Norfolk Railway Society: News archive June 2003

News archive June 2003

National Network
Heritage, Narrow-Gauge and Miniature
Away from the tracks

National Network

Greater Anglia to include buses?
A consultation document released by the Strategic Rail Authority suggests the three shortlisted bidders - Arriva Trains, GB Railways and National Express Group - should examine ways to upgrade services and reduce costs. One surprising suggestion is that buses could be employed as a way of improving efficiency, but the Norwich and Norfolk Transport Action Group claims that substituting buses for trains has rarely been successful.

The three pre-qualified Greater Anglia bidders have until September 1 to submit their detailed tenders. The Greater Anglia franchise will be the first to be awarded under a new 'model contract', which incorporates clearer rewards and penalties for aspects such as train and station cleanliness, security and passenger information.

“Broads BoaTrain” launched
This summer day-trippers can buy a “Broads BoaTrain” ticket entitling them to travel by train to Norwich and take a City Boats cruise from Station Quay. The cruises run every day to the broads at Whitlingham, Surlingham, Rockland and Strumpshaw Fen and return to Station Quay in time for the train home. The fare from stations on the Norwich - Sheringham and Norwich - Great Yarmouth/Lowestoft lines is £10.00 (£6 child). Special fares are also available from stations on ARs' Cambridge - Norwich and London - Norwich routes.

Wymondham’s week as rail-bus interchange point
With engineering work taking place in the Lakenham area between Saturday May 24 and Sunday June 1, both Anglia and Central introduced a revised service. Passengers were conveyed by bus between Norwich and Wymondham, where sometimes as many as four Class 170 dmus could be seen simultaneously.

Berney Arms offers shelter
Norfolk's most isolated station has been updated. As well as new signs displaying the Wherry Lines logo, the single platform at Berney Arms now boasts a shelter for passengers - built of timber as a standard steel-and-glass structure would have jarred with the surrounding landscape.

New railfreight depot for Stowmarket?
GB Railways plc has applied to Mid Suffolk District Council for the permission to build a rail-served development on the edge of Stowmarket. Working in partnership with a company called Stowmarket Multi-Modal Distribution Park, GB wants to develop a site where it can store and redistribute containers rather than have them occupy valuable space in Felixstowe docks. The projected site, where up to 500 people could be employed, is close to the A14/A1120 interchange at Creeting St Peter.

Bargain £10 travel for over 50s
Until May 31 people over 50 could buy a return ticket from Norwich to a number of destinations for just £10. Central Trains’ offer covered trips to places like Birmingham (a Saver return is normally £53), Sheffield (£49.70), Derby (£42) and Lincoln (£35.20).

To take advantage of the offer, you had to complete a voucher (from newspapers or downloaded from the CT website) and take it to the station, with proof of age, when buying your ticket. However the special £10 fare must have lurked somewhere in Central’s PORTIS machines, as our member David Wright successfully persuaded a guard to issue his ticket on the train.

Central says that last year one in five men and women aged 50 or over travelled by train, an increase of 5% over 2001.

Take up the Anglia Plus challenge
In an East Anglian version of the traditional London Underground pastime - and one guaranteed to whet the appetites of NRS members - Anglia Railways is inviting travellers to take up the Anglia Plus Challenge. This is a competition to promote the changes to Cheap Day Return fares and Anglia Plus tickets which now give free bus travel into town and back from Norwich, Ipswich, Great Yarmouth, Bury St Edmunds and Lowestoft.

Armed with an Anglia Plus one-day ticket (£9 per adult and £2 per accompanied child), all you need to do is use Anglia local services to visit as many town or city centres as possible during a single day. Where appropriate you take the free bus into town and back; otherwise you walk or cycle. You need to collect a postcard from each place visited and keep a record of the trains travelled on.

The person who has visited the most town centres in one day will win a first-class family return ticket to London - and there's a consolation prize for the sender of the most original postcard selection.

Postcards, along with your used ticket, should be sent by 30th June to

Anglia Plus Challenge, Corporate Affairs Team, Anglia Railways, St Clare House, Princes Street, Ipswich, IP1 1LY

To forestall complaints from stranded passengers, AR advises you to “plan your journey in advance and make sure you can get back to your home station” !

