior porter to be responsible for the lighting and extinguishing of the lamps, Filling them with oil and the trimming of their wicks.
Now and Then
These are two photo's of the Station House
On the Right in 1911 with then Station Master
Mr.Thomas Magness standing in the garden.
and on the Left in 2014 now a Private
13 Arch Railway Viaduct over the River Leam
An incredible achievement considering the date, the equipment available at the time, and the remote location of the site.
With the wooden centrings still to be removed the 13 arch Viaduct is seen in the final stages of its construction circa 1897. This is an interesting snapshot of bridge building at the end of the nineteenth century. T Oliver & Son was the contractor who built this part of the Last Main Line (Contract No 4, Rugby to Woodford).
The 13 arch viaduct and parapets walls appear to be complete, but the embankment on either side has yet to be finished.
Derailment , Barby Sidings .7th August 1955
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Ex-LNER Class V2 2-6-2 No 60828 is seen derailed after an accident near Barby Sidings on 7th August 1955. At the time of the accident the locomotive was allocated to 34A Kings Cross shed and had been heading the Manchester to Marylebone express. A summary of the report stated 'The Up line had been blocked for pre-arranged engineering work and trains were being operated over the Down line between Rugby and Barby Sidings under the single line working arrangements. The 10:35 am Up express passenger train from Manchester to Marylebone travelled therefore on the Down line after leaving Rugby. It was passing through the facing crossover at Barby Sidings, by which it was to be returned to the Up line, at the very excessive speed of about 55 mph and became seriously derailed. The engine plunged down the 15 foot high embankment and turned over on its side, and it was followed by several coaches one of which also overturned while others were tilted at varying angles.' Unfortunately when it derailed the driver, Mr C Simpson, was killed, and there were 20 people injured, The cause was , Excessive speed and Signalling Error