8th April 2025 “Cambridge Area Railways Yesterday and Today (Part 4)” by David Scudamore
On Tuesday April 8th 2025 we were delighted to welcome back our good friend David Scudamore for the fourth and final part of his excellent “Cambridge Area Railways Yesterday and Today” series. In this part, David focused on two lines: the former London and North Western Railway line from Cambridge to Sandy (thence to Bedford, Bletchley and Oxford), followed by the Great Eastern Railway route from Ely to March and Whitemoor.
Starting at Cambridge station, David opened with a miscellany of views including the arrival of the Roberts Brothers Circus in 1974, a 1922 aerial view of the station including the temporary platforms that were built by the LNW route for the Royal Showground and a June 1965 view of 8F No. 48360, the last steam working into Cambridge.
We then saw a range of fascinating views around the Southern end of the station, including some of the numerous ex-Great Eastern pneumatic ground signals, a 1935 view of the French-built ‘Micheline’ rubber-tyred railcar in the South bays on a Bletchley working, a 1911-view of the former Hills Road signal box (closed 1926) and some well-loved views of the former cattle market and of the spotters that congregated there.
Moving out of the immediate station area, a quick look inside the former LNWR shed revealed 0-6-0 ‘Cauliflower’ No. 8336 in May 1935 and a marvellous 1939 photograph of Derby-built streamlined diesel unit Nos. 80000/1/2 on an Oxford working. We admired the small signal box at Trumpington as Brush Type 2 No. 5566 passed by and then came bang up-to-date with the new Cambridge South station.
After a brief investigation of the former Ministry of Munitions coprolite lines dating back to World War I, we saw the radio telescopes on the course of the line at Lords Bridge, a charming 1920s view of a Whale ‘Precursor’ class 4-4-0 heading to Bletchley and various views of the former branch to Lords Bridge Air Ammunition Park, a forward storage base for Bomber Command in World War II.
After Gamlingay, with chicken baskets waiting on the platform, we were treated to a delightful Tommy Tomalin June 1964 view of Potton with a Derby Class 108 unit on the 2pm from Bletchley to Cambridge. Passing the wartime oil sidings accessed by Sandy Heath Signal Box, some lovely views then followed of the four-platform Sandy station with all the characteristic ‘furniture’ of the period, including the curious Eastern Region-blue coloured former LNW Sandy No.1 Signal Box.
The second part of David’s talk opened with some dramatic views of the semaphore signalling at Ely Dock Junction and various Railway-and-Cathedral views. Britannia Class 4-6-2 No. 70035 ‘Rudyard Kipling’ was caught at Ely South Box in July 1960 on a Norwich to Liverpool Street working, along with a 1992 view of Metro-Cammell set 101659 heading for Norwich at the time the down platform was being extended out.
The distinctive lower quadrant triple splitting distant signal at Ely North Junction was seen, whilst more recently the Potter Group sidings provided a rich assortment of stock, including Class 442 units, HST power cars and a Class 47/8.
A quick succession of views of Chettisham (and the 1992 ‘Ely Temporary Station’), the crossing of the Ouse Fen Washes, Manea, Stonea, Black Bank and Horsemoor then followed, highlighting open-ness of the area and the weatherboarded architecture of its railway buildings.
The former glory and business of March station were well illustrated, including horse-shunting in the Joint Line platforms as recently as the early 1950s and lovely views of the four closely-spaced signal boxes at South, East, North and West Junctions.
A 1951 aerial view of Whitemoor Yards illustrated the colossal scale of the operation, showing the Up and Down Reception Sidings and Hump Yards, the Up Departure Sidings, Norwood Yard, the signal boxes at Whitemoor Junction, Grassmoor Junction and Twenty Feet River and the old and (site of) the new locomotive sheds.
David rounded off the evening with a number of views on the shed, including 62613, the last D16/3 ‘Claud Hamilton’ and veteran J15 No. 65420, followed by more recent views illustrating the re-birth of Whitemoor yard as a Local Distribution Centre for Civil Engineering works across East Anglia’s railways.
The evening concluded at 10.00 with great applause in appreciation of David and his wife’s excellent conclusion of their ‘Cambridge Area Railways’ talks.