More stops in AR summer timetable
As already reported (NRS Newsletter April 2003 ) Anglia Railways' summer timetable sees extra evening trains between Norwich and Sheringham. Other changes include more main line services from Norwich calling at Stratford - the 08.00, 08.30 & 12.00 (Mon-Fri) and the 08.05 & 12.00 (Sat). On the Norwich - Lowestoft route more Sunday trains stop at Brundall, Cantley, Reedham, Haddiscoe (request) and Somerleyton. The summer timetable operates between Sunday May 18 and Saturday September 27.

Put more on rail, urges NCC
Norfolk County Council's Cabinet scrutiny committee is being asked to reconsider its transport strategy. A briefing paper produced by County Council officials Gordon Hanning and Mike Young (also a NRS member) notes the disappointing growth in Norfolk's railfreight and cites the lack of suitable inter-modal terminals as the main obstacle.

Chair of the Cabinet scrutiny committee is Labour group leader Celia Cameron. Ms Cameron says more efforts are needed to encourage more people to make their journeys by rail, adding that the Council, while not a transport provider itself, has an important part to play in securing funding through the Local Transport Plan process.

Beccles station named and shamed
When the Eastern Daily Press asked its readers in April to nominate eyesores in Beccles, the worst offender turned out to be the town’s railway station. Hopefully the newly-formed East Suffolk Line Community Rail Partership (NRS Newsletter April 2003 ) will treat the station as a priority task.

158s to return
The 2003/4 winter timetable is likely to see Class 158s back in Norfolk. Central Trains’ new hourly Birmingham - Liverpool and Cardiff - Birmingham service will need 100mph Class 170 Turbostars. According to the Peterborough - Norwich Rail Users group, the class is to be removed from duty in East Anglia and replaced by Class 158s. The Rail Users hope to see the 158s, which were built between 1989-1992 by BREL at Derby, receive some updating before then.

Heritage, Narrow-Gauge and Miniature

Swansong for 27 at diesel gala
The North Norfolk Railway’s Class 27 diesel no. D5386 will make its last public appearance at the railway’s Diesel Gala on June 28 and 29. The loco has been at the NNR since 1988 but it does not fit the railway’s criteria (see item below) and will move later this year to the Dean Forest Railway.

Other motive power in use at the gala will include (subject to availability) Class 03 no.D2063, Class 11 no. 12131, Class 25 no. D5207 and Class 37 no. D6732 - but not newly-arrived Freightliner Class 47 no. 47367. There will be an intensive service on both days starting at 9.30 am.

J15 'can't be spared' so Little Barford steps in
So acute is the motive power shortage at the North Norfolk Railway that June’s planned visit of J15 0-6-0 no. 65462 to the Mid-Suffolk Light Railway Museum has been cancelled. Instead the MSLR will play host to Little Barford, an Andrew Barclay-built 0-4-0ST built in 1939. The loco will be in steam at Brockford every Saturday and Sunday until June 29. Admission on these days will be £5 (children £2.50), which includes a short steam-hauled ride.

Hardingham reopens - for one day only
On June 29 Hardingham station, now in private ownership, will reopen to passenger trains for the first time in many years when the Mid-Norfolk Railway operates a special rail-and-bus service to Hardingham village fete. Tickets must be bought in advance (tel. 01362 851723) by June 22.

Unimog puts North Elmham back on the map
On May 20 North Elmham saw its first rail movement since 1989 when Avondale Environmental Services’ Unimog sprayer reached the station. The vehicle was carrying out its annual weedkilling contract on the Mid-Norfolk Railway. This year the exercise was extended to the North Elmham - Dereham ‘northern’ section, thanks to the efforts of MNR volunteers who, with help from scouts and service cadets, spent much of the winter clearing undergrowth from the track.

NNR sets out 'East Anglian heritage' loco policy
With locomotives seen as integral to the ‘overall heritage experience’, the North Norfolk Railway board has decided that every effort should be made to provide examples of classes which have an East Anglian history. The geographical definition encompasses Norfolk, Suffolk, and parts of Cambridgeshire and Essex - in effect, the area served by steam locos allocated to Kings Lynn (31C), South Lynn (31D) and ‘32-code’ loco sheds. The J15, B12 and N7 classes all qualify, and Wissington spent most of its life in Norfolk. Adding to the steam stud, though, will be hindered by availability. Other LNER locomotives would be acceptable, while LMS or BR Standard types would be considered more appropriate than GWR or SR engines.

A similar policy will prevail for diesels.

When choosing visiting locos, preference will be given to classes which worked in the area, but availability, will remain the chief criterion. 'Out of context' visiting diesel locos offer variety and will be encouraged.

