Narborough is a stop on the Birmingham to Peterborough Line near to Leicester. Like many stations Narborough was closed in the carnage of the 1960s but had a very quick reprieve.
Information
Type:
National Rail
(B'ham - Peterborough Line)
Station code:
NBR
Opened:
1864 (Closed 1968)
Re-opened:
1970
Platforms:
2
Narborough was opened in 1864 by the South Leicestershire Railway, within a few years it was part of the London & North Western Railway empire. Near to the station were a number of granite quarries, a branch line junction and exchange sidings being next to Narborough station. The quarries and finally the branch were closed by 1980 [1].
Narborough also had a couple of goods sidings but these were closed in 1966, the station closed completely in 1968 [2]. After support, including financial, from the local councils the station was re-opened in 1970. The station was refurbished in the early 2000s, the original station building remains though the ticket office is not always open and when the station is unstaffed the waiting room is locked.
Next to the station is a level crossing. A signal box still stands next to the crossing though is no longer in every day use. Although the station is managed by East Midlands Trains only Cross Country serve Narborough with a service usually every hour usually between Birmingham New Street and Leicester, but some also through to Stansted Airport.
A Freightliner trains heads through the station
A Leicester bound XC service stops at Narborough
Station entrance
XC 170 108 prepares to depart
Station sign
Footbridge, level crossing and signal box
[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Coventry to Leicester (Middleton Press, 2017) Map. XXI [2] Ibid. Fig. 60
Nairn is a stop on the Aberdeen-Inverness Line in the Highlands between Inverness Airport and Forres.
ScotRail 170 403 arrives at Nairn
Information
Type:
National Rail
(Aberdeen-Inverness Line)
Station code:
NRN
Opened:
1855
Platforms:
2
The station was opened by the Inverness & Nairn Railway in 1855. The station was rebuilt and improved in 1885, then owned by the Highland Railway Company. The platforms were also extended and raised and an iron footbridge built over the lines.
The main building is still in use and has a ticket office. The waiting room and shelter on the other platform have a civic use. The station is managed by ScotRail with a regular service in both directions mostly between Aberdeen and Inverness though some terminate at Elgin.
Northampton is a stop on the West Coast Main Line between Long Buckby and Wolverton, the principal station on the WCML's Northampton Loop.
LNWR 350 405 prepares to depart for Birmingham
Information
Type:
National Rail (West Coast Main Line)
Station code:
NMP
Opened:
1859
Platforms:
5
The first station in Northampton was Bridge Street which was opened in 1845 by the Northampton & Peterborough Railway. In 1859 the London & North Western Railway opened a station on the site of the town's former castle (and indeed the station ended up being called Northampton Castle). This station was initially a rather minor station compared to Bridge Street. The building of the Northampton Loop along with other improvements to the Birmingham New Street- London Euston line (now the WCML) saw the Castle station grow in importance and it was rebuilt and enlarged in the early 1880s.
In 1964 Bridge Street closed leaving Castle station the only one remaining in the town. It was renamed to just Northampton a couple of years later. The station was rebuilt in the late 1960s along with the arrival of electrification. This station remained until 2013-14 when a brand new station building twice the size of the 1960s one was opened.
Most services at Northampton are by London Northwestern Railway, who manage the station, though a couple of Avanti West Coast services also stop at the station every day.
Station building
Freightliner 66 951 leads a freight through Northampton
Newport is a major railway interchange in south Wales and is Wales' second busiest station. On the Great Western Main Line the station is between Cardiff Central and Bristol Parkway. On the Welsh Marches Line the station is between Cardiff Central and Cwmbran.
GWR 802 112 stands at Newport
Information
Type:
National Rail
(Cardiff - Nottingham Line, Great Western Main Line, Welsh Marches Line and others)
Station code:
NWP
Opened:
1850
Platforms:
4
The station was opened as Newport High Street in 1850 by the South Wales Railway. It has been expanded and rebuilt a number of times since such as in 1928 and 2010 when the platforms were extended to support Great Western Railway's new IEP trains. The original station had two broad gauge platforms and a single bay. The broad gauge lines were converted to standard gauge in 1872 [1]. The station gradually expanded as more lines and services reached Newport.
By the 1910s the station had eight platforms and a complicated layout. This has been simplified over time. The station now has four through platforms only. The station was renamed to just Newport in the 1960s when Newport's two other stations were closed. The Great Western Main Line was electrified through Newport in 2019.
The station is managed by Transport for Wales who also operate a number of services to the station along with GWR and Cross Country.
