Stamford and Essendine Railway

The Midland Railway opened its line from Melton Mowbray to Stamford on 20 March 1848 for goods traffic and 19 June 1848 for passengers.

The Great Northern Railway was not so early to reach the area, but it opened its main line from Werrington Junction, north of Peterborough, to Retford on 15 July 1852 for goods traffic and 1 August 1852 for passengers.

Goodman, writing in 1908, said that it "seems inexplicable that the main line... should be so planned as to pass by a prosperous market town of 8,000 inhabitants at a distance of barely 4 miles".

Their hostility was magnified because the Act authorised the S&ER to make a connection to the Midland Railway station at Stamford and to secure running powers into it.

In 1856 the line was considered to be ready for opening, and Lt Col George Wynne made a visit for the purpose of the Board of Trade inspection, which was required for passenger operation.

He visited on 12 September 1856, but he refused the authorisation for a number of reasons; chief among these was that the ballast under sleepers was only 3 to 7 inches in depth at trial holes he had taken out.

The company made the required improvements and Wynne visited again on 14 October 1856; this time he was satisfied, and approval for the opening of the line was given.

There were no intermediate stations, and the line was single; Stamford passenger trains used a bay platform at Essendine.

This was considered satisfactory, and encouraged the directors, led by the Marquis of Exeter, to plan the provision of double track.

The Board of Trade inspecting officer made three further visits in 1859; in every case he was unable to authorise opening of the second track, and eventually it was removed, and the proposal forgotten.

[1][page needed] The Bourne and Essendine Railway opened for traffic on 16 May 1860, with intermediate stations at Braceborough Spa and Thurlby.

This led the S&ER to consider construction of an independent line to Peterborough, but this would have been unaffordable, running alongside the hostile Midland Railway all the way.

[note 1][3][page needed] A Bill was presented in the 1862 session; the issue of the connection to the Midland Railway station at Stamford was also included.

Running powers to Wansford LNWR station were granted under the Act, but onwards to Peterborough was not included.

There was a technical issue: the MR were concerned that the end of the junction tracks would be on an S&ER viaduct considered to be in poor condition, and they insisted on its conversion to an embankment.

The difficulty over through running at Essendine was also overcome, as the GNR ran three mixed trains daily from Stamford to Lynn via Bourne and Spalding.

[1][page needed] The Sibson Extension was inspected by Captain H W Tyler on 3 July 1867, and the following day he looked at the Stamford connection.

He considered that several minor issues were still unresolved, and more seriously there was no statement of the intended method of working the Sibson line, so he declined permission to open to passenger operation.

[9] The LNER later reviewed the profitability of the Stamford to Wansford line: it was operating at a loss of £2,956 a year, and closure was proposed.