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LNER Route: Leicester to Marylebone

Staverton Road Signal Cabin

Staverton Road Signal Cabin stands on the embankment of the Great Central Railway's line between Braunston & Willoughby and Charlwelton stations, adjacent to A425. It lies on the Northamptonshire side of the Northamptonshire - Warwickshire border and in reality wouldn't have been included on this website other than by the happy accident that these photographs were sent to me by Gordon Coltas as being within Warwickshire. As they are of a important period of change not recorded elsewhere on the former GCR line within the county, I have decided to include them on the basis that within a short distance from Staverton these locomotives would have been working just as hard but within the county. Staverton Road was not a strategic or special location, but for one photographer it was a good place to take photographs. Many of the photographs on this page are credited to Gordon Coltas, as are many others at Braunston & Willoughby station and indeed across the whole website. Whilst I have credited these photographs to Gordon, from whom I purchased them in the late 1970s, they are in fact undoubtedly the work of HJ Stretton-Ward, a local photographer, whose interest in railways started before the First World War.

Stretton-Ward's collection was sold on his death by his 'girlfriend' with whom he lived with, together with his wife, in Leamington. Many photographs were sold directly to collectors by Stretton-Ward but it was Stretton-Ward's girlfriend who sold both photographs and negatives onto other collectors, with Gordon Coltas apparently buying the lion's share. Roger Carpenter, who also bought some of HJ Stretton-Ward's collection to add to his own considerable library of photographs, was the person who first confirmed to me that both photographs and negatives were sold to different people. Patrick Kingston, a notable author and photographer from Leamington also told the same story, plus recounting too that Stretton-Ward, wearing his characteristic 'plus fours', wasn't the nicest of people. All of this is why the same photograph may be attributed to two or more people in various publications (particularly the Great Western Railway Journal which nearly always credits such photographs to Stretton-Ward). The photographs taken at Braunston & Willoughby during 1928 would seem to prove the point as Gordon was too young to have taken the photographs. Irrespective of who actually was the real photographer we must at the very least recognise and appreciate Gordon's role in ensuring that this valuable collection has been preserved. We must therefore thank the Gordon Coltas Photographic Trust for ensuring its survival after his demise in the same way that the Lens of Sutton Association supports John Smith's collection.

LNER 4-6-0 Class B17/4 No 2847 'Helmingham Hall' passes over Staverton Road on a down express service
Ref: gcrcs25
G Coltas
LNER 4-6-0 Class B17/4 No 2847 'Helmingham Hall' passes over Staverton Road on a down express service

LNER 4-6-0 Class B17/4 No 2848 'Arsenal' roars across Staverton Road on a down express in June 1939
Ref: gcrcs26
G Coltas
LNER 4-6-0 Class B17/4 No 2848 'Arsenal' roars across Staverton Road on a down express in June 1939
LNER 4-6-0 Class B17/4 No 2855 'Middlesborough' crosses Staverton Road at speed on a down express in June 1939
Ref: gcrcs27
G Coltas
LNER 4-6-0 Class B17/4 No 2855 'Middlesborough' crosses Staverton Road at speed on a down express
LNER 4-6-0 Class B17/4 No 2860 'Hull City' throws out unburnt coal as it passes Staverton Road signal cabin
Ref: gcrcs28
G Coltas
LNER 4-6-0 Class B17/4 No 2860 'Hull City' throws out unburnt coal as it passes Staverton Road signal cabin
LNER 4-6-0 Class B17/4 No 2861 'Sheffield Wednesday' coasts past without a breath of steam circa 1946
Ref: gcrcs29
G Coltas
LNER 4-6-0 Class B17/4 No 2861 'Sheffield Wednesday' coasts past without a breath of steam circa 1946

