Norfolk Railway Society: News archive October 2003

News archive October 2003

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

National Network

Desiro hour at Ipswich
First GreatEastern's new £80-million fleet of Siemens-built Desiro multiple-units has reached Suffolk. After several months of testing and driver training, Monday September 29 saw the air-conditioned 4-car sets begin operating off-peak FGE services between Ipswich and Liverpool Street, as well as some peak commuter trains.

The 21-strong new fleet (nos. 360101 - 360121) was 'launched' the previous Friday, when seven lookalike Marilyn Monroes arrived at Ipswich on board a non-stop train from Liverpool Street. Images of the actress are being used for marketing the Desiros.

Cotswold 47 goes green for Anglia
Class 47 diesel no. 47714, used by Anglia Railways for 'Thunderbird' rescue duties, has at last lost its tired ‘Res’ branding. The Cotswold Rail-owned loco has been repainted at Crown Point depot into Anglia Railways’ green-and-white livery, and its new look was unveiled at Norwich station on October 6.

47714 is usually on standby at Colchester, from where it can travel to assist a train anywhere on the Norwich - London main line. It has also been busy working summer Saturday Great Yarmouth trains.

EWS 90s for AR main line?
Since July 2002 many Anglia Railways main-line trains have been operated by hired-in Freightliner Class 90s. Now rumours abound that EWS-owned members of the same class (nos. 90016-20 are in store at Crewe) may soon be brought in too.

First to appear at Norwich was Res-liveried 90019. It arrived on the night of September 13/14, but although it worked some test trains it returned to Crewe without being put into revenue-earning service.

WAGN driver changes jobs after "hold your breath" allegation
The driver of WAGN’s 06.55 King’s Lynn - London train on September 1 has been moved to a non-driving job following complaints by commuters that the crowded train “tipped on to one set of wheels” as it took a corner. Passengers allege that the driver warned them to “hold their breath” when he accelerated between Letchworth and Hitchin.

Norwich - Cambridge birthday bash
To celebrate the Norwich - Cambridge service's first birthday at the end of September, passengers were given free tea, coffee, cakes and champagne, and Charles Clarke, Education Minister and Norwich South MP, cut a special cake at Norwich station. The route had earlier recorded its 500,000th passenger on September 10, when Angela Fountain from Norwich and a friend received a certificate and a weekend Anglia Plus pass.

WAGN and Anglia locals jump in punctuality figures
SRA punctuality figures for April to June 2003 (Q1 2003-04) show an national increase in performance: 84.2% trains were on time compared with 83.0% last year. Among the 17 TOCs putting in an improved performance were WAGN (up 7 points), and Anglia Locals (up 6 points). With a 90.7% punctuality rate, Anglia Locals are second only to the tiny Island Line in the Regional Operators’ table. However Central Trains (76.2% punctuality) still languishes at the foot of the same table.

In the main-line operators’ league, Midland Mainline’s loss of 15 percentage points since last year - blamed by the company on ‘Network Rail infrastructure issues’ - means that Anglia Railways, 81.9% of whose trains ran on time, currently heads the table.

Extra Sheringham trains to stay in winter schedules
The late evening Bittern Line trains introduced this summer have proved popular with tourists and residents and will continue through the winter. Elsewhere in Anglia Railways' winter timetable, which started on September 28, there are few changes. The first three daily Norwich - London trains will depart slightly earlier: the 05:05, 05:18 and 05:28 become the 05:00, 05:15 and 05:25.

Track engineering work between Ipswich and Norwich over the four weekends starting September 27/8 affects main line and local services, with buses replacing trains for part or all of the journey between Norwich and Ipswich.

Best foot forward on the Bittern Line
The Bittern Line Community Rail Partnership is again running a series of Sunday guided walks, designed to encourage people to explore north Norfolk by rail and to discover its history and heritage. Each walk - free to rail ticket holders - begins from a Bittern Line station, and is timed to connect with the arrival of the 10:45 train from Norwich.

