1. The History
The Bourne to Saxby Railway Act was authorized in 1888 allowing the Eastern & Midlands Railway Company (EMRC) establish a connection between the industries of the Midlands with the East Coast ports. Part of the link was to the west from Bourne where Eastern were building the line while Midland pushed east from Saxby. Despite an outbreak of smallpox amongst the navies the two railways met at Little Bytham.
Resident engineer George MacDonald was in charge of the line’s construction and the most challenging section of the line was the ridge to the west of Bourne. Hence the Toft Tunnel to be driven at a length of 330-yards. Initial work started in November 1890 with an initial workforce of 100 navvies. Work on the tunnel proved difficult and the workforce was increased to approximately 400. The main issue was the extraction of 300,000 cubic yards of shale. In the spring of 1893 the two-track tunnel was eventually completed with the use of around 2.5 million Staffordshire blue brindles (bricks) to line the tunnel. The first goods train passed through in June that year. Passenger traffic started just under a year later, by which time the E&M had been acquired by Midland and Great Northern.
Toft tunnel was built with imposing portals, being brick-built with some masonry detailing. They include a course of semi-circular blocks that frames the four-brick thick lining, typical of many GN portals. Inside, refuges are staggered between the two sides. In the face of vociferous local opposition, both passenger and goods services ended in February 1959 and work to remove the tracks started in 1962. The approach cuttings and land over the tunnel now form the Toft Tunnel Nature Reserve while the bore itself is a bat hibernaculum.
2. The Explore
Relaxed explore on a lovely spring day. Went in the hard way (east end) and came out the easy way (west end). The tunnel is very clear and very straight and well worth an hour or so of your time. One thing that is noticeable is that there as been for more leaching of water at the west end and hence the brick lining at the east end of the tunnel is a lot more smooth. There’s plenty of light in the tunnel given its relatively short bore, hence I didn’t even need to light paint.
3. The Pictures
Let’s start at the east end:
img0346 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Down the bank we go:
img0352 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Spotted a way in?
imf0345 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img0357 by HughieDW, on Flickr
And we’re in!
img0359 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Refuge no.15:
img0360 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Note tunnel lining is very smooth here:
img0362 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Looking back eastwards through the tunnel:
img0371 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Refuge no.1!
img0373 by HughieDW, on Flickr
You can clearly see all the leaching here:
img0383 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img0395 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Refuge no.29:
img0403 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img0387 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img0400 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img0401 by HughieDW, on Flickr
And on to the west end:
img0367 by HughieDW, on Flickr
And out we pop at the west end:
img0413 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img0377 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img0412 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img0381 by HughieDW, on Flickr
The Bourne to Saxby Railway Act was authorized in 1888 allowing the Eastern & Midlands Railway Company (EMRC) establish a connection between the industries of the Midlands with the East Coast ports. Part of the link was to the west from Bourne where Eastern were building the line while Midland pushed east from Saxby. Despite an outbreak of smallpox amongst the navies the two railways met at Little Bytham.
Resident engineer George MacDonald was in charge of the line’s construction and the most challenging section of the line was the ridge to the west of Bourne. Hence the Toft Tunnel to be driven at a length of 330-yards. Initial work started in November 1890 with an initial workforce of 100 navvies. Work on the tunnel proved difficult and the workforce was increased to approximately 400. The main issue was the extraction of 300,000 cubic yards of shale. In the spring of 1893 the two-track tunnel was eventually completed with the use of around 2.5 million Staffordshire blue brindles (bricks) to line the tunnel. The first goods train passed through in June that year. Passenger traffic started just under a year later, by which time the E&M had been acquired by Midland and Great Northern.
Toft tunnel was built with imposing portals, being brick-built with some masonry detailing. They include a course of semi-circular blocks that frames the four-brick thick lining, typical of many GN portals. Inside, refuges are staggered between the two sides. In the face of vociferous local opposition, both passenger and goods services ended in February 1959 and work to remove the tracks started in 1962. The approach cuttings and land over the tunnel now form the Toft Tunnel Nature Reserve while the bore itself is a bat hibernaculum.
2. The Explore
Relaxed explore on a lovely spring day. Went in the hard way (east end) and came out the easy way (west end). The tunnel is very clear and very straight and well worth an hour or so of your time. One thing that is noticeable is that there as been for more leaching of water at the west end and hence the brick lining at the east end of the tunnel is a lot more smooth. There’s plenty of light in the tunnel given its relatively short bore, hence I didn’t even need to light paint.
3. The Pictures
Let’s start at the east end:
Down the bank we go:
Spotted a way in?
And we’re in!
Refuge no.15:
Note tunnel lining is very smooth here:
Looking back eastwards through the tunnel:
Refuge no.1!
You can clearly see all the leaching here:
Refuge no.29:
And on to the west end:
And out we pop at the west end:
