Building the last Main Line Railway

Rugby to Barby: gcrcs1

A steam navvy is seen loading spoil on to a contractor's wagon on the site of the new station at Rugby circa 1897. The wagons would be moved by horse power away from the immediate excavation area and would only be moved by steam locomotive if the spoil needed to be moved some distance. Earth excavated from the cuttings would be moved along the line and tipped at an area where embankments were required, a practice common today in road building. Contrary to some captions in publications the tracks seen in this photograph were part of contractor's temporary and not a permanent way line between Catesby and Rugby.

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