Origins

Railways or wagonways have been around in common usage since the early 1600s. They were powered by people, horses or gravity. Elsewhere on this site there is a description of the Little Eaton gangway built in the main for carrying coal and pottery.

Experiments with mobile steam engines took off in the early 1800s. Their superior power and potential speed  quickly became obvious. George Stephenson, self- taught engineer, and “father of the railways”  and his equally talented  son Robert secured contracts for many railway projects after displaying the famous “Rocket” in 1829.

The pioneers: North Midland Railway

The North Midland Railway, led by the “Railway King” George Hudson joined up Derby and Leeds. George Stephenson did the  survey in 1837 and the line was completed in 1840 largely by his son Robert . It cost 3 million pounds, about three times the original estimate.

Up the line near Alfreton is the only intact surviving station, Wingfield, elegant and accurately restored. Do visit!

The lithograph by Samuel Russell  provides the only visual reference of Wingfield from 1840. It shows the architecture that Francis Thompson required to “seduce” sceptical local land owners and also to stand out among many competing rail companies. The grand classical style became an enduring railway characteristic.

The NMR was incorporated into the Midland Railway in 1844 and then the London Midland Scottish in 1923.  (Eventually British Rail in 1948)

The early railway experience

Line, carriage and engine design steadily improved smoothing the ride and taking average journey speeds from 12 mph to 60 mph by the mid 1800s.

It took decades to introduce carriage toilets and corridors which enabled less station stops and shorter journey times.

Gender and class distinction were highly important to Victorians. The term Lady carried considerable social expectation and women usually had separate waiting rooms, toilets and train compartments. Men typically an end platform urinal.

Carriages emulated stage coaches. First enclosed glazed and well upholstered, Second enclosed but initially unglazed and Third open crowded trucks with benches.

In the 1870s local man James Allport as long serving general manager of Midland Railway improved access and conditions for third class travellers. The improved carriages resulted in the rather odd disappearance of second class travel, mass transit and greater company profits. He was criticized at the time for “pandering to the working classes”. He then perhaps redressed the balance by introducing Pullman diners and sleepers from the USA.

The railways were revolutionary  to Victorians in the way that the internet and processing are to us. They enabled commuting, leisure travel, troop movement, and fresh produce as freight. Hence agriculture and dairy moved out of towns and we got inland fish and chips!

The Ripley and Little Eaton branch line

In 1847 the Midland Railway deposited plans for a branch at Little Eaton from its main line, with feeder lines from collieries at Marehay and White Lee (or Whiteley) to the south of Waingroves. (There were initial plans with George Stephenson’s input in the 1830s but not to be)

The Midland Railway (Ripley Branches) Act was passed on 22 July 1848 and, by August, a spur from the main line reached the quarries at Little Eaton. The line was finally opened for freight as far as Ripley in September 1855. Freight provided most of the demand at this time and would include minerals especially coal from Denby and Ripley, stone and paper from Little Eaton, ceramics from Denby Pottery as well as farming produce mainly from Coxbench and environs. The first passenger service opened a year later in 1856 with three trains each way daily.

Thus, Little Eaton Station was opened in 1856 remaining in service for over a century. It closed to regular passengers in 1930 and then to goods traffic in 1965.

The station had a single platform on the downside and there was a short spur serving Dowding’s paper mill.

Little Eaton Station looking north, and the station team.

Immediately before the Duffield Road level crossing was the canal wharf where the gangway also terminated and at that point a goods yard was provided. The line was double to that point but from then on was largely single.

Jobs from lowly porter upward with the railway carried community status and tended to pay better (than mining or farm labouring)

The Station and the platform looking south, and the signal box.

