Selby Diversion Drawings

Drawings and plans for the Selby diversion of the East Coast Main Line opened in 1983. Includes; 12 bound portfolios of tendering engineering drawings for the Selby Coalfield Diversion of the East Coast Mainline circa 1977-1979, one set of plans submitted with the Act of Parliament for the line. The drawings include alignments of the railway, cross-sections and plans, diversions of roads and footpaths, archaeological sites, as well as detailed drawings of bridges, fences, hedges, drainage, telecommunications. Produced by Chief Civil Engineer's Department, British Rail Eastern Region, Hudson House, York.

The Selby Diversion of the East Coast Main Line was Britain's first purpose built high speed railway that permitted trains to run at 125mph. The construction of the line was funded by the National Coal Board to enable the exploitation of a newly discovered coalfield in the area of Selby. Coal mining had the potential to cause subsidence to the existing railway and this necessitated the diversion to the new route.

The Selby diversion was the first main line railway to be built in 80 years. It was also the first to use CAD (computer aided design) to design the alignment and earthworks of the railway, and the first to include switches (points) with a line speed of 125mph at Colton Junction, meaning that trains did not need to slow down at the junction.