On Sunday we took a break from wagon restoration and started some vegetation clearance at Overton as part of a new and exciting development for the wagon group and the Nene Valley Railway.

Several months work have led up to this point, but we are now very pleased to announce the start of the ‘Overton Goods Yard Project’. The board and management have supported a proposal put forward to develop the Overton station site into a centre of non-passenger traffic, which will see a collaboration between the wagon and travelling post office (TPO) groups to create a 1950s/1960s operational goods yard and living/working museum space.

Those who follow NVR news may be aware that the Overton site has historically been dedicated to the TPO Nightmail Project, which sought to create a dedicated TPO museum over the whole site.

The Nightmail project has stalled and stagnated and so a new proposal has been put forward which will realise some of the Nightmail objectives on a much smaller scale, whilst leaving space for wagon group aims to create a working space in order to demonstrate goods movements from rail to road. The project seeks to tidy and open up the site to provide museum and educational opportunities, whilst providing space for events and working demonstrations.

The NVR board has appointed Tim Hobman as project manager with their full support to move the scheme forward and so the working session on Sunday saw members of the wagon and TPO groups come down to start tidying the site and uncover the original LNWR wall that forms the boundary. The initial stages of work will see site tidying and then stock movements to relocate items that don’t fit within the chosen early BR Eastern Region period. This will all happen over the next few months as time allows, whilst a full costed and phased business plan is developed for the whole site.

The outline plans for the site show all of the usual goods yard facilities, with creation of an LNWR style goods shed, museum building, second platform and finally signalling. The goods shed is planned to be a multi-use space, primarily used as restoration facilities for the wagon and TPO groups, but also an occasional undercover events space. Similarly the museum space has been considered as a multi-use space to tell the story of the TPOs, but also encourage educational opportunities with visiting groups and partnership working with the NVR museum group.

It is also hoped that the development and improvement of the rest of the site will encourage more volunteers and involvement from existing departments to staff the station and yard, making Overton a vibrant and attractive destination for visitors to the NVR.

The project will naturally require significant external funding, whilst not detracting from other NVR objectives and as already stated a full business plan is currently in progress. Whilst still in the planning phase, it is hoped that some progress can be made during 2025 to tidy the site and relocate some current projects to the yard to continue the good work of the wagon and TPO groups.

It is certainly an exciting prospect and one to watch as things develop!