Station masters at Little Eaton

Charles Locker 1860 to 1881

Edward Sharpe 1881 to 1902

R. Dugdale 1902-1906

R.Haynes 1906-1914

F.C. Robinson 1914 to 1922

Herbert E. Wooster 1922 to 1938

A. Harrison 1938 to 1949

C.D. Gower 1949

Stationmasters at Little Eaton occupied station  houses in exchange for extensive responsibility which included timely, safe rail operations, excursions, paperwork, accounts, employment  and the smooth running of the goods yard.

There was a strong sense of corporate identity and pride partly carried by the uniforms.

The working hours, however  were typically very long. After the dawning of unionisation in the late C19, those hours were gradually reduced accompanied by a  coincident fall in the accident and injury rate.

Level Crossings

There were two level crossings. Longer trains could easily span both.

The two signal boxes were at Little Eaton Station next to the Duffield Road and straddling Bottle Brook at the Town in Little Eaton Village.

(The former has been preserved and is in private ownership in Staffordshire.)

Safety

When it came to signalling railway companies employed basic methods, such as the use of flags, lamps, and hand signals to communicate between trains and station staff. The mid-19th century saw the rapid expansion of the network and the adoption of semaphore signalling systems. These mechanical arms were positioned at various angles to convey different messages to train drivers. The arms (often painted in distinct colours and shapes) indicated whether a train should proceed, slow down, or stop. They became a Victorian hallmark.

In the late 19th century, with the increasing density of railway traffic, concerns about safety led to the development of “block” signalling systems. Railway tracks were divided into segments or blocks. Only one train was allowed in a block at a time and a combination of signals and interlocking mechanisms ensured that trains could not enter an occupied block. This significantly reduced the risk of collisions.

Electric lights followed by the mid 20th century and now modern track to train communication gives instant feedback.

The Peckwash Junction Crash

On December 1st 1900, a goods train on the Peckwash goods line carrying limestone south from Ambergate in the small hours could not stop at the Peckwash mainline signal and crashed through the buffer bar on a short dead-end siding. The engine rolled on to the embankment and six of the following trucks also tipped spilling limestone.

A following fast goods train was fortunately able to stop with only minor impact to mainline debris, thanks to the driver’s skill and reflexes. That driver then helped to determine the extent of the preceding crash.

He and the Peckwash signalman discovered the Duffield signal to be jammed on at green. This was due to the crashed vehicle  entanglement with the signalling connecting wires. He cut the wires with a chisel enabling the correct “danger” signal to appear. A crash team from Derby cleared the debris and found the bodies of the driver and the fireman. (They were initially taken to the Bridge Inn.)

The coroner speculated that the driver had missed the signal. The Board of Trade enquiry that followed suggested he was going too fast (doing 15mph with a slight down gradient, light rain and greasy rails).  Each enquiry demanded a longer buffered run off for freight trains and this was resolved subsequently by extending the goods line.

Line activity in the early 20th Century

The main income from the Ripley Branch line was initially from freight. The passenger service increased from three trains each way daily to five by 1903 continuing to Mansfield via Langley Mill.

There was a return trip added in on Sunday evenings doubling up as the milk train.

In 1930 the Trent bus service running almost parallel to the train had fully evolved and proved to be too competitive. The rail passenger service closed other than for occasional special excursions. (Blackpool c.1950 pictured here).

Line Closure

In the 1960s the Beeching Report resulted in cuts to branch lines and reduced Britain’s rail network by a third. This bequeathed the country a ready-made rural cycling and walking network. Unlike the United States, where in 1983 Congress passed a law to allow “railbanking” of disused lines for future use, Britain’s old lines were sold off or given away.

The Little Eaton branch line remained in use to serve a coal washing plant at Denby into the late twentieth century - traffic finally ceasing in 1999. The track was finally lifted in two stages in 2011 and 2012.

In memoriam - The Greenway

Without any national policy on rails-to-trails, it’s left to volunteers to start campaigns to get their local authorities to take an interest in projects and they must then wait for funding from central government.

A grant of £2.7million from Active Travel England has enabled a planning application to develop 5.5 kilometres of the track as a greenway shown here.

By David Young