Woodford Railway
The Arrival Part 4
By 1898 the major works were completed, the track had been ballasted and the rails laid, and on the 25th July 1898, the first coal train came through. The heavy loads consolidated the track and the first passenger trains to run came through on 15th March 1899.
Prior to that, the Directors of the railway made an initial trip on 9th March and the Parish Council, at its meeting on 6th March, resolved to instruct the clerk to draw up an Address, to present to the Directors when they passed through Woodford, but the train, an engine and two coaches, would not stop, even for a minute, and so the thanks of the parish for the blessings conferred by the building of the railway were not presented.
It is assumed that the Address to the Directors was sent by post, as the Parish Council did get a letter of thanks from the Directors.
It was quite an event when the first passenger train went through, the school children were let out of school and everyone able, crowded the platform to greet the train on arrival.
The Vicar, the Reverend F.A. Smith, took the first ticket to Brackley.
The coming of the railway must have made a great difference to the lives of the people in the area, so how did they take to the sudden invasion of their village, first by the navvies and then, when they had passed on, by the men brought in to operate the railway.
It must have been with relief, as the fear of unemployment was lifted.
The Vicar, writing in the Parish Magazine, July 1898 said, “Three or four years ago it was not an easy matter, even in the summer months, to find employment.... now, every man who is able-bodied can obtain employment at a wage, which enables him to have home comforts which formerly, were out of the question.” Later, he complained that they did not come to church to thank God for the benefits they had received.
