Marton Station

Marton Station, opened on 1st March 1851, was the other original intermediate station on the single line route from Rugby to Leamington, Birdingbury being the other. The station was situated half a mile south of the village on the road to Long Itchington (now the A423) and remained open until the withdrawal of passenger services on the line on 15th June 1958. The station was soon perceived by the LNWR as serving a wider area than the just local village and consequently its name was changed to include Southam in the LNWR's attempt to counter the influence of the GWR, whose route also passed near to the village. Marton's name was therefore changed to 'Marton for Southam' on 1st July 1853, before a change of mind by management saw it reverting back to just Marton in October 1860. In January 1877 it was again decided to change the name back to 'Marton for Southam' before it was finally changed to Marton on 1st August 1895. The latter change was because Southam and Long Itchington station had opened on the Marton Junction to Weedon line and the pretence of serving Southam was no longer necessary. The effort to counter the attraction of the GWR to the people of Southam was more than just changing a name as Preston-Hendry & Powell-Hendry record in their book 'LMS Stations Volume One'. They note that 'during the period 1877 to 1895 a horse bus ran four times a day between Marton station and the village of Southam as part of the LNWR's efforts to counter the attraction of GWR services'.

Initially the line was single throughout, but was doubled in the 1880s, the Marton to Leamington section being completed on 28th January 1884. As the goods yard was already in place opposite the original single platform station, the new up platform had to be built diagonally opposite the station. The LNWR was faced with a dilemma as the station was located on the only piece of level land at this point on the line. As the '1880s plan' shows, the goods yard being sited opposite the station made it impractical to build the new up platform towards Rugby as it would be beyond Bridge 21 and therefore some distance from the original station. They therefore had little choice but to build the up platform outwards across the bridge carrying the railway over the Southam to Coventry road. This resulted in the up platform being constructed outwards across the bridge carrying the railway over . As Messrs Preston-Hendry & Powell-Hendry state in their book, 'the use of viaducts to carry platforms in urban areas was not uncommon, but this must have been one of the few rural locations to be so graced.'. The main station building was constructed in brick and, as was the case at Birdingbury, all passenger facilities were located within the structure. This meant that unlike the up platform which had a timber waiting room erected, complete with a short canopy, there was no protection for passengers on the platform itself. Train services on the Rugby to Leamington line in 1895 comprised eight trains in each direction. All of the east-bound trains, including two semi-fasts, called at Marton, but in the reverse direction two ran non-stop. By 1927 ten trains to Rugby and nine to Leamington called at Marton. Access to the station and to the goods yard was via a long inclined drive off Marton Road.

The goods yard was more elaborate than that seen at either Dunchurch or Birdingbury. A passing loop formed the access to the goods shed although it passed directly through the shed goods before rejoining the up line at the Rugby end of the station. It was at the Rugby end of the passing loop, beyond Bridge No 21, where access to the yard's two sidings commenced. These ran parallel to the running line in the direction of Leamington. Consequently this arrangement resulted in Marton having three sidings; one passing through the goods shed, being nearest the line; a second siding which ran parallel to this and which for many years had a wagon turntable installed two thirds the way along; and a third siding which served a cement and lime store, complete with loading dock. The yard also had a weigh bridge and office for fee paying LNWR customers and the public. The Railway Clearing House's 1929 Handbook of Railway Stations records Dunchurch station as providing a nearly full range of services: Goods traffic; Passenger and Parcels traffic; Livestock; Horse Boxes and Prize Cattle Vans; and 'Carriages' attached to passenger trains. The only exception to the services being offered was the handling of Furniture Vans. Despite the 1894 edition of Handbook of Railway Stations not listing in detail the same number of categories of services on offer, it did record (under the name of Marton for Southam) that Furniture Vans could be accommodated. Why the station lost this facility is unknown. Whereas no Goods Shed existed at Birdingbury one did exist at Marton but no crane was recorded at Marton either inside the shed or outside. This is surprising because as seen standing in front of the shed in image 'lnwrmart3975' a wagon carrying lumber can be seen. Should a merchant require a crane then the merchant would have to hire a rail mounted crane of the type seen in image 'lnwrcs2124'. A goods services continued to be available at the station until 3rd July 1961.