To limit the amount of rolling stock on the railway, a policy of 'one in one out' has been adopted. Removing items such as 27066, the class 117 dmu and J94 no. 8009 is seen as a step towards creating an authentic whole.

Bure Valley cuts back its growth!

Looking purposeful enough for any main-line railway, the BVR’s flail and weedkilling vehicle stands in Aylsham yard on April 26.

The Bure Valley Railway’s control of lineside vegetation should be revolutionised by a special vehicle which arrived at Aylsham on April 24. The 3.5 ton truck features a hydraulic flail-head mounted on a 4-metre arm and driven by a tractor engine, as well as a weedkilling sprayer system. It was built for the railway by volunteer Ken Girvan and his son.

It is intended to pair the newcomer with No. 4, the railway's 4-wheeled Hunslet diesel. A landmark in this machine’s restoration was reached on April 18 when it moved under its own power for the first time since the 1970s. The BVR acquired the dilapidated loco (no. 4556 of 1954) in 1993 and re-gauged it from 2' to 15", but it remained a static exhibit. Now the Friends of the BVR have carried out a complete rebuild, even fitting a replacement engine, and only the bodywork remains to be completed.

Buffet car arrives at Sheringham
Recently arrived on the North Norfolk Railway is buffet car RBR E1969, previously at Embsay. It is to be restored in Weybourne carriage shed, with the aim of having it ready for this year's Santa Specials.

BVR celebrates successful Easter
The Bure Valley Railway reports that over 8,700 passenger journeys were made during the two week period from April 13-27, beating Easter 2002 by more than 15%.

MNR’s bus substitution - with a difference
Track renewal at Yaxham Road closed the automatic crossing to both road and rail traffic over the weekend of April 25-27. To ferry rail passengers between Dereham and Yaxham, the Mid-Norfolk Railway hired a 1950 Bristol saloon from the Eastern Transport Collection Society.

Birthday celebrations at miniature Wroxham line
It may not have the national fame of its near neighbour the Bure Valley Railway, but it's been running a lot longer. This year sees the 40th anniversary of the Barton House Railway at Wroxham. To mark the occasion Anglia TV's Helen McDermott and Radio Norfolk's Paul Barnes performed an official opening ceremony on Sunday April 16.

It was in 1963 that the Bower family invited the public to a 31/2 " gauge line in the gardens of their home and first stage of the more elaborate 71/4" gauge system opened in 1980. The railway, which also boasts the M&GN signalbox from Honing, opens until October on each third Sunday of the month.

Away from the tracks

Norwich mementoes are sold
Two reminders of Norwich’s railway past have been sold by Kidlington Railwayana Auctions.

In a May 1987 ceremony at Crown Point Depot, Class 08 shunter no. 08869 was named The Canary by Steve Bruce, then captain of Norwich City FC. As well as nameplates, the loco also carried alloy discs depicting a canary. After a long period stored out of use at Crown Point in a semi-derelict condition - and minus its plates - the loco was moved in August 2001 to Cotswold Rail. One of the discs, now rather battered, fetched £320 in April’s Kidlington sale.

At the same sale no less than £1,400 was paid for a cast-iron seatback "Norwich Thorpe" plate dating from LNER days. The high price may be partly explained by the fact that collectors of enamel 'totem' signs can’t obtain a Norwich example as the station never had any.

Stalham site may be redeveloped
Proposals to turn the neglected 11/2-acre Stalham station site into a community centre and village green have been drawn up by residents. They suggest that the site, just off the Stalham by-pass, could house a police station, council offices and a Citizens Advice Bureau.

Stalham's ex-M&GN station building was donated to the North Norfolk Railway and has been rebuilt by volunteers at the railway's Holt terminus.

Scarce East Anglian badge offered

Named trains often proclaimed their identity not just with a special loco headboard and carriage roofboards, but also with staff uniforms. A scarce East Anglian lapel badge was offered in April through Talisman Railwayana Auctions . According to the vendor only 24 of these badges were made.

The East Anglian, a luxury six-coach train, first ran in September I937. Two B17 4-6-0s were streamlined especially for the new service. Like most titled trains, it was withdrawn during WW2, but the name was revived in 1946, and it lasted through the Britannia and EE Class 4 eras until the Norwich service was reshaped in 1962.

In the same auction was GER cast-iron bridge numberplate “1200” in the familiar octagonal shape. Bridge no. 1200 was on the Waveney Valley line, between Geldeston and Beccles.

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