A leaflet describing each walk is available from Anglia Railways' staffed stations. Details can also be found on on www.anglia-railways.com/walks/bitternwalks.htm

Trains disrupted by deer
Passengers on Norwich - Ely services suffered delays on August 15 after a train struck and killed a deer at Wymondham. The brakes of Central Trains' 06:51 Norwich - Liverpool service were damaged, and an Anglia Railways train took stranded passengers back to Norwich. The track was cleared at 9am.

Heatwave boosts sales for Dereham firm
This summer's record temperatures have provided a bonus for Russell Scientific Instruments. At its Rash's Green Industrial Estate factory in Dereham, the firm makes a range of specialised thermometers and barometers. A combination of prolonged high temperatures and the increasing post-Hatfield safety culture have seen sales of its rail-temperature thermometers (both the mercury in glass type, set into an aluminium block, and a magnetic dial version) rocket to three times normal. Russell, whose customers include rail infrastructure companies and Network Rail itself, moved to Dereham from London in 1970 and occupied its Rash’s Green site four years later.

Three Anglia stations become 'Secure'
Passengers can now feel safer at three of Anglia Railways' main stations. Ipswich, Diss and Stowmarket have gained 'Secure Station' accreditation under a national scheme which recognises standards in station design, management, security and passenger safety.

NatEx shows off its Mk 3s to bolster Greater Anglia bid
Norfolk passenger groups have been shown what their main-line trains could look like if National Express were awarded the Greater Anglia franchise. National Express, one of the three pre-qualified bidders, arranged for EWS no. 56038 Pathfinder Tours: 30 Years of Railtouring 1973-2003 to bring two carriages from Derby to Norwich station on August 27 for inspection. Gleaming in Midland Mainline’s new ‘ocean blue with silver grey and white’ livery, trailer cars nos. 41111 and 42331 were typical of the refurbished HST fleet now in daily use on St Pancras - Manchester services. Unfortunately the train arrived two hours late.

On the same day National Express held a stakeholder consultation meeting at Norwich City Football Club. Chief executive Phil White said that the company’s bid would “focus on improving punctuality and reliability, customer service, safety, integrated transport solutions, marketing and further development of staff - all key elements that are required to run a quality railway.”

Downham Market sole survivor on SRA list
The Strategic Rail Authority's national plan to improve facilities at many stations has been cut back severely. Now the only Norfolk station to see any investment before 2005 will be Downham Market, where a new passenger information system is to be installed.

Stations taken off the list include Great Yarmouth, where better toilets and a passenger shelter had been planned.

Heritage, Narrow-Gauge and Miniature

Met-Cams flock to Norfolk
Until they were displaced by 'second-generation' units, Metropolitan-Cammell Class 101 dmus were for many years the mainstay of our county's branch lines. Now the class is returning en masse. In early October Strathclyde-liveried two-car set no. 101695 arrived at Dereham to join blue-and-grey set no.L836 (augmented since August to a three-car unit), which regularly operates Mid-Norfolk Railway services. Meanwhile the North Norfolk Railway has taken delivery of a two-car class 101 set: DMBS no. 51228 and DTSL no. 54062, once part of the First North Western fleet based at Longsight, Manchester. Two years’ storage at Shoeburyness has faded the unit’s Regional Railways livery, but its bodywork is reported to be sound and its upholstery in good condition. It made its first run on the NNR soon after arrival.

On November 1 one of the driving cars of the MNR’s L836 will be named during a special day dedicated to the memory of Matthew Smith, the set's former owner, who died last year aged 27.

NNR to see Southern debut
Between August and October next year, Bulleid-designed Battle of Britain class 4-6-2 no. 34081 92 Squadron will be a guest engine on the NNR. The loco is owned by the Battle of Britain Locomotive Association and based at the Nene Valley Railway, and will be both the first pacific and the first ex-Southern loco to appear on the Sheringham to Holt line. The NNR is also negotiating with another locomotive-owning group for the 2004 season.

