Colwick marshalling yard

Colwick marshalling yard, also known as Colwick sidings, was a large railway marshalling yard in Netherfield, Nottingham designed for the concentration of coal traffic from the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Coalfield for transfer to other marshalling yards in London. It was built by the Great Northern Railway in the triangle formed by the Nottingham-Grantham line, and the Nottingham-Derby line, close to what would become Netherfield and Colwick station. It was built in stages from 1872 and was closed by British Railways in April 1970. The site has now been developed as the Victoria Retail Park.

Until the 1870s the Midland Railway had a monopoly of the coal traffic from the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Coalfield. In 1852 the Great Northern Railway main line had reached Grantham railway station where it met the Ambergate, Nottingham, Boston and Eastern Junction Railway. The GNR agreed with this company to operate its services thereby giving it access to Nottingham from London. Eventually in 1861 the GNR leased this line and began to develop freight its services from the coalfield in conjunction with its planned extension into Derbyshire and Staffordshire.

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