Abeautifully produced railway book with rare and previously unseen images of the county has been released.
East Midlands Steam 1950-1966, by Peter Tuffrey, presents the twilight years of steam traction in the area with nearly 200 colour and black-and-white images.
Composed of just over 6,000 square miles of land, the East Midlands enjoyed a diverse system of railways in the days of steam.
These routes ranged from the main lines connecting the north and south of Britain to small branches, as well as cross-country and local lines.
As well as Northamptonshire, the book covers Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Rutland.
In addition to the cities which appear – Derby, Leicester, Lincoln, and Nottingham – a number of large towns are included, such as Chesterfield, Grantham, Kettering, Loughborough, Mansfield, Northampton and Wellingborough.
With lines formerly operated by the London, Midland & Scottish Railway and London & North Eastern Railway, many locomotives of these companies are present, alongside the Standard Classes of British Railways.
With a rich industrial heritage in the region, a number of privately owned locomotives appear at work on several sites, such as collieries, quarries and power stations.
The publishers say: "The East Midlands was a busy and exciting place for steam enthusiasts to observe and record locomotives at work.
"In doing so, a wonderful era of British history has been captured. This collection has been assembled to celebrate those distant days."
9. WELLINGBOROUGH LONDON ROAD STATION
The London & Birmingham Railway initially bypassed Northampton when opened in 1838 due to engineering issues, yet a branch to the town was soon planned. This was opened in 1845, though had become part of a larger project to connect with Peterborough through the Nene Valley which was completed a very short time later. Wellingborough (London Road added in 1924) station opened at this point to the south of the town and a connection was later made with the Midland line to the north east. Fowler 4F Class no. 44215 has the 16.00 local service from Peterborough East to Northampton on August 18, 1962. Passenger trains were withdrawn from the line in 1964 and freight ceased during 1966, though the line was not abandoned until the early 1970s. The northernmost part of the line west of Peterborough was later taken over and used as part of the Nene Valley Railway. Photograph by B.W.L. Brooksbank.
10. WELLINGBOROUGH SHED
The ten Franco-Crosti boilered BR Standard Class 9Fs were concentrated at Wellingborough shed to work on the coal traffic to and from Brent sidings, London. Crews at the depot soon found working with the locomotives to be disagreeable owing to the side-mounted chimney. Despite modifications, the problem was such that conversion to use a standard boiler became the only option. This process became drawn out and the Franco-Crosti engines were often stored out of service at Wellingborough and this is the case here for no. 92021, which covered the period of a year between April 1959 and 1960, with conversion taking place at Crewe Works by June 1960. Photograph by Bill Reed.