History of the Line
Restoring our parents’ past for our children’s future
The Beginning
In 1851 large amounts of ironstone were discovered in Northamptonshire and the London & North Western Railway (L&NWR) decided to capitalize on this occurrence by proposing a new railway line between Northampton and Market Harborough. This in itself would open up more of the countryside for railway travel by providing a link between the lines from Rugby to Stamford, and Blisworth to Peterborough.
Designed and built by George R Stephenson, the Northampton to Market Harborough line was opened in 1859. It had eight stations, Northampton, Pitsford & Brampton, Spratton, Brixworth, Lamport, Kelmarsh, Clipston and Market Harborough and two tunnels; Kelmarsh at 531 yards long and Oxendon at 462 yards long on the down line (to Market Harborough) and the other bore at 453 yards long on the up line (to Northampton).
The line had a
Brixworth Station looking north towards Market Harborough.
This station closed on 4th January 1960.
Pitsford and Brampton Station complete with station buildings and double track in L&NWR or early LMS days.
This station closed on 5th June 1950.
Crowds gather at the official re-opening of the NLR on 31st March 1996.
Rebuilding
In June of 1981 a group was set up, calling itself the Welland Valley Railway Revival Group, to reopen as much of the line as was possible. On 15th August 1981, the group organised a special train to run from Northampton to Market Harborough and back. People gathered at the old station sites, bridges and crossings to see the last British Rail train on the line that had given 123 years of service. The next day the line closed to all traffic.
The Northampton Steam Railway soon emerged and preservation began in 1983, with the first arrivals of stock in the old goods yard at Pitsford & Brampton station; which is now the railway’s headquarters, situated approximately 5 miles north of Northampton. Three years later the group changed its trading name to the Northampton & Lamport Railway (NLR for short). BR lifted the original double track through the station in 1986. Re-construction of the station and tracklaying for the heritage railway then began in 1987.
Northamptonshire County Council purchased the line from British Rail and converted it into a linear country park and cycle way from just outside Northampton to just outside Market Harborough. Northampton & Lamport Railway leases the track bed from the County Council. A safety fence has been installed to separate the track from the footpath.
The initial construction of the NLR produced a railway comprising a station, two signal boxes, with approximately ¾ of a mile of running line and some sidings. The first passengers were carried along the reopened section on 19th November 1995 and the line was officially reopened on the 31st March 1996. This initial section of line is located between Bridge 11 and Bridge 13.
The first extension of the line from Bridge 13 to Bridge 14, was achieved by fundraising (including National Lottery funding) and seven years of hard work from our Volunteer Working Members at a cost of £50,000. In 2002 the first passenger train crossed the restored Bridge 13 since its closure by British Railways in 1981.
Work on the southern extension to a new station at Boughton commenced in 2007 and was officially opened to the public on 30th March 2024.
The Future
The next planned extension project is a ¼ mile (approx) extension north, over Bridge 14, to Merry Tom Crossing and eventually further north to Spratton.
Progress on the northern extension is unlikely to be rapid, and will continue as and when funds and resources allow. Initially, work will focus on tracklaying north of Bridge 14 using the materials we already have in store. Work required on the bridge itself is quite extensive and is in the initial planning stages.
Other future projects include new permanent station buildings at Pitsford & Brampton and at Boughton, and a carriage shed to allow us to keep some items of rolling stock undercover.
On the rolling stock side, work on creating an operational rake of Mk 1 coaches is ongoing, with the initial coach (3919) now quite well advanced. You can support this project by donating HERE.
Further information on our future projects can be found HERE.
The Northampton & Lamport Railway has achieved a lot since its formation and is always welcoming to visitors, new members, new Volunteer Working Members and donations.
February 2024 saw an initial start on the northern extension, with the trackbed scraped clean and concrete sleepers roughly laid out.