A comprehensive history of the branch line that served the fenland market town of Ramsey in Huntingdonshire.
With the coming of the railways, Ramsay found itself isolated, having been overlooked by both the Great Northern Railway and the Eastern Counties Railway, both of whom had built lines in the area. Eventually local business people and landowners promoted their own line, the Ramsey Railway, to link up with the GNR at Holme. However, the GNR’s rival, the Great Eastern Railway, bought up the shares and assumed control of the line, to ensure the branch could not be used by the GNR to poach traffic bound for East Anglia.
This, and the agricultural depression of the mid-19th century. ensured that the branch carried few passengers and when buses came along in the 1920s even fewer. Passenger services continued until 1947 and freight soldiered on until 1973, when the line was closed.
The Ramsey North Branch tells the full story of the line’s history and also looks at its infrastructure, passenger and freight traffic, locomotives, rolling stock and other topics. It includes many black & white illustrations, maps and diagrams. 176 pages.