Market Harborough, Leicestershire, 1974 & 1975
1-of-20) Market Harborough station, platform for the Northampton line, photographed from the ‘Great Central 75th Anniversary Railtour’ special train.
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Many of the photographs in these railway photograph galleries are available for use under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license. Attribution should include a link to www.nigeltout.com.
On 23rd March 1974 I went on the ‘Great Central 75th Anniversary Railtour’ special train organised by the Main Line Steam Trust, which was then the operating organisation of the preserved section of the former Great Central Railway based at Loughborough.
This rail tour took an interesting route northwards from the original Great Central Railway’s London terminus at Marylebone station along the former GCR main line as far as was still possible to Calvert, where it turned off eastwards towards Bletchley. At Bletchley the train headed northwards on the ex-LNWR main line and, after taking the Northampton branch, it gained the route to Market Harborough where it joined the midland Main Line to head to its destination at Loughborough.
Along the way I took some photographs out of the window as the train passed interesting places. The route from Northampton to Market Harborough did not have a normal passenger service and so was especially interesting. The train entered Market Harborough station past the remaining disused platform on the Northampton branch, which I photographed.
Market Harborough station with its line to Northampton looked interesting so I decided that it deserved another visit.
2-of-20) Market Harborough station, platform for the Northampton line, photographed from the ‘Great Central 75th Anniversary Railtour’ special train.
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Trains on the Midland Main Line at Market Harborough, 27th May 1975
I returned to photograph trains at Market Harborough station the following year on 27th May 1975 with my trusted Zenith ‘B’ 35mm camera and several lenses. The camera was initially loaded with a black & white film which I would process at home but when this film was finished I splashed out and loaded a colour print film, which at the time was not cheap and was also expensive to have processed. Here the photographs are split into two sections, one covering the Midland Main Line through the station and the other covering the branch to Northampton. In each section there are the B&W photographs first, followed by the colour photographs.
3-of-20) ‘Peak’ class 1-Co-Co-1 no. 45106 approaches its stop at Market Harborough station with a northbound passenger train from London St.Pancras.
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4-of-20) ‘Peak’ class 1-Co-Co-1 no. 45106 departs northwards from Market Harborough with a train from London St. Pancras.
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5-of-20) ‘Peak’ class 1-Co-Co-1 no. 45130 heads south with a passenger train for London St. Pancras.
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6-of-20) Due to the lack of passengers waiting and with the gentleman on the far right well away from the platform edge, ‘Peak’ class 1-Co-Co-1 no. 45149 appears to be on a non-stop train northwards through Market Harborough station with a passenger train from London St. Pancras.
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7-of-20) ‘Peak’ class 1-Co-Co-1 no. 45146 approaches Market Harborough station from the north with a passenger train for London St. Pancras.
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Trains on the Northampton branch at Market Harborough, 27th May 1975
8-of-20) ‘Peak’ class 1-Co-Co-1 no. 45109 heads northwards from Market Harborough with a train from London St. Pancras.
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9-of-20) ‘Peak’ class 1-Co-Co-1 no. 45060 approaches Market Harborough station with a northbound passenger train from London St.Pancras.
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10-of-20) ‘Peak’ class 1-Co-Co-1 no. 45148 arrives in Market Harborough station with a southbound passenger train for London St.Pancras apparently about to stop.
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11-of-20) Class 25 Bo-Bo no. 25087 passes through Market Harborough station with a northbound freight train.
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12-of-20) View looking north from the end of the platform at Market Harborough station. On the left is the branch leading from Northampton and on the right are the Leicester to London St. Pancras main lines.
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13-of-20) The main line platforms at Market Harborough station, looking south towards London. It is interesting on the left to see a member of the station staff with a parcels trolley, a sight now unknown.
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14-of-20) ‘Peak’ class 1-Co-Co-1 no. 45143 approaches Market Harborough station from the north with a passenger train for London St. Pancras.
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The photographs below are of the Northampton branch at Market Harborough station. They were take on the same day as those of the Midland Main Line above and have been separated for clarity.
15-of-20) View looking north along the remaining, southbound, platform of the Northampton branch at Market Harborough station. The northbound platform was on the left.
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16-of-20) A longer view looking north along the remaining, southbound, platform of the Northampton branch at Market Harborough station. The northbound platform was on the left. In the distance a passenger train from London St. Pancras, hauled by a ‘Peak’, is departing for Leicester and beyond.
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17-of-20) The approach of this train on the branch heading towards Northampton took me by surprise and I only managed to get a going-away shot of it. It shows ‘Peak’ class 1-Co-Co-1 no. 45109 hauling a train with the first vehicle being a ‘Motorail’ flat wagon.
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18-of-20) I was more prepared for the next train on the branch heading towards Northampton, which was the only other one taking that route that I saw that day. Here is ‘Peak’ class 1-Co-Co-1 no. 45044 passing on a freight train.
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19-of-20) Here the freight train in the previous photograph heads along the branch towards Northampton. This line was closed in 1981.
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20-of-20) The platform then remaining at Market Harborough for the Northampton branch. Note how it is much lower in the foreground which is probably the height of the original LNWR platform on the station when it opened in 1850 as the Rugby to Stamford line, and which had closed in 1966. In 1859 the LNWR opened the branch to Northampton which was still in use at this time for freight and which subsequently was closed in 1981. This platform as since been demolished and the area redeveloped.
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