We urgently need your help to repair a key bridge on the Northampton and Lamport Railway.

The Northampton and Lamport Railway (NLR) is a steam and heritage diesel tourist railway in the heart of the Northamptonshire countryside. Located just 5 miles north of Northampton, we currently have approximately one-and-a-half miles of running track along the old Northampton to Market Harborough line.

First established in 1984, we are run purely by volunteers and have been operating train services since 1995.

Midway along our line is Bridge 13. Unfortunately, the large timbers on this bridge, which secure the track to the steel bridge structure, have deteriorated significantly (unexpectedly rapidly) in recent months, to the point where we have had to stop running trains across the bridge from January 2023.

Closing the bridge will hugely affect the Railway, meaning that our train services can only run over a fraction of the existing line.

Due to the size of timbers required (40ft long, 10 inches deep and 16 inches wide - 12.2m x 254mm x 406mm), they are expensive and can only be purchased from specialist suppliers. To repair the bridge and keep it open for the foreseeable future, we need FOUR of these timbers.

WE NEED TO RAISE £8,500 TO KEEP THE BRIDGE OPEN

Donations will go to Northampton Steam Railway Ltd (the NLR's operating company) and will be ring-fenced for this Project*.

Whatever you can spare, it will make a real difference to securing the future of the NLR.

*Any funds raised over the total will be used for other essential track infrastructure maintenance and repairs on the NLR.

Above: The timbers run lengthways along the bridge, beneath the rails

Above: Bridge 13, looking north

Above: A side view of the bridge, showing just how large it is