Buffer stops by Isley Walton Road">Isley_Walton.html" ;"title="Buffer stops by Isley Walton">Buffer stops by Isley Walton Road The Melbourne Line was a railway line which ran from to . It was used by the British Army and Allied engineers during the World War II, Second World War from 1939 until late 1944 to prepare them for the invasion of mainland Europe. Engineers practised the demolition and rebuilding of railways and the running and maintenance of a railway line and its rolling stock. There was also a bridge building school at

Kings Newton Kings Newton is a village in South Derbyshire. The population of the village is included in Melbourne, Derbyshire, Melbourne. The Holy well (pictured) was constructed around 1660, but has been refurbished at the end of the twentieth century. Hi ...

Location

The section used by the military was between junctions near in

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

and in Derbyshire. Its principal station was

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, which was actually at the hamlet of

. Troops camped mainly at

Weston-on-Trent Weston-on-Trent is a village and civil parish in the South Derbyshire district of Derbyshire. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 1,239. It is to the north of the River Trent and the Trent and Mersey Canal. Nearby places i ...

from 1940. A suspension bridge linked the camp with Kings Newton over the Trent.

Use as a military railway

Background

In the early stages of the War it was soon realised that the military railway at Longmoor would have to be expanded if the capacity to train the necessary railway personnel was to be met. A second training establishment was sought. was a major railway centre and the

London, Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally u ...

(LMS) staff college there was about to close and its Principal, Colonel Lionel Manton recommended the nearby rural freight line between Derby and Ashby de la Zouch be used as a training line. On 19 November 1939 the section of the line from Chellaston East Junction to the Smisby Road crossing, just north of Ashby, was handed over to the War Department. It was named the No. 2 Railway Training Centre (No. 1 being at Longmoor). The line was named the Melbourne Military Railway after its principal station. Immediately south of

Chellaston Chellaston is a suburban village on the southern outskirts of Derby, in Derbyshire, England. History An early mention of Chellaston is thought to be a reference to Ceolarde's hill. This is mentioned in a 1009 charter when nearby lan ...

East Junction the railway established its headquarters, consisting of workshops, offices, and engine sheds for eight locomotives. After the war this area became a wagon repair depot. At Kings Newton miles of sidings were built. Six locomotives of

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It am ...

origin, by then LMS class 1F 0-6-0T, were requisitioned by the War Department from 1940 to the end of 1944 to work all traffic on this branch - one being replaced during the war - and others were taken on loan for periods of time including one diesel shunter. One of the 1F locomotives, LMS 1708, has been preserved as the only survivor of its class. Initially the railway was to be used for individual training but later it was used for training complete railway operating companies who would work the line for a week at a time. Two such companies were

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

. From July 1941 the Melbourne training regime was linked with that at Longmoor. Basic training took place in Hampshire before transfer to Melbourne where railway engineers undertook eight weeks training and construction engineers undertook 16 weeks training, which included eight weeks at the Kings Newton bridge building school. By the end of 1944 the additional facilities were no longer needed and the line was ready to hand back to the LMS. On 11 July 1940 nine Royal Engineer

sapper A sapper, also called a pioneer (military), pioneer or combat engineer, is a combatant or soldier who performs a variety of military engineering duties, such as breaching fortifications, demolitions, bridge-building, laying or clearing minefie ...

s training on the railway were killed by a German bomb dropped on their billet in Church Street, Melbourne. Eight of them are buried in Melbourne Cemetery. The ninth soldier, Lance-Corporal William Wild was cremated at Rochdale Cemetery

Operations

Major traffic on the line consisted of moving military stores to and from Kings Newton and Tonge, coal from the New

Lount Lount is a hamlet near Ashby de la Zouch in north-west Leicestershire, England. It has a population of 50 (approx). At the 2011 census the population remained less than 100 and is included in the civil parish of Staunton Harold. It has no loca ...

Colliery and lime from Cloud Hill,

Worthington Worthington may refer to: People * Worthington (surname) * Worthington family, a British noble family Businesses * Worthington Brewery, also known as Worthington's * Worthington Corporation, founded as a pump manufacturer in 1845, later a dive ...

. Eight or more locomotives were in steam daily but most were in very poor condition. They used water mainly pumped from the

River Trent The Trent is the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, third-longest river in the United Kingdom. Its Source (river or stream), source is in Staffordshire, on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains the North Midland ...

Final years

The railway track was handed back to the LMS on 1 January 1945 who then submitted a bill of £25,265 to the War Department to restore the line but in 1954 the section through Ashby was closed. In 1958 steam power was replaced by diesel on many local lines and large numbers of redundant steam locomotives were stored at Chellaston quarry. In March 1966

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

ways closed Chellaston Quarry Signal Box and the sidings were lifted in 1967 when the line was returned to single track running. BR finally closed the line on 21 May 1980. In 1988 the track was lifted and the section between Chellaston East Junction and was converted into part of National Cycle Route 6.Sustrans: Derbyshire

References

Print references

* * David Birt materials on the Melbourne Military Railway (1985–2002) at Melbourne Public Library, Assembly Rooms, Melbourne, Derbyshire.

External links

Catalis

{{coord, 52.829, -1.415, region:GB, display=title Rail transport in Derbyshire Military railways in the United Kingdom Closed railway lines in the East Midlands