A section of a 1913 map of the railways in the Nottingham area focussing on what was to be seen in the Lenton area.

Nottingham main line to Derby

A 1987 shot of the main Nottingham to Derby line looking towards Nottingham from the Lenton Lane road bridge.  On the right is the walkway known as Bird Cage Walk which used to provide pedestrian access to the footpath running alongside the side of the Ordnance factory.

A train carrying balast passing by Birdcage Walk. Photograph taken in July 1969 by David Page.

David Page, also known as 'Railway Dave' has more photographs which can be accessed on Flickr by clicking here

A 1965 photograph showing a train emerging from the section of track which used to go under Bird Cage Walk. It is a B.R. type 2 loco coming on to the main line from Clifton pit. It has a number on the front which reads '8T26'. The '8' means it is a coal or mineral train. The 'T' indicates that it it 'trip working' meaning that it is only going to Beeston or Toton sidings where it will be attached to another train. The '26' is the number for that particular train. Photograph supplied by Gordon Jackson.

2 General Motors Class 66 locomotives, passing the Lenton South Junction on the 'Down Fast' toward Nottingham. The 2 locos in the photo are used on engineer's track renewal trains, which work overnight at weekends and are also used to haul coal, container, scrap metal and fuel oil trains throughout the week. Photograph taken on Saturday 30 May 2009 at 4.42 p.m.

Also taken on 30 May 2009 this was taken at 7.01 p.m. and shows a train heading out of Nottingham. The train is a Class 222 'Meridian' which is used on some of the Nottingham to London St. Pancras International services. It is on the up fast line which used to be the Down Goods line as featured on some of the older pictures also included on this page.

Eight minutes after the previous train was caught on film, Paul Bexon snapped this passenger train heading into Nottingham. The train shown here is a Super Sprinter class 156 and is working on a Leicester to Lincoln-Lincoln to Leicester service. It is an hourly service throughout the main part of the day and arrives in Nottingham from Leicester at about fifteen minutes past the hour.

The final train Paul Bexon photographed on 30 May 2009 was heading out of Nottingham at 7.11 p.m. This is an ex Midland MainLine/Central Trains Class 170, now operated by Arriva Cross-Country on a Nottingham- Birmingham New Street service.  When photographed it was just one of three trains still to have the Midland Mainline livery - all the others have been repainted in the Arriva livery of grey and maroon.

This is much the same location as in the previous four 2009 shots but for this one we go back to 1955 when the premises belonging to Hattersley-Heaton can just be seen on the left.

Taken the same year as the previous photograph we are now looking westwards from Lenton South Junction with some of the properties in Dunkirk just visible in the far distance.

David Page took this photograph in June 1969 while standing on the Birdcage Walk bridge. It shows the Lenton Lane road bridge over the main Nottingham to Derby line. Beyond the bridge can be seen the roof lines of the premises belonging to British Gas depot and Fitchett & Woolacott, timber merchants.

The Blackpool to Nottingham train in May 1988 making its way into Nottingham. The train is passing what was then the British Gas depot on Willow Road and which currently houses part of Games Workshop's World of Warhammer.

Nottingham branch line to Mansfield

The Sir Nigel Gresley Locomotive Preservation Trust Ltd bought this steam locomotive and saved it from being scrapped. Our photograph taken on 28 February 2009 shows the locomotive and carriages passing through the Lenton South Junction as the train enters the main Nottingham to Derby line. The photograph was taken by Rob Terrace and is one of a number of train photographs included on Rob's flickr site which can be accessed by clicking on R82 Photography.
The last regular passenger train to use the Lenton Curve was the 6.00am SX Langwith to Chilwell Ordnance Depot workmans train. It picked up at all stations, consisted of quite often of 6/7 coaches and was steam hauled. It returned from Chilwell at 4.48pm and was unadvertised to the general public. It ceased on 14th June 1963.

Photograph dated 5th March 1969, showing Lenton North Junction. Abbey Bridge can be seen beyond the electricity pylon (back right).

Photograph taken in 1966, shows locomotive 45647, a 'Jubilee' class 4-6-0 named 'Sturdee' (after the Admiral) which was taking the Saturday's only service from Poole up to Bradford. Here it can be seen heading north from Lenton Junction and about to pass under Abbey Bridge.

Taken on 20 December 2008 at 2.27 p.m. from the Church Street bridge this photograph shows the view looking northwards towards the Derby Road bridge. On the left are some of the properties that make up the Lenton Manor housing estate while on the right, beyond the hedge, lies Lenton Recreation Ground. Beyond the Derby Road bridge on the left is the new student housing development seen at closer quarters in the next photograph.

Taken in 2008 from the Derby Road bridge which crosses the railway this shows the view looking northwards along the railway line. The site of Lenton railway station, demolished in the 1950s, lies partly under the track on the left and partly under the new student housing development seen on the left.

This is the Harwich PQ to Glasgow/Edinburgh train taken on 21 June 1986. The shot was taken by Chris Jackson from Faraday Road as the locomotive was about to pass under the Raleigh 'bridge'.