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The curve used to get to the re-sited Bedford St. Johns was always there. prior to the re-location, there was a triangle at Bedford. We used to turn the royal on it. The yard between Bedford St. Johns and Midland was called the transfer yard, and used to have spring loaded hand points there.
The left hand leg of the triangle (as you face east) was used by coal trains for the power station at Goldington road. These were usually powered by a 45. There also used to be a flat crossing at 90 degrees to the Bedford branch. This was the Midland line to Hitchin. Before St.Pancras was opened, all London bound Midland trains used this line to access the Great Northern line, and into London Kings Cross. When St. Pancras opened in 1868, the line became a branch, and was used mainly for the RAF camp at Henlow.
By the way, the film "Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines" used the Hitchin branch for a sequence where an old bi-plane lands on a train of two coaches hauled by the preserved Highland goods loco.
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