Norfolk Railway Society: News archive December 2003

News archive December 2003

National Network

Subsidy soars as National Express secures Central until 2006
After three months' negotiations, the Strategic Rail Authority and National Express Group have agreed the terms under which NEG will operate the loss-making Central Trains franchise for a further two years. NEG's current £167m annual subsidy will rise sharply to £221m next year and £236m in 2005/06. In return the company has agreed to fund some £5m-worth of capital schemes. These include a new customer service training centre in Birmingham and new carriage washing plant at Eastcroft (Nottingham).

AR switches to red 90s
A new fleet of Class 90 electric locos has begun work on Norwich - London services. Anglia Railways has agreed to hire four of the class from EWS until the end of the current franchise (March 31 next year). Under a previous deal which began in August 2002, class 90s hired from Freightliner ran over 400,000 miles on main line Norwich - London services, demonstrating impressive acceleration and reliability.

The new arrangement began on Monday October 13, when red-liveried nos. 90016, 90020 and 90040 were observed on passenger trains. The Class 90s were built at Crewe between 1987 and 1990.

Brush bonanza during Ipswich tunnel blockade
As already reported (NRS Newsletter December 02 , August 03 ), the main line through Ipswich will be closed between July 11 and September 5 next year so that the town's rail tunnel can be enlarged for container traffic. Details are now emerging of the arrangements for the loco-hauled trains which will make the return Norwich - London journey via Cambridge each weekday. A Class 47, probably a Cotswold Rail loco, will be in charge between Norwich and Cambridge, swapping with a Class 86 for the Cambridge - London stretch.

On Saturdays there will be a London - Great Yarmouth loco-hauled train. As the Class 47 will arrive at Norwich at the buffer-stop end, a second member of the class will be used for the Yarmouth leg. Thus modern traction fans who make the complete London - Yarmouth journey will enjoy haulage by a Class 86 and two different 47s.

Terri names her engine
Freightliner's Class 08 0-6-0 shunter no. 08691, pilot at Felixstowe North Container Terminal, has been named Terri after six-year old Terri Calvesbert. The little girl suffered terrible burns in a fire at her Ipswich home, and a Freightliner clerk suggested the name as a tribute to Terri's courage in overcoming her injuries.

08691 is leased by Freightliner from Wabtec. Pilot at the South Terminal, Hunslet-built 0-6-0 no. 01531 Colonel Tomline, has been out of action for the best part of a year, but was seen working again on November 13. If it proves reliable, replacement shunter no. 08868 will be returned to owner Harry Needle Railroad Co.

Anglia passenger numbers rocket
Since 1997 Anglia Railways has seen its total passenger numbers grow at a rate unmatched in the UK rail industry. In the year ended March 31 the company carried 9.5m passengers, 75% more than in 1996/7. The most spectacular rise came on the Bittern Line. 470,000 journeys were recorded - a remarkable increase of 134% over 1997 when the line’s Rail Partnership was inaugurated.

AR has also found that the new Norwich - Cambridge service has caused a significant switch from road to rail. Many passengers on the route have changed to rail specifically to avoid the busy A11 and congested streets in the two cities.

Berney Arms to proclaim its identity again
Just months after receiving a new waiting shelter ( NRS Newsletter June), the isolated

Picture : Norfolk County Council

station of Berney Arms is soon to receive a new LNER-style running-in board. Made at a Limpenhoe boat yard from pressure-treated hardwood with gunmetal letters, the new sign closely resembles its predecessor which disappeared in the 1980s. Norfolk County Council has paid for the sign, which is due to be fixed in place by the end of November.

‘Help point’ programme completed
Every Anglia Railways station now has a help point telephone. The phones can be used to find information about train running and onward connections (buses and taxis). At unstaffed stations they provide reassurance for passengers, and can be used to pass on emergency messages. October saw the programme completed, when Brundall’s phone was installed.

