Alfreton & South Normanton - The 1960s
Alfreton station was a busy place in the 1960s, for passengers, parcels and goods. The Station Master had a staff of sixteen, two clerks, two porters, two goods clerks, a checker, two goods porters, two shunters, a goods lorry driver, a parcels lorry driver and three signalmen. Alfreton Colliery was accessed from the north end of the goods yard and was served from nearby Westhouses, usually by a Fowler 4F which not infrequently became derailed on the poor trackwork in the colliery yard. The shunters were quite adept at rerailing using the cast iron ramps provided for the purpose. Goods traffic included steel, containers, detergents from the Deosan factory in Riddings and a number of Gunpowder vans each day of explosives from the nearby Explosives & Chemical Products factory. There was one train to London at 07:40 hrs each morning with a return in the evening. All the other passenger services were Nottingham to Sheffield and return.
In addition there were many seasonal trains to the East Coast and excursions to the Peak District, London and numerous other places. In April of each year a special was run to the Schoolboys International Football Match at Wembley. In 1963 the twelve coach train was headed by an ex-works Jubilee class loco,
A constant stream of goods trains, mainly coal and iron ore, passed throughout the day and night, both on the passenger and goods lines, hauled by 3F, 4F, 8F and 9F locos. Goods trains were steam hauled until the end of steam in the area but in the early 1960s steam gave way to diesels on the passenger services with many of the local stopping trains being DMUs.
During the pigeon racing season Friday night was pigeon night and all the local clubs brought their baskets for despatch and a van was attached to the DMU accommodate them.
Class 25s heads north with a partially fitted freight
Ex-WD Austerity 90300 hauls an iron ore train
North in March 1963
North in March 1963
Type 4 D127 with a Sheffield -London express
Black 5 44962 with a half-day excursion to London
