Memories of the railway steam age
in Bourne

Photographed circa 1935

These pictures of locomotives under steam date from 1935 when the line was run by the LNER to 1949 after it had been taken over by British Railways,
later to be known as British Rail.

Photographed circa 1935

Photographed in 1937

A steam locomotive waiting to pick up passengers at Bourne railway station with the water town and engine sheds in the background. This picture dates from circa 1937.

Locomotive from 1949

Photographed in 1947

The engine sheds

Locomotive No 65017

Photographed circa 1880

The Red Hall provides the backdrop for this passenger train leaving Bourne railway station, circa 1880, when more than 40 steam engines a day rattled past the building which served as the booking office yet it has survived to this day.

Photographed circa 1880

The maintenance of a railway service, even for a small town such as Bourne, needed workshops and engine sheds which can be seen here in this photograph from circa 1880. The water tower which supplied the engines can be seen on the extreme right and the circular structure in the middle is the turntable used to turn the engines for their return journeys. When the station was dismantled, this vital piece of equipment was given to the Nene Valley Railway, a preserved system on the outskirts of Peterborough, where it is still in service to this day. The water tower was also removed at that time but it was so soundly built that it took demolition engineers five attempts to blow it up.

Photographed circa 1892

The Red Hall station complex and platform before the footbridge
over the railway lines was built in 1894.

Photo from 1959 courtesy Lewis Sommerfield

This is the view of Bourne railway station for passengers approaching from the south west in 1959, the many lines indicating the importance of the junction in the system servicing both north and south. Beyond the station complex can be seen the tower of the Abbey Church with Brook Lodge in front and Baldock's Mill on the far right.

The south street crossing

The Bourne East signal box can be seen in the middle distance next to the South Street level crossing and the twin gables of the crossing keeper's cottage with a cattle loading pen in front. The lamp in the foreground is one of four that adorned the station platforms and were preserved by Mr Andrew Cooke when the station complex was demolished and he later erected them alongside the main drive of his house, The Croft, in North Road.`
The crossing gates in South Street were demolished in a railway accident in the early hours of Sunday morning, 30th March 1873. A weekend return excursion train arrived at Bourne from London soon after 3 am and when nearing the station platform, the engine collided violently with two empty carriages which were standing on the line, shunting them with some force through the closed crossing gates, smashing them to splinters and badly damaging the carriages. There were nine passengers in the carriage nearest the engine, including two ladies, but none were badly injured and escaped the ordeal with a severe shaking although one gentleman's hat was crushed to such an extent that he put in a claim for a new one to the railway company.

Photographed circa 1890

One of the major benefits of the Victorian railway era was the provision of employment and all jobs offered were prized by those who filled them because they were comparatively well paid and secure. Even a small railway station such as Bourne had a large staff, pictured above with visiting dignitaries circa 1890, as well as manual workers pictured outside the Red Hall (below) around the same date.

Photographed circa 1890

A steam locomotive approaching the west signal box at Bourne, a short distance from the engine sheds, between 1923-47 (right) and another loco from 1947 (below).

Photographed circa 1935

Photographed in 1947

Photographed in 1948

Schoolboy train spotters trespassing on the tracks circa 1948

Photograph from circa 1950 courtesy Jonathan Smith

Photographed circa 1950

Busy day at the railway station circa 1950.

Photographed circa 1950

A rare photograph of Bourne railway station from circa 1956 showing the footbridge from the booking office at the Red Hall to the main platform where a train is waiting.

Photographed circa 1956

Photographed in 1956

Bourne railway station photographed in 1956 with a train about to depart and a small boy on the platform collecting train numbers, a favourite pastime of the period.

One of the railway sheds at Bourne sidings photographed in 1956. The tower of the Abbey Church can be seen in the background together with the roof of the Red Hall.

Photographed in 1956

Photographed in 1956

Another photograph from 1956 showing a steam locomotive leaving Bourne station taken from the footbridge and looking towards the level crossing in South Road with the small shed for the ticket collector on the left.

Photographed circa 1950

Photograph from circa 1950 courtesy Jonathan Smith

Photograph from circa 1950 courtesy Jonathan Smith

Three photographs (above) of the railway station and rail complex all dating
from circa 1950.

Photograph from 1950 courtesy Dorothy Riley

In 1950, a senior executive from British Rail arrived in Bourne to present service awards to three engine drivers, Albert Faulkner, Len Carrot and Arthur Swinn, who are pictured above and below with the station master Albert Scott and another staff member on the left.

Photo from 1950 courtesy Dorothy Riley

TICKETS FROM THE GOLDEN AGE OF TRAVEL

Railway ticket

Railway ticket

Travel was strictly regulated during the period of private ownership. It was an offence to board a train without a ticket bought at the booking office before departure and it was punched on leaving and again on arrival and often by a conductor on the train. These tickets, issued in the late 19th century, enabled the purchasers to travel third class from Bourne to Manchester for 14s. 5d., which is 75p in today's money, and to Sheffield third class for 12s. 3d.

Long Sutton ticket

Two more tickets showing how far you could travel by rail from Bourne, to Long Sutton (above) for 3s. 8d. and between Loughborough and Norwich (below), via Bourne and Saxby. The ticket from Long Sutton to Bourne is a third class single, i e one way, while the other is a monthly third class return for a very long journey between the Midlands and East Anglia costing £1 8s. 4d. but one that illustrates how important the railways were to the travelling public.

Loughborough to Norwich

 

See also     The booking office     The South Street level crossing

 

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