The Rushden, Higham and Wellingborough Railway is a

heritage railway A heritage railway or heritage railroad (US usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) i ...

operated by the Rushden Historical Transport Society in the town of

Rushden Rushden is a market town and civil parish in North Northamptonshire, England, around east of Northampton. The parish is on the border with Bedfordshire, north of Bedford. The parish of Rushden covers an area of some . The population of Rushd ...

in the county of

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It ...

, England. The aim of the society was to reopen most of the former

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 ama ...

branch line from

Wellingborough Wellingborough ( ) is a large market and commuter town in the unitary authority area of North Northamptonshire in the ceremonial county of Northamptonshire, England, 65 miles from London and from Northampton on the north side of the River Nen ...

Higham Ferrers Higham Ferrers is a market town and civil parish in the Nene Valley in North Northamptonshire, England, close to the Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire borders. It forms a single built-up area with Rushden to the south and has an estimated populat ...

, which had been closed completely in November 1969. As of April 2016, around stretch of the line is operated between Rushden station and Prospect Avenue. The society plans to extend the line to a halt at

. They are unable to extend back towards

due to developments that have taken place along the route of the old branch line.

Rushden station

Rushden station has been preserved by the Rushden Historical Transport Society. The station building is fully intact and open with no admission fee although donations are requested. The

footbridge A footbridge (also a pedestrian bridge, pedestrian overpass, or pedestrian overcrossing) is a bridge designed solely for pedestrians.''Oxford English Dictionary'' While the primary meaning for a bridge is a structure which links "two points at ...

is currently missing, and a

level crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an overpass or tunnel. The term a ...

divides the platform into two sections. A replacement footbridge similar to the original is awaiting installation, at which point the missing section of platform will be replaced. On operating days trains use a separate platform slightly to the east. There is a

signal box In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. Any quantity that can vary over space or time can be used as a signal to share messages between observers. The '' IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing' ...

on site also. To the west immediately after the station there is a bridge missing. To the east, the line ends adjacent to Prospect Ave, and is used throughout the year.

Rolling stock

On site can be found a main-line diesel, Class 31, 31206, a number of Mark 1 carriages and a Gresley buffet car. In addition the line has a few industrial steam locomotives and some small diesel shunters. Frequently a number of preserved buses and coaches can also be found on the site. *Steam Locomotives ** Andrew Barclay No 2168 "Edmundsons". Built in 1940. Undergoing overhaul. ** Bagnall No 2654 ''Cherwell''. Awaiting funds for major restoration. *Diesel locomotives ** BR A1A-A1A Class 31 no. 31206. Operational. BR Railfreight Built in 1960. ** BR Class 03 no. 03179 ''Clive''. First Capital Connect purple. **4wDH Diesel-Hydraulic Sentinel shunter no. 10159. Operational. *Diesel multiple units **BR Class 121 no. 55029 (977968) Network Rail Yellow Built in 1960. **BR Class 142 nos. 142084 and 142091. *Coaching stock **BR

Post Office Sorting Van A Post Office sorting van is a type of rail vehicle built for use in a Travelling Post Office. British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail ...

NSA 80334 built in 1969. **BR

Post Office Stowage Van A Post Office stowage van is a type of rail vehicle built for use in a travelling post office (TPO). Several of these have passed into preservation as they are very useful for storage on the railways. Preservation The preserved stowage vehicle ...

NTA 80413 built in 1957. **BR High-security General Utility Van NKA 94102 built in 1959. **BR Brake Gangwayed NEX 92363. Used for passenger services. built in 1957. **BR Mark 1

Tourist Second Open Tourist Second Open or Tourist Standard Open, abbreviated to TSO, is a type of British Railways coach. The designation "Tourist" was originally as opposed to a normal SO ( Second Open) coach. Both types have the same number of seating bays per ...

no. 3918 built in 1954. **BR Mark 1

BSK BSK is a three-letter abbreviation that may refer to: Sports * OFK Beograd, Serbian football club * FK BSK Borča, Serbian football club * FK BSK Batajnica, Serbian football club * FK BSK Banja Luka, Bosnian-Herzegovinian football club * FK BSK L ...

no. 34004 built in 1951. **BR Mark 2

no. 5166. Used for passenger services. built in 1966. **LNER Gresley Buffet Carriage no. 24279 built in 1937.

References

External links

The railway website
{{coord, 52.2946, -0.5977, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title, format=dms Heritage railways in Northamptonshire Midland Railway Rushden

Rushden station

Rolling stock

See also

References

External links