In 1848 life was poised to change forever in Newmarket and district. A wonder of science and the Victorian Age arrived – the steam railway. ‘The Newmarket and Chesterford Railway’ (NCR), was commonly called, “The Newmarket Railway”.
The railway’s length was a mere 15 miles but it traversed parts of Essex, Cambridgeshire and Suffolk and, importantly, it connected them to London by joining the Eastern Counties Railway (ECR) at Great Chesterford.
This early railway connection to Newmarket seems to have been instigated by members of the Jockey Club and other notables. At that time, Parliamentary sessions were conducted in the evenings. A railway provided the means to attend both daytime race meetings at Newmarket and evening Parliamentary sessions in London. Of course, many influential people also had country houses around Newmarket.
In the early 1800s engineers George and Robert Stephenson built a number of different designs of steam engine, for goods’ transport, rather than passengers. However, Robert’s most famous machine, ‘The Rocket’, led to the creation of the Stockton and Darlington Light Railway. This passenger transport phenomenon opened in 1825.
During the 1840s the average weekly wage of a labourer was around 3 to 4 shillings or about 15 to 20 pence in today’s currency. An engineer would expect to earn about double that amount. This illustrates the enormous initial investment required for the NCR of £350,000 (sold as £25 shares). However, Britain was clamouring to be connected up by this latest transport technology. Railway construction was a booming industry between roughly 1850 and 1890. It became a significant status symbol for any town to have a railway station and, as we shall see later in this series of articles, Newmarket eventually had 3 stations.
The NCR was incorporated on 16th July 1846 and construction began 30th September. Its engineers were Robert Stephenson and John Braithwaite. Plans were drawn up for future extensions to Cambridge, Ely and Thetford.
The NCR eventually opened for goods’ transport on January 3rd 1848 and for passenger transport on April 4th.
May 12th 1848 saw the first accident caused by human error. The 3.30pm from Newmarket stopped at Dullingham and its engine detached to do some shunting. However, the carriage brakes were not applied correctly and carriages, with passengers, rolled backwards due to the gradient of 1 in 109. It was 3 miles downhill to Newmarket, so the carriages picked up speed and dashed with force into Newmarket. Passengers thrown “violently” from their seats had a number of injuries but, thankfully, no fatalities.
The NCR closed 30th June 1850 due to financial difficulties, e.g. with the proposed line to Cambridge. Fortunately, this was not the end. One solution was to lay single, rather than double track to Cambridge and another was incorporation of the NCR into the Eastern Counties Railway in 1854.
Newmarket’s first station had a grand facade. Sir Nikolaus Pevsner, the architectural historian, praised it as “One of the most sumptuously Baroque stations of the early Victorian decades in England.”
In 1879, the Newmarket to Ely line opened and the station received a specially-extended island-type platform.
Sadly, despite its listed status, the unique building was demolished to make way for Armstrong Close in 1980. The iconic structure had played major roles in Newmarket’s recent history, such as being a gateway for diverse passengers, transport for goods and livestock, playing a leading role in transforming the racing and bloodstock industries, acting as a wartime hospital and even being the gateway to illegal bare-knuckle boxing fights. We shall take a closer look at these and other aspects of Newmarket’s Railway in future articles.
First published in the Newmarket Flyer and used with permission
History
Newmarket’s Railway Part 1