Nelson Sidings

From the middle of the 19th century Messrs Charles Nelson and Co Ltd operated a large cement works half a mile to the north of Southam village which was approximately three miles from the railway passing through Marton. Established by 1860, the cement works used both canals and the railway to transport its goods. To transport its goods by railway Nelson's established their own siding off the Birdingbury Road, located some 22 chains (484 yards) on the Rugby side of Marton Station. Two sidings were provided both off what became the up line on doubling with a warehouse sited between the two sidings. A short headshunt was provided which was as much designed to prevent runaways from entering the running line. Nelson's also used a facility at Marston station which would have been for small consignments of traffic not warranting a dedicated wagon or wagons. A Signal Cabin, 'Nelson Sidings', was erected located on the down line opposite the siding. These sidings closed shortly after Nelson's opened their new sidings on the Leamington to Weedon branch which fortuitously ran alongside their works. One year prior to the opening of the branch from Marton Junction to Weedon, the Railway Clearing House's 1894 Handbook of Railway Stations records the existence of Nelson's sidings at Marton but with no public service. The 1929 Handbook of Railway Stations also records the existence of Nelson Sidings but this time notes its location is on the Leamington Weedon branch.

Notes on the 20th century working of Marton Signal Cabin

Reg Instone of the LNWR Society writes as a follow up to his extensive caption of the signal cabin seen in image 'lnwrmart3576', the hours of opening of the signal cabins. Throughout the decade from May 1903 until February 1913, each issue to the Central District Working Time Table (WTT) shows Marton Station cabin as open from 9.30 to 10.10am six days a week. This was necessary to allow two Down passenger trains to follow each other closely. As Dunchurch and Birdingbury cabins were also switched out most of the time, the normal Absolute Block section was between Bilton Sidings (Rugby) and Marton Junction cabins, a distance of just under 9 miles. This was adequate for the infrequent passenger and goods service, and saved the cost of employing signalmen at these cabins. The local goods service was provided by a trip working from Rugby, arriving at Marton at 4/10 and leaving again at 4/25 back to Rugby, allowing just 15 minutes for shunting. This was part of trip 1 from Rugby, altered to trip 101 in 1913 for the Traffic Control scheme. Of course, the cabin would have to be opened to enable access to the sidings. Additionally, in summer 1908 and summer 1909 (July to September) the cabin was shown to be open daily from 2/25 to 3/0pm. This facilitated the passage of the seasonal GER & GWR Yarmouth to West Country train, which was booked to leave Rugby at 2/42 not long after the passage of a local service. On the face of it, before 1907 it seems the Stationmaster would have to open the cabin himself, as there was no-one else available. However, this might not have been the case, as suggested in the next paragraph. From 1907 it would have been the Porter-Signalman's job to open the cabin and switch in the block instruments for these and other purposes. Throughout this period Marton Junction cabin was shown to be open from 7.0 to 9/0 six days a week, or a period of 14 hours. The line was closed on Sundays. Before the Great War, signalmen's shifts on lines such as this were usually 12 hours long (although 10 hour shifts were worked on main lines, and 8 hours at the busiest stations). Prior to 1907, two signalmen were employed here, which would seem excessive to cover 14 hours of opening. However, maybe one man worked the Station cabin from 9.30am, and presumably also around 4pm for the goods, before walking to Marton Junction to relieve the early turn man there. This would give a shift of 12 hours including 30 minutes walking time. The two turns would rotate on a weekly basis, as was the norm. Although nominally employed at Marton Junction, they would have to be passed out to work both cabins. I stress that this is just a guess, and we will probably never know the truth for certain. After 1907, with the change to one signalman at Marton Junction and a Porter-Signalman, different arrangements must have been in force.

Reg Instone