LNER 4-6-0 Class B17/4 No 2862 'Manchester United' is seen working hard at the head of a down express train
Ref: gcrcs30
G Coltas
LNER 4-6-0 Class B17/4 No 2862 'Manchester United' is seen working hard at the head of a down express train
LNER 4-6-0 Class B17/4 No 2871 'Manchester City' races along at the head of a down express service circa 1946
Ref: gcrcs31
G Coltas
LNER 4-6-0 Class B17/4 No 2871 'Manchester City' races along at the head of a down express service circa 1946
Ex-ROD 2-8-0 Class O4/3 No 3862 is seen at the head of a long freight service in June 1948
Ref: gcrcs32
G Coltas
Ex-ROD 2-8-0 Class O4/3 No 3862 is seen at the head of a long freight service in June 1948
LNER 2-6-2 Class V2 No 4830 heads a down passenger train past the down refuge siding near Staverton Road
Ref: gcrcs33
G Coltas
LNER 2-6-2 Class V2 No 4830 heads a down passenger train past the down refuge siding near Staverton Road
LNER 2-6-2 Class V2 No 4830 heads a down passenger train over Staverton Road bridge in March 1948
Ref: gcrcs34
G Coltas
LNER 2-6-2 Class V2 No 4830 heads a down passenger train over Staverton Road bridge in March 1948

Ex-ROD 2-8-0 Class O4/3 No 6316 is seen working hard at the head of a long coal train circa 1946
Ref: gcrcs35
G Coltas
Ex-ROD 2-8-0 Class O4/3 No 6316 is seen working hard at the head of a long coal train circa 1946
Ex-ROD 2-8-0 Class O4/7 No 6572 is seen without a breath of smoke whilst at the head of a long coal train
Ref: gcrcs36
G Coltas
Ex-ROD 2-8-0 Class O4/7 No 6572 is seen without a breath of smoke whilst at the head of a long coal train
Ex-LMS 4-6-0 Stanier 'Black 5' No 45253 heads a down express during the locomotive exchanges in June 1948
Ref: gcrcs37
G Coltas
Ex-LMS 4-6-0 Stanier 'Black 5' No 45253 heads a down express during the locomotive exchanges in June 1948
LNER 4-6-0 Class B7 No 5484 works hard at the head of a down express shortly before World War Two
Ref: gcrcs38
G Coltas
LNER 4-6-0 Class B7 No 5484 works hard at the head of a down express shortly before World War Two
Ex-SR 4-6-2 West Country class No 34006 'Bude' with LMS tender during the 1948 locomotive exchanges
Ref: gcrcs39
G Coltas
Ex-SR 4-6-2 West Country class No 34006 'Bude' with LMS tender during the 1948 locomotive exchanges

Ex-GWR 4-6-0 Hall Class No 6990 'Witherslack Hall' heads a down express during the 1948 locomotive exchanges
Ref: gcrcs40
G Coltas
Ex-GWR 4-6-0 Hall Class No 6990 'Witherslack Hall' heads a down express during the 1948 locomotive exchanges
Looking eastwards as a clean ex-LMS 5MT 4-6-0 No 45417 sweeps southward past Staverton Road Cabin
Ref: gcrsr305
A Newman
Looking eastwards as a clean ex-LMS 5MT 4-6-0 No 45417 sweeps southward past Staverton Road Cabin
Looking south with Staverton Road Signal Cabin standing on the embankment with the parapets of the A425 bridge in view
Ref: gcrsr307
D Bullock
Looking south with Staverton Road Signal Cabin standing on the embankment with the parapets of the bridge in view

An 1899 Ordnance Survey Map of Staverton Road Signal Cabin showing the route just after the GC opened
Ref: gcrsr308
National Library of Scotland
An 1899 Ordnance Survey Map of Staverton Road Signal Cabin showing the route just after the GC opened
A 1923 Ordnance Survey Map of Staverton Road Signal Cabin showing the creation of an up refuge siding
Ref: gcrsr309
National Library of Scotland
A 1923 Ordnance Survey Map of Staverton Road Signal Cabin showing the creation of an up refuge siding
A 1946 Signalling Diagram for Staverton Road Signal Cabin showing only thirteen levers of the twenty-lever frame were actually used
Ref: gcrsr306
A Newman
A 1946 Signalling Diagram for the Signal Cabin showing only 13 levers of the 20-lever frame were actually used