The history of the railway in Long Eaton has now been revealed through a set of new information panels located around the railway station.
The Station History panels are located on the entrance wall to the station and along the fences of both platforms, making them easily available for people to read whilst awaiting their train.
Two of the panels – ‘the Trent Triangle’ and ‘Long Eaton’s Four stations’ – describe the evolution of the triangular railway junction where the lines from Derby, Nottingham and Leicester meet at Long Eaton, and how this resulted in four stations bearing the town’s name at various times.
Another panel describes the stone arched ‘Tamworth Road Bridge’ that carries the railway over the main road by the station and explains why it has been susceptible to flooding ever since its original construction in 1838. The final panel described how tarpaulins were made to cover open railway wagons at the ‘Midland Railway Sheet Stores’, located where the railway line crosses the Erewash Canal.
The new information panels have been researched and written by volunteers from Long Eaton Station Adopters, and East Midlands Railway provided grant funding to the Derwent Valley Line Community Rail Partnership (CRP) to print and coordinate installation of the panels.
Complimenting the Station History panels is a new 5½ mile walk starting and finishing at the railway station, which explores the development of the railway network around Long Eaton from 1840 to the present day.
Station adopter Ian Mitchell said: “It has been very satisfying to have had the opportunity to tell these local history stories to a wider audience and provide something to keep people interested while they wait to catch a train or meet someone arriving at the station.”
Marie Redfearn, landlady of Sawley Junction Micropub, said: “I chose the name Sawley Junction for the micropub because I was sad that the old name for the station had been lost. It’s great that these station history panels are now explaining how this happened.”
Alexa Stott, Community Ambassador at East Midlands Railway, said: “East Midlands Railway is delighted to have supported the design and installation of these new history boards. We hope that both locals and visitors to Long Eaton will enjoy finding out a little more about the area and the four stations, and perhaps take the opportunity to try out the walk as well.”
Keep up to date with future news, projects and events from the Derwent Valley Line CRP via their website.
