Above: Eurostar class 373/2 sets 3309 and 3310 form the 09:10 King's Cross to York on Sunday 18th June 2000, leaving Peascliffe tunnel and approaching Gadd's Lane bridge at 10:30. Photograph by Tom Boustead.
Introduction - the Electrification of the ECML
The post-WW2 modernisation timetable for Britain's railways prioritised the electrification of the West Coast route (between London Euston and Glasgow, with branches to Manchester and Liverpool), putting future electrification of the East Coast Main Line (ECML, out of London King's Cross to Edinburgh, with a branch to Leeds) on the back burner.
As an interim step the East Coast route would convert from steam to diesel electric traction, so 22 high-powered (Type 5) Deltic locomotives were ordered for express passenger services, along with less powerful designs of Type 4 and below. During the early 1960s these would replace a fleet of steam locomotives designed and built between the 1920s and the early 1950s.
The West Coast route electrification programme was completed in 1974. A few years later the first phase of ECML electrification, from King's Cross to Hitchin, was carried out between 1976 and 1978, this being part of the Great Northern Suburban Electrification Project. BR's Inter City sector authorised the second phase (north to Edinburgh and Leeds) in 1984, with construction commencing in 1985. The section between Hitchin and Peterborough was completed in 1987, with Doncaster and York reached in 1989, Newcastle in 1990 and, finally, Edinburgh in 1991. At the peak of the project, during the late 1980s, work was underway at almost every point between Peterborough and Edinburgh, more than 250 miles, and it was claimed to be "the longest construction site in the world".
Grantham and Electrification
In the Grantham area the mid-to-late 1980s was a period of intense activity, first with preparatory work, such as the reconstruction or removal of many bridges which cross over the line and the provision of power supplies, and finally with the installation of the Overhead Line Equipment (OLE) itself.
The following five photographs were supplied by Eric Jeyes, a former railway civil engineer who advises: "These photographs are from my old railway colleague, Mick Jacobs. He was out 'on the ground' providing Operations support to the OLE construction teams. An awful lot of the OLE construction work was carried out while trains were still running."
First, three pictures from around 1986:
The next mast to the north, out of sight behind the camera on the right hand side, bears a plate drawing attention to its significance:
THIS MAST, THE 10,000TH ON THE EAST
COAST MAIN LINE ELECTRIFICATION
PROJECT, WAS "PLANTED" HERE AT
GRANTHAM ON WEDNESDAY 15TH OCTOBER,
1986, BY THE RT. HON. JOHN MOORE, M.P.,
SECRETARY OF STATE FOR TRANSPORT.
Now two later photos from around 1988, with wiring nearly completed:
At this point Mick notes that "the OLE is still not live, with works ongoing to finalise wire positions, heights, gradients and tensions. The pan [pantograph] is down at our request as we had pull lifts on the wires."
More information
For more reading on ECML electrification:
ECML: Electrification as it used to be – Rail Engineer
For technical information about overhead line equipment:
Scotland's+Railway+Guide+to+Overhead+Line+Equipment+November+2021.pdf
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