FENLAND RAILWAYS

A trip down memory lane: Just close your eyes and imagine you are at the railway station in the days of steam. Can you hear the hiss of the steam escaping? Can you smell the engine oil and coal burning, and hear the train doors banging shut, the guards whistle? Can you hear the train announcer telling you that the next train will arrive at platform one and that it will be on time?
This was the scene evoked by our ever popular speaker Andrew Ingram with his talk on Fenland railways. Andrew reeled off the names of stations in the best station announcer fashion & although several stations are no more since Dr. Beeching had his evil way we were surprised to find out that many small stations still survive albeit without the facilities they once had.
Many stations had well kept gardens, the pride & joy of the station staff. With the aid of slides we travelled from places in Fenland that passed through & ended the journey in Wisbech. We saw how gates were manually opened or operated by a big wheel in the signal box, & how the engine driver collected signal tablets to allow him to drive his engine onto the next stretch of line. We saw the various branch lines leading to local factories & into two Wisbech stations which are no more. Andrew explained the use of the loading gauge at Thorney used to ascertain the height of the loaded wagons to enable them to pass through bridges.
The Rhubarb Bridge, so called because when it was built the earth used for the embankment eventually grew large crops of Rhubarb. We heard that Smiths the bookshop people opened their first shop on March Station, & that March had the biggest marshalling yards in Europe.
The Station at Wolverton was used by the Royal family when they visited Sandringham. This is now a Museum. Photos of famous trains such as the Flying Scot & the Fenman were shown as were those of the long trains carrying sand to the Midlands.
We saw the progress made with electrification of lines & diesel trains. Noted was the progress made by the Bramley Line Association. This is a local group of very hard working & dedicated people trying to redevelop the short railway line between Wisbech & March as a tourist attraction. Andrew was kept busy answering questions until the end of the meeting & it was evident that his talk had reminded people of the ‘way things were on the trains’
[Barbara Holmes]