M&GN treasures at Barton House
A new museum of M&GN railwayana has opened at Peter Bower’s Barton House Railway at Wroxham. The building was formally opened by Phyllis Youngman, President of the M&GN Circle (and NRS member!) on September 21. The opening ceremony formed part of the miniature railway’s 40th anniversary season. Signalling equipment, box diagrams, lamps and posters are among the wealth of M&GN railwayana in the museum, close to which the preserved ex-M&GN Honing East signal box has been a prominent feature for many years.

WWLR's Pilgrim keeps steam alive in Wensleydale
An 0-6-0T which once hauled tourists between Wells and Walsingham is still at work in the Yorkshire Dales, reports Neil Hacker. Pilgrim , a two-cylinder 0-6-0T was built in 1981 by David King Engineering of North Walsham for the opening of the W&WLR, but when traffic grew too great it was superseded by the Simkins-built 2-6-0+0-6-2 Garratt Norfolk Hero . Now Pilgrim can be found operating on a 101/4” railway at Leeming Bar station, the eastern terminus of the 12-mile long Wensleydale Railway. The dmu-operated Wensleydale line, which reopened on July 4 after 49 years without passengers, continues to operate a miniature steam railway as it helps to raise the public profile of the main project.

Southwold 'theme park' plan slammed
The Southwold Railway Society's proposal to revive the old 3ft-gauge line between Halesworth and Southwold (NRS Newsletter August 2003 ) has run into a storm of criticism. To a backdrop of protesters chanting in the street, Southwold Town councillors voted 8 - 1 on September 16 to oppose the project, with two abstentions. A leaflet circulated to 1500 homes alleged that the line between Halesworth and Southwold would take a new route instead of following the original, and would despoil beautiful and environmentally sensitive countryside. “Residents must decide”, it concluded, “whether to defend their historic and natural heritage or let developers change Southwold into a theme park.”

Box assembly at Dereham
The Mid-Norfolk Railway’s Dereham station, currently undergoing a £600,000 improvement scheme, is on the way to regaining its former reputation as signalbox capital of central Norfolk. As the refurbishment of ‘Dereham Central’ (ex Stratford) box nears completion and the dismantled box from Great Bentley in Essex awaits reconstruction, yet another has arrived. It once controlled Laundry Lane crossing in Lowestoft, but after the the Norfolk & Suffolk Joint line closed in 1970 it was displayed for around thirty years at the East Anglian Transport Museum at Carlton Colville. Now it sits close to the site of the old Dereham North box and may return to duty one day.

Railwayana sales aid Bressingham projects
An ambitious three-year plan to update Bressingham Steam Museum as well as provide more live steam is being assisted by the sale of railwayana. As well as LMS Pacific no. 6100 Royal Scot and ex-LB&SCR 0-6-0T Martello (NRS Newsletter April 2002 ) the Museum is restoring a Sentinel steam tractor and a Robey road roller to working order. Other projects include track relaying and providing a working exhibition of point and signal operation. To help fund the programme, some totems and nameplates identified as falling outside the 'Core Assets Register' are being sold.

In June seven station totem signs, including an example from Diss, raised over £14,000. A further £25,000 was realised on September 13 when Sheffield Railwayana Auctions sold two of the Museum’s loco nameplates. Woodbastwick Hall (£9,100) was carried by ex-LNER B17 'Sandringham' 4-6-0 no.61613; the engine took its name from the large red brick hall north-east of Norwich which was demolished in 1971. Sir John Moore (£14,100) came from Britannia 4-6-2 no.70041, a loco which was shedded briefly at Norwich in the early 1960s.

