the Slides of March
Beware
Compiled by Graham Revell
Beware the Slides of March
Compiled by Graham Revell
It is now April 1985 and Platform 5 is now Platform 2, re-numbered when the joint line closed in 1982. March Station had, at one time, seven platforms but by this date only two were needed. The view taken from the footbridge shows loco 31407 on the 13.00 to Norwich. The Class 31/4 is electric train heating fitted to suit the coaching stock.
20
A Class 37, 37263, passes through the old Platform 1 with a Speedlink service out of Whitemoor. The date is 16th April 1985. One wagon would appear to carry coal, a reminder of the lengthy coal trains from the past. The elaborate brickwork and canopy bracket can be appreciated. Loco 37263 (built as D6963) has survived and is privately preserved.
23
The spruced-up 47s for the ceremony stand proudly in Platform 1 with a US Air Force Honour Guard. Loco 47577 was named Benjamin Gimbert GC and loco 47579 was named James Nightall GC. The two men were honoured in recognition of their bravery in unhitching a blazing bomb-laden truck and moving it away from the rest of the train and town. The truck exploded killing Mr Nightall (aged 22) and critically injuring Mr Gimbert (aged 41). But for their bravery, the town of Soham would have been razed to the ground. Loco 47579 has survived into preservation.
25
This shot would seem to show a Class 45 hauled passenger train heading towards Spalding. It is actually Loco 45069 on empty coaching stock, some condemned, waiting for the road into Whitemoor. This 14th January 1982 image clearly shows March North Junction signal box and Bay Platform 3 & 4 which all have been disused for some time.
31
An arty shot of a Class 37, 37040 amongst the frosty vegetation on a very chilly 14th January 1982. The cold weather made re-starting large diesel engines with ‘thick fuel’ very difficult. It was not unusual for locos to be left ticking over (idling) for days at a time.
53
A snowy 15th December 1981 and a local Class 37 shelters in the shed with a Birmingham RC&W built DMU. The visiting Class 40 on the left has been left out in the cold. It was very unusual to find DMU’s on March Depot. It is believed that the unit had failed in the area and was there for repair.
57
Another view of the deserted Norwood yard with the warning sign and shunters hut. The view was taken on the same day as the previous picture. Norwood yard was a separate yard accessed from the approach to Whitemoor down reception sidings and hump.
67
This album is a snapshot of the Railway operations in the vicinity of the market town of March in Cambridgeshire.
The images were all taken in the 1980s showing the beginning of the rapid run down of this once important and now largely forgotten Railway Town.
ISBN 978-1-913893-46-0
£17.50
Beware the Slides of March
Compiled by Graham Revell