60009 confounds doubters and steams into Norwich
After several promised steam tours were cancelled, local enthusiasts and photographers had doubts whether Steam Dreams’ only 2003 Cathedrals Express trip to Norwich, planned for October 11, would actually run. First Liverpool Street replaced King’s Cross as departure station, and then journey timings were not released until the last minute. But linesiders’ patience was rewarded when, over an hour late, Gresley A4 no. 60009 Union of South Africa arrived at Norwich in the October sunshine. (Picture) . Both outward and return journeys were made via Hitchin and Ely, and Fragonset no. 31452 Minotaur brought up the rear of the train.

Station friends make their mark
Anglia Railways’ “Adopt a Station” scheme is starting to bear fruit. Following requests from adopters, litter bins will be installed as a trial at some unstaffed stations. At Halesworth a grant has been won from Suffolk County Council to install a new bench on the platform. Adopters now receive a quarterly newsletter to keep them up to date and share ideas.

By October just six Norfolk stations had not been spoken for: Buckenham, Diss, Gunton, Hoveton & Wroxham, North Walsham and Roughton Road. Would-be adopters should contact "Adopt A Station", Anglia Railways, St Clare House, Princes Street, Ipswich, IP1 1LY.

Norwich and Thetford part of ‘Central Citylink’
From the start of the winter timetable on September 28, Central Trains became the sole operator on the Liverpool-Birmingham and Nottingham-Birmingham-Cardiff routes. As a result it has revised its pocket timetables. Norwich and Thetford remain in the expanded leaflet A, whose trains are now dubbed ‘Central Citylink’ - described as ‘fast and frequent express services’ with reservable seats and many with at-seat catering. In order to see all CT services between Norfolk and the Midlands, you now have to consult two tables: Norwich-Nottingham-Liverpool and (despite the title) Stansted-Cambridge-Peterborough-Leicester-Birmingham.

Central have also launched a new range of 'CV' (Central Value) return fares on Citylink routes. CV1 tickets must be purchased by 6pm the day before travel, CV3 three days before travel and CV7 seven days beforehand. Sample fares are:

	CV1	CV3	CV7
Thetford to
Liverpool	£48	£42	£31
Grantham	£23	£20	£15

Norwich to
Peterborough	£11	£10	£ 7
Sheffield	£36	£32	£23

Wymondham limestone traffic to end?
A new freight flow to Wymondham began on November 17 when loco no. 66609 arrived with a Freightliner Heavy Haul train of 80-ton MJA box wagons of limestone aggregate from Peak Forest. With encouragement from NRS member Mike Young at Norfolk County Council, it was planned that the trains would run each Monday, Wednesday and Friday for the first month and once a week thereafter.

However local opposition temporarily halted the arrangement. From Wymondham the limestone was being taken by road to RMC’s plant at Costessey for distribution around Norfolk, and residents complained about lorries manoeuvring in and out of Wymondham yard. It is likely that access to the yard will be changed before the traffic can resume.

More Sunday bus replacements
Sunday engineering work at various points on the Anglia network has led to a series of substitute road services. While the main line was blocked on the London side of Colchester each Sunday from November 2 to December 7, coaches ran direct between Ipswich and London. Portions of the East Suffolk (Ipswich - Lowestoft) route had their trains replaced by coaches on October 26, November 2 and 23; and on this last Sunday journeys between Dullingham and Cambridge also had to be made by road.

Network Rail slammed for bridge closure and tree felling
Network Rail's activities in Norfolk have come under fire from two directions. Trowse swing bridge has been closed to river traffic since October 7, preventing tall craft on the River Wensum from reaching Norwich. Network Rail plans to install new track joints, but a special casting will not be delivered until early next year and so the rails across the bridge have been welded together. To the dismay of the Broads Authority, NR admits that if the bridge needs to be opened urgently it will take up to 24 hours to unfasten the tracks.

Meanwhile, an Acle man claims that NR's tree-felling programme has led to too many trees being chopped down beside the track between Lingwood and Acle. Alan McClernon is concerned about the effect the loss of habitat will have on wildlife but Network Rail insists that signal visibility, slippery rails caused by falling leaves and the risk of trees falling on the line make the work necessary.