NENTA/MNR link grows
Dereham's status as a regular NENTA railtours departure point is further underlined with the news that next year two tours with 'rail interest' destinations will again depart from from the Mid-Norfolk Railway:

Saturday May 15 Dereham to Canterbury, Dover and Folkestone (for Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Rly)
Saturday August 21 Dereham to Crewe (for 'Railway Age') and Chester.

Another special train in NENTA's 2004 schedule will run from Norwich to York on Saturday June 5 in conjunction with the NRM’s Rail Bicentenary festival.

Bure Valley welcomes Manifold tank

The BVR’s new arrival under test at Aylsham station on July 29

The Bure Valley Railway took delivery in July of a new 2-6-4T locomotive which is based on a Leek & Manifold Rly design. Previously oil-fired, it has been converted to a coal-burner and rebuilt by Alan Keef Ltd of Ross-On-Wye. Once the HSE has approved its use it is hoped that the 11-ton loco will be in service before the end of the summer season.

Bid to slash Norfolk Orbital costs
The last engineering report on the proposed Norfolk Orbital Railway reckoned it would cost in the region of £4.8m to re-establish the short link between the Bittern Line and the North Norfolk Rly, and another £3m to lay track from the NNR's Holt station to the town. Now the Norfolk Orbital's directors plan to commission another study, from Devon-based RMS Locotech, to see whether the lines could be built for a much lower figure.

GER veteran leaves mid-Norfolk garden for North Norfolk Railway
Latest addition to the North Norfolk Railway’s carriage restoration programme is GER brake/3rd no. 853. The vehicle which still carries its “GER Stratford Works 1899” builder’s plate, was removed on August 7 from a garden in Mattishall, near Dereham, where it was once used as a home.

Away from the tracks

Stoke Ferry crane unearthed
With goods traffic having been withdrawn from Stoke Ferry in July 1965, it would be reasonable to assume that its 11/2 ton freight handling crane had long since been broken up. However Rob Poole from the Gravesend Railway Enthusiasts Society contacts the NRS to tell us that this is not so. Rob writes:

I was put on to it by the current owner of the station site, which is now a woodyard. He worked at the station during WWII. I believe that he had the crane moved to its current resting place, which is in some woodland behind a bungalow....

Rob’s photos show more undergrowth than crane, so unfortunately can't be reproduced here!

Lincoln's GC goods depot to become library
In neighbouring Lincolnshire, reports Graham Smith, an academic future is planned for a derelict Great Central goods warehouse. A £5m project will transform the building, which dates from 1907 and hs been unoccupied since 1998, into the University of Lincoln's new library, accommodating over 120,000 books. Work is due to begin later this year.

Signalling cornucopia at Sheffield
On offer at the Sheffield Railwayana Auction on September 13 was a significant collection of single-line signalling equipment, entered by the executors of a Derby collector whose father once worked on the Wymondham - Wells line. ‘Staff and ticket’ boxes, complete with their brass staffs, were keenly bid for. One labelled ‘Roudham Jct - Watton’ realised £1,200, while another from the Walsingham - Fakenham section reached a staggering £2,300. There were no less than seven Tyer’s machine tablets, mostly from lines around Dereham and the Hunstanton branch.

The sale also included three Norfolk handlamps (two from the M&GN, and a Norfolk & Suffolk Joint example stamped ‘Lowestoft North’). £2,000 was paid for a ‘Fenman’ headboard, while the first Flordon totem ever to be sold at auction reached £1,600. An aluminium GER crest from the splasher of a Claud Hamilton class loco went to £1,000. There are far more replicas than genuine ones of these about, but the provenance of this example was helped by the fact that the vendor’s father-in-law was a GER employee, and his father in turn was the GER’s solicitor!

In the associated postal auction of books and other printed material a Southwold Railway share certificate realised £220 and a GER guide Cromer and Mundesley Expresses fetched £80. £120 was paid for a bound volume of agreements between the Eastern Counties Railway and other early railway companies such as the East Anglian and the Norfolk.

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