Trains at Kilby Bridge in 1976 and 2014
1) Kilby Bridge in February 1976
Kilby Bridge is a hamlet just south of Wigston where on the main road between Leicester and Welford there is a road bridge over the canal. ‘Kilby Bridge Junction’ is the name applied to nearby railway junctions on the Midland Main Line between Leicester and London St. Pancras. ‘Kilby Bridge’ was the name of the signal box which controlled the junctions where the number of tracks altered between two and four. The photographs below show the changes here between 1976 and 2014, both in the infrastructure and the passing trains.
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1-of-13) 1976 view of the location known as Kilby Bridge on the Midland Main Line, looking north towards Wigston and Leicester from a foot crossing. Things to note in this photograph:
- Kilby Bridge signal box is in the distance. The box was removed ten years later in July 1986, after colour light signalling was installed, and was transported to the Midland Railway Centre, in Derbyshire, where it now controls the terminus at Hammersmith.
- In the foreground is a backshunt near the beginning of a long loop line heading all the way to Wigston. Using this loop allowed slow north-bound trains to be overtaken by faster passenger trains.
- The signal in the foreground has two arms. The lower, i.e. lower-speed, arm on the left controls trains about to enter the loop line. The higher, i.e. higher-speed, arm on the right controls trains heading north on the fast line.
- Between the signal post in the foreground and the signal box is a speed limit sign showing a ‘20’ mph speed limit on the ‘down’ fast line heading north. New ballast can be seen around the track which was in the process of being improved.
- In the far distance can be seen two tall signals for trains heading south towards the photographer, again one high-speed for the main line and one low-speed for a turnout from a loop line onto the main line.
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2-of-13) Class 45 no. 45117, on the 12:30 St. Pancras - Derby, slows to negotiate the 20 mph speed restriction on the ‘down’ fast line. The buffer stop at the end of the backshunt on the loop line can be seen by the rear of the train.
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3-of-13) Class 45 no. 45132, on the 13:00 Sheffield - St. Pancras, accelerates away from any speed restriction on the ‘up’ fast line.
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4-of-13) Class 45 no. 45122, on the 13:30 St. Pancras - Nottingham, slows for the 20 mph speed restriction on the ‘down’ fast line.
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5-of-13) Class 45 nos. 45049 and 45114, on the 14:50 Nottingham - St. Pancras, provide super power as they accelerate away from any speed restriction on the ‘up’ fast line. Note the public footpath crossing in the foreground which has been torn up over the fast lines during the track improvements.
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6-of-13) Class 45 no. 45103, on the 14:30 St. Pancras - Derby, viewed from the west side of the foot crossing, slows for the speed restriction on the ‘down’ fast line.
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From the early-1960s to the early-1980s the express passenger trains along the Midland Main Line through Kilby Bridge were principally hauled by British Rail ‘Class 45’ (‘Sulzer Type 4’) diesel-electric locomotives, commonly known as ‘Peaks’ after the names of mountains carried by the similar, earlier, ‘Class 44’ locomotives. These 2,500 hp locomotives were notable for having a 1-Co-Co-1 wheel arrangement to distribute the weight of 130 tons which resulted in very long bogies to carry the multiple wheels.
2) Kilby Bridge in February 2014
By 2014 the lines at Kilby Bridge had been resignalled with colour light signals remotely controlled from the new Leicester power box, and the manual Kilby Bridge signal box that had been here was removed in July 1986. The ‘down’ loop line to Wigston has been relaid and is now bi-directional since the ‘up’ loop line has been removed. The backshunt with buffer stop which terminated the loop here has been removed and that track is now part of the loop.
The other main change here was that the level foot crossing on the public footpath had been recently replaced by a footbridge for safety.
By now the Class 45 ‘Peak’ locomotives had long been replaced by diesel-electric Intercity 125 High-Speed Trains (HSTs) and Class 222 diesel-electric multiple units. Also, there appeared to be more freight trains sent this way now rather than over the flatter route via Harringworth viaduct and Melton Mowbray.
7-of-13) Class 37 Co-Co no. 37409 heads south hauling inspection car ‘Caroline’ no. 975025 from Derby to Willesden.
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8-of-13) High-Speed Train (HST) no. 43075 on the 10:15 St. Pancras - Nottingham. The track on the right has been extended to give a longer loop line.
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9-of-13) Class 222 ‘Meridian’ no. 222016 on the 10:26 St. Pancras - Sheffield.
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10-of-13) Class 66 Co-Co no. 66078 demonstrates the use of the loop line on the late running 08:57 Radlett Redland Roadstone to Mountsorrel.
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11-of-13) Class 222 ‘Meridian’ no.222017 heads south with the 10:49 Sheffield - St. Pancras
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12-of-13) HST no. 43059 on the 10:15 St. Pancras - Nottingham.
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13-of-13) Class 66 Co-Co no. 66011 heads onto the loop line with the 10:07 Bletchley R.M.C.- Peak Forest Cemex Sdgs. The remains of the level crossing which carried the public footpath is evident and was now signed as a Network Rail ‘Access Point’. The public footpath now takes the safer route, avoiding the crossing, up the steps on the right to the new footbridge from where these photographs in 2014 were taken.
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An update will be required here since the route from to Wigston was fitted out with 25KV overhead electrification which was energised in July 2024. The wires will power new bi-mode (diesel and electric) trains through the area which will be introduced in the future.