Great Northern and London and North Western Joint Railway
Undaunted, and noting the mineral traffic waiting to be conveyed, the Great Northern Railway took over the scheme, and presented a similar bill for the following year, 1872.
The London and North Western Railway saw advantage for itself in this line, as it would get access to the ironstone and colliery districts of East Nottinghamshire, so the LNWR agreed to make it jointly with the GNR.
[1][2] By now the GNR had obtained its Derbyshire and Staffordshire extension,[note 1] so that the proposed Joint Railway had the potential for the LNWR to get access to considerable areas of mineral fields, in addition to reaching Nottingham and Grantham.
[note 2][7][8] The construction was not without civil engineering challenges; the easier Newark to Bottesford section, GNR only, was opened on 1 July 1878.
Passenger traffic over these parts of the joint system began on 1 September with the introduction of connecting Nottingham to Melton and Newark to Harby & Stathern services, worked by the GNR.
Progress south of Melton was delayed by slips in embankments, but on 13 October 1879 the route was opened for freight traffic as far as Burrow & Twyford (renamed John o' Gaunt in 1883).
Passenger trains between Nottingham and Northampton were introduced on 15 December, but regular use of the east fork from Hallaton to Drayton did not begin until 2 July 1883, when the GNR inaugurated a Leicester - Peterborough service.
[5] At Bottesford, the northern end of the joint line, a south-to-west curve was included in the layout, but this quickly fell into disuse since the branch to Saxondale junction provided a more direct route for Nottingham traffic.
One of the latter was an express; in addition three trains a day ran between Leicester Belgrave Road and Peterborough, via the Lowesby, Medbourne and Longville curves, but this service was discontinued in 1916.
The LNWR's main contribution to the passenger train mileage over the joint line was a Northampton - Nottingham service, which included one through working from and to London Euston.
[5] Some bizarre services were provided at first, such as that by the LNWR from Leamington to Scarborough in July 1883,[11][12] but these were short-lived too, and with the opening of the Leicester branch a pattern of workings which was to become standard began to emerge.
[11] The GNR based its passenger operations on Leicester Belgrave Road station, where for some years there were daily departures for Grantham, Newark and Peterborough.
This brought about the closure of Medbourne station, which was later burnt down, and also deprived the equally obscure GNR service to Stamford of its "main-line" connections at Wansford.
Most customers travelled between towns which were linked by alternative services of greater frequency or convenience, and even receipts at Leicester Belgrave Road and Melton Mowbray North were pathetically meagre.
Though insignificant when compared with the amount of traffic to Skegness, Mablethorpe and Sutton on Sea, other special workings over the east Leicestershire lines were not without interest.
Twin train sheds, each consisting of an arched roof supported on segmental iron frames springing from cast steel columns, covered the five concrete platforms.
These led away from the spacious concourse which was overlooked by a grand clock adorned with a few frivolous brick decorations reminiscent of Melton North.
[16] The Waltham on the Wolds[note 4] branch line was opened by the GNR from Scalford on 5 April 1883 to serve an ironstone area.
Representations concerning the hardship of workpeople had some effect, and two unadvertised services, each of one return working a day, continued to operate from John o' Gaunt to Leicester and from East Norton to Market Harborough.
[15] A few fragments remained in use for a few years: the goods, coal and petrol depots at Leicester, Belgrave Road were served by a rebuilt connection from the Midland Railway.
