Duffield railway station

Duffield railway station is a railway station serving the village of Duffield in Derbyshire, England. The station is located on the Midland Main Line from Derby to Leeds. It is also a junction with the former branch line to Wirksworth, which is now being reopened as the Ecclesbourne Valley heritage railway.

The unmanned station is served by Central Trains, who operate local services from Derby to Matlock via the Derwent Valley Line. For journeys beginning at Duffield, tickets may be bought on the train for any destination in the country. (From Derby, tickets must be bought at the ticket office) Journey time to Derby is approximately 6 mniutes.

Services are formed using diesel multiple units of Classes 150, 153, 156, 158 or 170.

[edit] History

From Derby, the railway proceeds along the broad flood plain of the River Derwent, passing Little Eaton Junction, where the Midland Railway later built a branch near one of the oldest lines in the country, the Little Eaton Gangway.

The first station at Duffield was built in 1841, a year after the line opened, by the North Midland Railway a few yards further north from its present position.

From 1840 there had been a number of proposals for a line from Manchester down the Churnet Valley to meet either the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway or the Midland Counties Railway, to go on to London. An amendment was put forward in 1844 bringing the line to the North Midland at Duffield, presumably via Ashbourne and the Ecclesbourne Valley. However, the line never materialised.

The Midland Railway, however, was looking for a path into Manchester, as an alternative to the former Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midlands Junction Railway from Ambergate to Rowsley which it leased jointly with the LNWR. It built a junction at Duffield which opened as far as Wirksworth in 1867. Gaining sole control of the Ambergate line in 1871, the extension proved unnecessary. However, the Wirksworth branch (nowadays known as the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway) remained a busy line, with a regular passenger service and freight in the form of limestone from Wirksworth and milk from the farms along the line.

Accordingly in 1867 a large new station was built in the vee of the junction, with platforms on each side of the double track. A signal box was provided to the east of the main line, replaced by Duffield Junction box around 1890 at the south end of Platform One. By this time the population of Duffield had increased with railway workers and management, as had traffic on the main line. In 1897 a goods line was laid in the up (southbound) direction, and a fourth, down goods, laid in 1904.

There were two platforms with a footbridge, the second being an island between the two passenger lines, and another for the branch. The two subsidiary platforms each had a waiting room, while the main platform building contained the waiting room, ticket and luggage offices. Next to the footbridge was a separate W.H.Smith bookstall. The station master's house was separate, being beside the track to the north, and there was small luggage store just outside the gate. The Wirksworth line having severed the main road, which had been diverted, a footbridge gave access across the line. To the north of the station, there was wide level crossing which, besides allowing luggage trolleys to cross, gave access for the farmer who owned the adjacent land. Next to this was a footbridge from the front of the station to the field behind, and between them two signal posts, with, until 1910 a Duffield Station signal box, supplementing Duffield Junction.

The line saw several historic moments, with new or experimental vehicles from Derby. The whole village turned out, or so it seemed, to see "Number 10000", the LMS's new diesel-electric locomotive go through on its maiden run. Subsequently the Wirksworth branch saw Derby's first experiments with diesel railcars. The main line saw some initial test runs of the Advanced Passenger Train and, towards Derby, a length of experimental slip-paved concrete track.

The station changed little over the years. In 1947 the signal posts were replaced with a fabricated steel gantry and upper-quadrant signals Some time later the passenger footbridge was rebuilt in brick, using the existing walkway. This is the only remaining part of the station after the buildings were removed in 1969, except for the station master's house, now a private residence, and the small luggage store which was just outside the gate.

North of Duffield the main line passes under 'The Chevin' (aka Firestone Hill) through the Milford Tunnel.