Northampton Loop Line

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Legend West Coast Main Line Rugby Hillmorton Junction Kilsby and Crick Daventry International Rail Freight Terminal (DIRFT) Long Buckby Althorp Park Church Brampton Northampton to Market Harborough line Northampton Northampton to Peterborough Line Bedford to Northampton Line Blisworth; Hunsbury Hill Tunnel Roade Hanslope Junction West Coast Main Line

The Northampton loop is a railway line serving the town of Northampton deviating from the main West Coast Main Line.

The Northampton loop leaves the direct London-Birmingham line at Hanslope Junction, but continues to run alongside it until the two lines separate at Roade, and then runs north east for several miles until it reaches Northampton station. After Northampton, the line verges to the north-west for around twenty miles, until it re-joins the direct London - Birmingham line at Rugby, just east of Rugby station. The line is a total of 23 ¾ miles long.

The only stations that are currently operational on the route are Northampton and Long Buckby. Previously there were six stations between Hanslope Junction and Rugby, but only these two survive. The four stations that have closed were:

• Roade railway station (closed 1964)
• Church Brampton (closed 1939)
• Althorp Park (closed 1960)
• Kilsby and Crick (closed 1960)

History

When the London and Birmingham Railway was constructed in the 1830s, Northampton was by-passed, with the line running to the west via Kilsby Tunnel. According to some sources, this was because Northampton landowners objected to having a railway run to the town^[1]. Alternatively, other sources suggest that Northampton was by-passed because the gradients would have been too steep for early locomotives to cope with^[2].

This meant however that Northampton, despite being a large town, did not have direct rail links to London. A branch from the main line was built to Northampton in the early 1840s, the Northampton and Peterborough Railway, from Blisworth, which gave the town indirect rail links to London and Birmingham.

The loop line was constructed in the late 1870s by the London and North Western Railway and was opened in 1881. It was constructed to improve rail services to Northampton and give the town a direct link to London. It also had the advantage of doubling capacity on the line from Roade to Rugby without the expense of widening the tunnel at Kilsby.

The line was electrified along with the rest of the WCML during the 1960s in the wake of the BR 1955 Modernisation Plan.

Accidents

An accident near the village of Milton Malsor between Roade and Northampton occurred in 1967.

References

Sources

• The Last Days Of Steam In Northamptonshire, by John M.C. Healy (1989) ISBN 0-86299-613-9
• Rugby's Railway Heritage, by Peter H Elliot (1985) ISBN 0-907917-06-2