Benwick goods railway
Encyclopedia
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The Benwick Goods Railway was a Great Eastern Railway
Great Eastern Railway
The Great Eastern Railway was a pre-grouping British railway company, whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had other lines through East Anglia...
line serving the village of Benwick
Benwick
Benwick is a village and civil parish in the Fenland district of Cambridgeshire, England. It is approximately from Peterborough and from Cambridge...
, Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire is a county in England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the northeast, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west...
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History
The line was built in 1898 as a goods only line for moving agricultural produce from the Benwick area. It left the ElyEly railway station
Ely railway station serves the city of Ely in Cambridgeshire, England. The station lies on the Fen Line from Cambridge to King's Lynn, which is electrified at 25 kV AC overhead...
to Peterborough
Peterborough East railway station
Peterborough East was a railway station in Peterborough, England. It was opened on 2 June 1845 and closed to passenger traffic on 6 June 1966. Located on Station Road just off Town Bridge, only the engine sheds and one platform remain extant today...
line at Three Horseshoes Junction in Turves, Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire is a county in England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the northeast, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west...
, just east of the level crossing on Burnthouse Road. Passenger services were never provided, and the line closed to goods in 1966.
Route
After leaving the main line at Three Horseshoes junction, the line headed east just south of the Turves to MarchMarch, Cambridgeshire
March is a Fenland market town and civil parish in the Isle of Ely area of Cambridgeshire, England. March was the county town of the Isle of Ely, a separate administrative county between 1889 and 1965, and is now the administrative centre of Fenland District Council.The town was an important...
road. The curve of the line can be seen from the property boundaries of the houses just east of Poplars level crossing. The line then curved south towards Bottom Hake's farm. Quaker's Drove station was at the eastern end of Quaker's drove just west of the point where the metalled road ends. The next station was West Fen Drove, this was at the east end of West Fen Drove at the point where the metalled road ends.
The third station was Burnt House, this was on the road now known as Burnthouse Sidings which heads east from Burnthouse Farm. After this the line curved slightly to the west and followed what is now a byway to Jones Drove station, near Garton House where the byway makes a sharp bend.
After this, the line is difficult to trace. The next station, White Fen, was near Keyworth House Farm, and Benwick station itself was north west of the village on the road to Whittlesea
Whittlesea
Whittlesea may mean:* Whittlesea, Victoria, a town some 40 km north of Melbourne.* City of Whittlesea, the local government area that contains it* Whittlesey in Cambridgeshire, England used to be known as Whittlesea...
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