Transport for Wales 175 011 at Newport platform 4
View down the platforms, extensive canopies are provided
A GWR Castle Set (Class 255) at Newport
GWR 158 766
Old buildings and canopies plus new catenary
[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Gloucester to Cardiff (Middleton Press, 2005) Fig. 91
Newtown / Y Drenewydd is a stop on the Cambrian Line in Powys between Caersws and Welshpool.
Transport for Wales 158 839 at Newtown
Information
Type:
National Rail
(Cambrian Line)
Station code:
NWT
Opened:
1863
Platforms:
2
The station was opened by the Newtown and Machynlleth Railway in 1863, it became part of the Cambrian Railway two years later. This was not Newtown's first station however, that was opened in 1859 by the Llanidloes & Newtown Railway, a bay was served by this railway which closed in the early 1960s. The station was rebuilt in 1869 and the current station building dates from this rebuild [1]. The station had two goods yards which are now closed.
The station is managed and served by Transport for Wales with services between Birmingham International and Aberystwyth or Pwllheli. Access between the platforms is via a footbridge.
Main station building
Road bridge and footbridge behind
Footbridge
View down the platform
A TfW 158 heads off
[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Shrewsbury to Newtown (Middleton Press, 2008) Fig. 113
Nantwich is a stop on the Crewe-Shrewsbury part of the Welsh Marches Line in Cheshire between Crewe and Wrenbury.
Transport for Wales 175 009 at Nantwich
Information
Type:
National Rail
(Welsh Marches Line)
Station code:
NAN
Opened:
1858
Platforms:
2
The station was opened by the Crewe & Shrewsbury Railway in 1858 and later became part of the London & North Western Railway. In 1862 the Nantwich & Markey Drayton Railway reached the town turning the station into a junction, this became part of the Great Western Railway later on. Nantwich had GWR services heading though it, running over LNWR metals north of Nantwich. The Market Drayton line was closed in 1967.
The station is now unstaffed, the level crossings near the station are now monitored remotely from south Wales. Nantwich is now on the Welsh Marshes Line and is managed and served by Transport for Wales. Access between the platforms is via a footbridge on the road and level crossing at the end of the platforms.
Newark Castle is a stop on the Nottingham-Lincoln Line in Nottinghamshire between Rolleston and Collingham.
EMR 156 411 arrives at Newark Castle
Information
Type:
National Rail
(Nottingham-Lincoln Line)
Station code:
NCT
Opened:
1846
Platforms:
2
The station was opened by the Midland Railway in 1846, the station is so named due to it's proximity to the castle! The station building was built in the Italianate style and is still in railway use though has lost it's canopy [1]. The station retains a staffed ticket office, the building also hosting a cafe.
Access between the platforms is via the level crossing and road at the Nottingham end of the platforms. The station is managed and served by East Midlands Railway with usually two trains per hour in each direction, some services terminating / originating at Newark Castle.
Newark Castle signal box
Level crossing
Station building
View down the platform
Preparing to depart
[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Nottingham to Lincoln (Middleton Press, 2013) Fig. 50
Nine Elms is the intermediate station on the new branch of the London Underground's Northern Line from Kennington to Battersea Power Station.
51532 prepares to depart
Information
Type:
Transport for London (London Underground Northern Line)
Opened:
2021
Platforms:
2
The station was opened in 2021 along with the rest of the branch. Like Battersea Power Station, Nine Elms was designed (and financed) by the promise of future development around and above the station. Four hundred new homes are being built on top of the station along with new office space and retail.
The station is served by trains on the Northern Line's Charing Cross branch. The platform level has a large open space between the two platforms.
Platform level
51683 arrives with a Battersea Power Station bound service
Norchard is the head quarters of the Dean Forest Railway near Lydney in Gloucestershire. It is between Lydney Town and Whitecroft.
D2069 and a brake van at Norchard
Information
Type:
Preserved Railway (Dean Forest Railway)
Opened:
1991
Platforms:
3
The site of Norchard station was originally home to an endless rope system at the Southern end of a coal field owned by the Park Colliery Company. A power station was later built near the colliery. This ceased operation in 1967 [1]. The Dean Forest Railway purchased the site in 1974 and began building workshops and a two level station which opened for open days in 1978. The line was re-opened between Norchard and the now closed St Mary's Haltin 1991 and through to Lydney Junction in 1995.
Two platforms are on the low-level part of the station (which is a terminus) and one on the high-level which is a through station (and thus main platform) serving as far as Parkside.
Stock stored at Norchard including a Class 08 and 14
DMU cars under restoration
Wooden shelter
View down the platform
Trackside buildings at Norchard
[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Branch Lines Around Lydney (Middleton Press, 2008) Fig. 55
