Site of Great Central railway

Description of this historic site

The Great Central Railway, in use from the Imperial to the Modern periods. It formed part of the Manchester to London railway link, with the terminus at Marylebone. Some remains still exist of the embankment over the London and North Western Line.

Notes about this historic site

1 Site of Great Central Railway.
2 3 The extension of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway to Rugby and London was the last main line to be built in Britain to a new London terminus at Marylebone (1895-99). The railway was built in 11 sections, each by a separate construction company. The Rugby to Woodford (Northants) section was built by Messrs T Oliver and Son and work commenced on 17th January 1895.
The line was re-named the Great Central in 1897, and opened on 9th March 1899. The line became the London and North Eastern Railway (L.N.E.R) in 1923, and became part of British Rail in 1948. Traffic was withdrawn south of Rugby in 1966 and north of Rugby in 1969.
A vast earthwork embankment was built (c1896-98) to carry the Great Central Railway between the Oxford Canal Bridge and The Birdcage Bridge (WA 6883) over the London and North Western Line and its sidings. 56 ft high and 280 ft wide at the base, the embankments required some 3,000,000 cubic yards of earth and gravel. The embankment was mostly destroyed in 1981.

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