Leen Valley Junction: engines for scrap, 1965

Image: © John Sutton Taken: Unknown

Historical interest may compensate for the poor quality of this cropped scan of a small black-and-white print as nothing in this picture now exists. The Great Northern Railway "Back Line" from Colwick to Basford and on to Derby had closed east of Daybrook on 4 April 1960, when Mapperley Tunnel was declared unsafe. Daybrook Station (a mile ahead) remained open for goods traffic until 1 June 1964, served from Basford North (a mile behind the camera). This picture was taken the winter after that, when the track and signals were still in place and the down siding was used to store withdrawn locomotives waiting to be cut up for scrap at Rigley's Wagon Works at Bulwell Forest (part of which is shown in Ben Brooksbank's Image]). A friend and I had come on an overcast winter afternoon to look at the impressive collection of Gresley O2 Class 2-8-0 heavy freight locomotives, the last of which had been withdrawn from service in 1963. The second engine in the line was a B1 4-6-0. Leen Valley Junction Signal Box was behind and to the right of where I stood. The taller signal in the centre of the picture had governed the main line to Basford and Derby, the lower one the Leen Valley route. Edwards Lane bridge is faintly visible in the distance, to the left of the line of engines. The houses of Belconnen Road and Wyton Close now occupy this site.

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