News Archive  January - February 2009                    Back to News Archive index

National Network

 

Gresley and Champion bring pre-Christmas double delight 

Norfolk enthusiasts put their seasonal shopping on hold on the Saturday before Christmas when two notable locomotives brought excursions to the county. 

First to arrive was D1015 Western Champion, the only ‘Western’ registered for main line use. Pathfinder Tours’ Great Eastern Western had set out from Swindon with EWS haulage, but the maroon diesel-hydraulic took over from Liverpool Street to Great Yarmouth via Cambridge. The train avoided reversal in Norwich by using the Wensum curve, so it called briefly at Wymondham to set down passengers for Norwich and to pick up local traction fans who fancied hydraulic haulage to the coast. The return journey from Great Yarmouth to London was via Norwich and Diss. 

  This is thought to be the first time one of the class has hauled a train to Norfolk, although the NRM’s D1023 Western Fusilier was on show at the ACoRP Community Rail Weekend at Norwich in September 2005. 

  Just an hour after the ‘Western’, a familiar chime heralded the arrival of A4 4-6-2 no. 60007Sir Nigel Gresley with Steam Dreams’ Cathedrals Express, carrying passengers bound for a carol concert in Norwich cathedral. 

 

Barriers go in at Norwich 

In the battle to prevent fare evasion, automatic ticket barriers are springing up at many large stations. Now a set is being installed at Norwich station, part of a series of alterations which have been approved by Norwich City Council. 

  Designed to make only minimal impact on the appearance of the Grade 2 listed building, the barriers form part of a low glass wall sealing off the platforms from the shops and general circulation area. On January 24 work had begun on installing the glass panels. 

  A similar set of ticket barriers is to be installed at Ipswich later in the year. After experiences elsewhere in the country there is some uncertainty whether platform tickets will be issued at stations fitted with barriers. 

 

Will Cotswold’s Class 47s cope? 

Cotswold Rail is reported to have signed a contract with NXEA under which it will make a ‘Thunderbird’ loco available at Colchester, operate extra services to Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft and provide a ‘top-and-tail’ Mark 2 set when DMUs are in short supply. A CR Class 47 may be repainted in NXEA colours. 

  Given the state of CR’s Class 47 fleet, some question the reliability of these arrangements, due to last until 2012. 

 

Scot’s Norfolk main-line debut put back 

“6100 Royal Scot will be steaming at Bressingham during the summer....” – so we were promised in last year’s Bressingham leaflet. Unfortunately it didn’t work out quite like that – and now the newly-restored ex-LMS 4-6-0’s main-line debut on February 22, when it was due to head a Steam Dreams Cathedrals Express trip from London to Cambridge and Norwich, has also been postponed. 

 

Nuclear trains return to Leiston 

After a gap of more than a year nuclear flask trains are once more collecting spent fuel from Sizewell power station. On the morning of January 27, DRS nos. 37605 and 37259 ran to Leiston where they collected flask wagon no. 550058 and left in the afternoon, running as 6M69. 

 

DRS 37 to the rescue 

On Monday February 2, one of the days when snow fell, Norwich station witnessed the unusual sight of a DRS Class 37 arriving with a scheduled passenger train. 

  The IP08 07:30 Liverpool Street to Norwich, with DVT no. 82107 leading and no.90003 providing the power, was 35 minute late by the time it reached Ipswich. After Diss a brake pipe fractured which required a fitter making the hazardous journey by taxi from Norwich to Forncett. A repair allowed the train to continue, but not before DRS no. 37682 had been summoned from Stowmarket to assist. The train eventually reached Norwich at 12.35, around three hours late. 

 

Sunday travel to suffer long-term blight 

There will be interruptions to Sunday train travel between Norwich and London on as many as 40 occasions in 2009 – and the work could go on for up to three years. 

  Work has begun on a £150m project to upgrade and replace equipment and infrastructure along the Great Eastern Main Line: re-signalling, track renewal and the replacement of overhead line equipment on stretches of line between Stratford and Shenfield. Passengers heading for Liverpool Street will be required to take a bus into London from Ingatestone. Bus-averse Norfolk passengers can travel via Cambridge instead; indeed NXEA is attempting to create new journey options over the Cambridge route, reckoning that engineering work could affect a similar amount of Sundays in 2010 and 2011. 

