Railways, Part II , Blisworth, Northamptonshire, UK.

All pictures are presented at relatively low resolution.  Printed below each image is the photographer's name, if known.

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27-11  The "Gas House", aka Tank House, to the immediate north of the station.  Date 1952 - note that the 1837 original girder-work of the bridge is not yet encased in concrete.  On top of the tower is a water reservoir which was filled from the canal and drawn on by the steam locomotives.

 

27-12  A view from the other side of the bridge dated c. 1965.  The girder encasement was in hand at that time - as part of the electrification of the main line.

The reason the building is named Gas House is because a coal baking furnace coupled to condensing retorts were incorporated into the building for the purpose of generating standard coal gas.  There is a discussion on this matter.

The substantial chimney at the corner of the building is the base of a stack which once reached higher than the crane.  See images in Part III.   It was the chimney for the steam boiler and engine, in the building, used to raise water from canal level to a reservoir that was accessible to the steam locomotives.

 
27-13  A view of the 1845 branch line to Northampton, looking back towards the station.  The bridges have been removed but the brick piles on both sides of the canal are still in place.  The structure in the distance is obscured by vegetation and may have been removed.  These are smaller locos compared to the main line expresses and were called "Puffing Billy" in Blisworth and "The Little Dav" in Gayton.  The latter name arises because the train runs backwards to Daventry once it has deposited or picked up passengers at Blisworth.  The loco is no. 40156.

 

 

 

 

27-26  Fred Digby - Shunter driver in the Far Cotton shunting yard, Northampton 1946.  The iron bars the two men are carrying are levers to lift the heavy chain links on or off a coupling hook.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

27-23   The Northampton branch line looking towards town.  This level part was used as a substrate for the bypass.

 

 

 

 

 

 
27-14  An early picture of the workers at the wagon repair shop at the station.  The shop was owned by Bevan Co. Ltd., the same company that mined the eastern fields (c1860 -  1912) for ironstone.  John Wilks was the foreman - fifth from the left.  He was a blacksmith and his son worked with the blacksmith partnership in Blisworth.  Date of this picture is said to be 1884 (H.J. Wilks, son of the foreman).  Note the chimney stack in the background - its function is not known.

Footnote:  A very heavily annotated map of the station and goods-marshalling area was found in the GF Collection
27-15  The station was closed in 1960 and demolition proceeded a few years later.  Here the railway goods shed is being dismantled in 1966.
27-21   The main signal box at Blisworth Station - date 1970.
27-16  Here the large sheet steel tank on the Gas Tower is being removed.
27-17  This is a manually operated fire engine, complete with a set of hoses, which was found in one of the sheds.  George managed to get a photograph but the machine was "spirited away quickly - I know not where".
27-18  A classic shot of an express in Roade Cutting in 1950.  The train has left Northampton on a branch not built until c. 1870 and is about to join the main line going south, ie. "up" towards London.  The main line can just be seen in the foreground.  This was an exciting place for children before, probably wisely, the rail companies more effectively fenced off the slopes.

The narrow bridge provides field access for local farms.  The photograph was taken from the high four-arch "Black Bridge" which carries the road from Blisworth to Courteenhall.  The loco is a "Black Five" 4-6-0 and probably based at Rugby or Northampton depot.

 

 

 

 

27-27   One of the the Coronation class locos passing Gayton loops.  It is of the type used on the pre-war Coronation Scot train.  This would be after WWII judging from the poor condition of the loco, say c. 1946.  The loco is streamlined and they originally were either blue with silver stripes or red with gold stripes.  The stripes are not apparent in this picture due to grime and this fact suggests that the picture was taken after a period of neglect in the WWII.

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

27-25   Photographed in Oct 1999, this was a rare event as the Flying Scotsman hauls a train on the branch line towards Northampton.  The well maintained locomotive was on a special outing which has become impossible to arrange as main line train speeds increase.   The main line is to be seen in the background with the "Black Bridge".
27-19  George Freeston collected through his lifetime until his house groaned - here was his "Railway Corner".  The picture in the centre shows a c. 1952 "down express" passing Gayton Loops, which are slow side-tracks, just to the north of Blisworth Station.  The painting, by Peter Bradshaw in 1976, was sold after George passed away but it remains in the village.

With all the tracks near Blisworth it became the custom to rely on the passing of the train with its trail of steam to indicate the time of day, especially for farmers sitting on a noisy tractor with their eyes taking in neighbouring fields as well as the job in hand.

 

Part III