Leziate sand flows to Goole
Rail-borne sand traffic from West Norfolk was set to increase in October. EWS has won the contract to convey two trainloads per week from WBB Minerals’ quarry at Leziate, 31/2m SE of King’s Lynn, to Guardian Glass’s new float glass plant at Goole. Wagons are being brought out of storage to deal with the new traffic.

EWS already takes a daily train of glassmaking sand from Leziate. On Mondays and Fridays it goes to Barnby Dun (Doncaster), and on Tues - Thurs the destination is Monk Bretton (Barnsley). Contracts have recently been signed to extend these flows by three more years.

Heritage, Narrow-Gauge and Miniature

Danemoor 'skid-pan' helps train Anglia drivers
Driving trains when leaf-fall makes rails slippery is a perennial problem. The Mid-Norfolk Railway has again helped Anglia Railways’ drivers cope with these conditions.

On December 2 and 3 Anglia held a training course on the MNR, using Class 153 unit no.153326 Ted Ellis. A length of track at Danemoor Bank, south of Hardingham station, was sprayed with a soap mixture and a "virtual station" was marked out for drivers to practice their skills in stopping. For this exercise HMRI allowed the MNR to raise its speed limit over a one-mile section to 40 mph. Anglia Railways has indicated that it would like to run similar training sessions in future.

Royal Scot’s restoration progresses
The boiler of Bressingham-based LMS 4-6-0 no. 6100 Royal Scot, which is being restored to working order with the aid of a Heritage Lottery fund grant, has been sent by road to Chatham dockyard for attention by specialist contractors. The driving wheels too have been sent away for tyre reprofiling and bearing overhaul. Royal Scot’s frames, meanwhile, are to be grit blasted and overhauled at Bressingham.

Mid-Norfolk pioneer leaves for Bressingham
In October the Mid-Norfolk Railway said farewell to a loco which was once its only source of motive power when 0-4-0 diesel shunter No. 1 County School was moved by road to Bressingham steam museum.

No.1 (Ruston & Hornsby no. 497753 of 1963) arrived from British Sugar's Bury St Edmunds factory in 1983. Over the last twenty years it's been based at Hardingham, Yaxham, County School (where it acquired its name) and Dereham. In 1998 it worked the the MNR’s first post-preservation works train, and, though ideal for track work, it has lately been superseded by the MNR's growing fleet of main line engines. Its current owner is Great Eastern Traction, the loco hire firm which uses a storage site next to the MNR's Hardingham station.

Council offers NNR its own Thursford collection
The North Norfolk Railway is to benefit from another act of generosity from Norfolk County Council. Having been allowed to dismantle and remove the station building from Stalham (NRS Newsletter February 02 ) the railway has been told it can take what it wants from another ex-M&GN structure - Thursford goods shed. Before bulldozers arrive to flatten what used to be a road materials depot, the railway has just a few weeks to retrieve items such as bricks, slates and roof timbers.

Dereham to lay on repeat diesel treat
The Mid-Norfolk Railway plans to double up its diesel weekends in 2004. On the weekend of March 20/21 the Dereham-based line will hold a Diesel Gala when, like last year, it is hoped that a guest Freightliner loco will share duties with the line’s resident locos. Then on September 11 and 12 the railway will host a ‘Late Summer Diesel Enthusiasts' Weekend’, using just the MNR-based fleet. One- and two-day Rover tickets will be available for both weekends.

Away from the tracks

Old keeper’s cottage on the market
Tucked away down an unmade lane - but hard against the London - Norwich main line - is Blackmill Crossing Cottage. The former keeper’s cottage in Great Moulton, just north of Tivetshall, is on the market at £175,000 through Durrants (01379 642233).

Accolade for Wolferton
Among the winners of the 2003 CRPE Norfolk Awards was Wolferton Royal Station, near King's Lynn. The awards are made by the Norfolk branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) to projects or buildings which enhance the county's environment.

At the ceremony on October 30 Wolferton station was described as "an immaculate restoration of this late Victorian and early Edwardian railway station."

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