 

Level crossing fatalities 

Three people were killed on local level crossings in January, two of them on the Breckland line. 

Trains were delayed or cancelled for several hours on January 14 after DMU no. 170273 working the 16.38 Norwich – Cambridge train struck and killed 37-year-old Leicestershire man Mark Thacker at Croxton level crossing near Thetford. 

  On January 22 a 21-year-old man died after he was hit by the 17.56 Norwich to Nottingham service at the High Street level crossing in Brandon. The line was closed between Santon Downham and Lakenheath while emergency services dealt with the incident, and handed back to Network Rail just after 20.00. 

  Six days later, on Palgrave level crossing 1m. south of Diss, 23-year-old Ben Beckford of South Lopham died after being hit by the 19.00 Liverpool Street to Norwich. The line was closed in both directions and buses brought in between Ipswich and Norwich. As a consequence unit no. 321315 formed the next morning’s 1P04 06:25 Liverpool St – Norwich. 

 

Sort out your swing bridges, Broads Authority tells NR 

Disagreements about rail versus river traffic at four swing bridges (Trowse, Reedham, Somerleyton and Oulton Broad) have long been a source of dispute (NRS Newsletter June 2002, Feb 2004 etc.). Now an exasperated Broads Authority says it may seek injunctions against Network Rail so that boat users are not inconvenienced by continuing problems. The two sides are to meet in February to try to resolve matters. 

 

Restaurant cars are just fading away 

In December NXEA announced that it would end the restaurant car service on London – Norwich trains on December 19 (NRS Newsletter Nov/Dec 2008). Responding to the chorus of complaints – and insisting that the restaurant car service does not cover its costs, nor is it a franchise obligation – the company now says that from January 5 until the end of February trains will operate partly with the existing restaurant services and partly with a test of the new system to gauge customers’ views. 

  Under the new system first-class ticket holders have food and drink delivered at their seat, while standard-class passengers need to go to the café bar. Trials of the ‘breakfast offer’ and ‘evening offer’ have begun. Subject to consultation with Trades Unions, early March should see the new arrangements brought in fully. 

 

Ticket office closure proposal rescinded 

The future of the part-time station ticket offices at Wymondham, North Walsham and Attleborough (NRS Newsletter Nov/Dec 2008) appears more secure. Negotiations with Trades Union officials and staff representatives have resulted in NXEA producing revised proposals which retain the offices and their staff. 

 

DfT's new rules could make Lowestoft move easier, protests ESTA 

The DfT is considering introducing new legislation which would allow ‘minor modifications’ to railway stations to go ahead without full public public consultation. This might make it easier for Lowestoft station to be moved 400m west as part of regeneration company 1st East’s planned redevelopment of Lowestoft town centre. 

  The East Suffolk Travellers’ Association (ESTA), representing passengers who use the Ipswich to Lowestoft line, has responded to the proposals. ESTA insists that local residents must have the opportunity to object. It also points out that the proposals ignore the needs of visitors, for whom a relocated Lowestoft station would be much less convenient. 

 

Signal faults cause delays 

Wednesday December 10 saw major disruption to the Norwich – London main line after a loss of signalling between Marks Tey and Colchester. Bus replacements carried passengers between the problem areas, adding about 90 minutes to journey times. To replace stranded hauled sets, additional dmu services were laid on between Norwich and Ipswich. 

  The problems continued into the following morning with NXEA reporting delays of up to 20 minutes, again due to signalling faults. A normal service was restored by 10.30. 

 

RHTT locos leave East Anglia en masse 

With the leaf-fall season at an end, mid-December again witnessed the impressive sight of DRS locos leaving their Stowmarket base in convoy for duties elsewhere. No. 57007 hauled nos.57012, 57009 and 57011 on December 15, running as 0Z57 08:38 Stowmarket to Crewe Gresty Bridge. The next morning nos. 20314, 37607, 20313 and 37087 departed for York works with six wagons. 

 

 

Heritage, Narrow-gauge and Miniature

 

Two Galas just a month apart – that’s what the Mid-Norfolk Railway has lined up for the Spring. 

In conjunction with the Stratford Class 47 Group, the MNR will hold a Class 47 day on Saturday February 28. Five return trips between Dereham and Wymondham will feature over 100 miles of ex-Stratford loco haulage. While the MNR’s Model Rail Day is taking place at Neatherd School, Dereham, an enhanced train service will feature nos. 47580 County of Essex and 47596. A buffet car will serve real ale as well as hot and cold snacks. 

  Then a Spring Gala will take place on Friday March 27 – Sunday March 29, with an intensive timetable on all three days. Subject to availability, the following locos should appear: 

•Home fleet: nos. 20069, 31235, 31438, 50019, 56040 (launched into traffic on March 27), 73210 

•Visiting Locos (by courtesy of DB Schenker): nos. 37425 (brought out of store), 60059Swinden Dalesman in Loadhaul livery,a Class 66, a Class 67.

 

Thuxton loop takes shape 

After months of planning and fundraising, the Mid-Norfolk Railway’s permanent way team began constructing its new passing loop at Thuxton in mid-January. Once the old track is lifted out, the MNR intends to lay the southern end of the loop this winter and the remainder next year. The new track is being laid on durable hardwood timbers,instead of the normal softwoods. 

  The loop, to which the NRS is making a donation this year, will allow the MNR to run an hourly service with greater flexibility, instead of every two hours as at present. 

 

B17 Group buys GER tender frames 

The group seeking to build two replica LNER B17 4-6-0s (NRS Newsletter Nov/Dec 2008) has bought a set of GER tender frames from the M&GN Joint Railway Society. The frames, complete with wheels and axleboxes and fitted with buffers at both ends, are located at the NNR’s Holt station. They are thought to have come from a tender which ended its BR career as a sludge carrier at Sheerness. 

  The purchase means that the group now has the basis for both tenders required for its two engines. 

 

No trains across Station Road this year 

Her Majesty's Railway Inspectorate has approved plans to reconnect the North Norfolk Railway with the Bittern Line by laying a long-awaited ‘occasional use’ level crossing across Sheringham’s Station Road. However the NNR says that the £130,000 project won’t be ready in time for its ‘M&GN-50’ event (see Extra attractions at the NNR’s That’s Yer Lot Gala, below). 

  A shortage of cash, coupled with difficulty in scheduling a ten-day road closure in order to move power cables outside the holiday season, means that work – which includes slewing the NNR headshunt and altering part of Ottendorf Green – won’t start until the autumn. The opening has therefore been put back to 2010. About £50,000 has already been pledged to the project, but the remainder still has to be raised. 

 

101/4” gauge Garratt to be built at Bury 

The sister engine to the Wells & Walsingham Light Railway’s Norfolk Hero will be built not at Norwich as first planned (NRS Newsletter May/Jun 2008) but by engineering students and staff at the West Suffolk College, Bury St Edmunds. Castings and two rolling engine chassis have been manufactured and delivered to the College, and the boiler is on order from Mervyn Mayes’ Yaxham workshop. 

 

Army and infrastructure trains – all in a day’s work on the MNR! 

The MoD test train on September 26 (NRS Newsletter Nov/Dec 2008) has borne fruit. After a gap of several years, the Mid-Norfolk Railway has once again helped transport army vehicles from Robertson Barracks. 

  Early on January 8 DB Schenker (formerly EWS) loco no. 66157 took a train of empty flat, well and stores wagons to Dereham, with the MNR’s visiting Class 47 no. 47580 providing power from Wymondham. The train was loaded with Scimitars and other army support vehicles and returned behind no.66157 as the 13:27 6Z25 Dereham to Didcot. The army vehicles were en route to the Castlemartin training camp in Pembrokeshire. 

  It was a productive day for the MNR: shortly after the Army train had left, DRS no.37087 arrived to collect a stoneblower from Dereham and convey it to Eastleigh for overhaul. 

 

Extra attractions at the NNR’s That’s Yer Lot Gala 

The last issue contained details of the five visiting and three home-based locos which are due to appear at the North Norfolk Railway’s That’s Yer Lot Gala on Feb 27 to March 1 and March 7-8 – the biggest event the NNR has ever mounted. 

  The railway has now published details of extra attractions. An intensive timetable over both weekends will see four passenger trains in use. One will be the Gresley 'Quad-Art’ set, whose numbers and ‘LNER’ lettering will have been freshly applied. Operations will be helped by the fact that Holt signal box will have opened a few weeks earlier. The newly-launched 'North Norfolkman' dining train will run on the evening of February 28, hauled by visiting B1 4-6-0Mayflower (advanced booking recommended). Classic buses will demonstrate how trains were replaced once the M&GN had shut. On February 28 Weybourne loco and carriage sheds will be open for visitors and photographers from 19.00 through to 01.00 the next morning. 

  On both Sundays there will be tours by road of the M&GN in a restored 1959 Bedford coach, conducted by railway historian and author Adrian Vaughan. The morning tour will travel to Whitwell station via Melton Constable and other places of interest on the old Norwich City line, while the afternoon tour will head for Raynham Park along the ‘main line’. The fare is £8 per tour or £15 for both tours on one day. Places are limited so advance booking is essential. 

  NNR general manager Geoff Gowing said: "It's unlikely that a steam gala will be held on a similar scale for the foreseeable future, so we urge enthusiasts to come and see this unique spectacle". 

 

More stock for Dereham 

As forecast in NRS Newsletter Nov/Dec 2008, another batch of rolling stock arrived at the Mid-Norfolk Railway’s Dereham yard during the Christmas – New Year break. 

  On the morning of December 27 an extraordinary mixed bag formed the 6Z53 Norwich Crown Point – Dereham behind Advenza Class 47 no. 47375. The vehicles were RES-liveried PCV no.94320, Anglia Railways TSO no.5781, BG no.95228 freshly painted into BR blood-and-custard, NatEx Mk3s nos. 10229 and 10403 and a BP-branded 4-wheel tank wagon. The two Mk3s, included in the train for brake force, were taken back to Crown Point later that day. 

 

Reepham to join ‘M&GN 50’ jamboree 

The North Norfolk Railway will not be alone in commemorating the 50th anniversary of the M&GN’s closure. On February 28 Mike Urry’s rapidly expanding Whitwell & Reepham station will ceremonially re-open to the public and stage a Beer Festival. In steam will be Peckett 0-6-0ST no. 2000 of 1942, which once worked at British Sugar in Ipswich. 

 

BVR turns Spitfire’s wheels 

Having shuttled over 70,000 miles between Aylsham and Wroxham, the Bure Valley Railway’s 2-6-2 ZB class no.7 Spitfire has had its driving wheels re-profiled at Aylsham workshops. The BVR has had a wheel lathe since 1999, but these are the largest wheels to have been turned there. 

 

Reboilered B12 to return in 2009? 

Following a decision by its M&GN Joint Railway Society owners, the boiler of ex-LNER B12 no. 61572 (NRS Newsletter Sep/Oct 2007) was delivered to Chatham Steam in October. The Kent boiler specialists plan to overhaul it in six months, by which time work to the frames and tender at Weybourne should be complete, and the Society hopes to see the B12 back in steam in the second half of 2009. 

  The final cost of the overhaul is still expected to be in the region of £200,000. Donations and enquiries should be addressed to M&GNJRS, c/o The Station, Sheringham, Norfolk NR26 8RA (or email: [email protected]) 

 

 

Away from the Tracks

 

Road footbridge offered to local railways 

A 40-year-old footbridge which currently spans the former A11 in Thetford is to be dismantled later this year and Norfolk County Council thinks it could be suitable for railway use. With a 17.12m span and described as in fair condition, the bridge has been offered to the North Norfolk, Bure Valley and other local railways. 

Orbital company hopes to buy trackbed 

A section of the old GER Wymondham to Wells line south-east of Fakenham is to be auctioned by Auction House (formerly Tops) on February 17. With a guide price of £3,000 – £5,000, it consists of a 440-metre length of trackbed, with ballast but no track. Included are two bridges: one (GER no. 1714) over the River Wensum and the other (1715) crossing the path of the M&GN. Overgrown and mainly wooded, the land is said to enjoy attractive views from the river bridge. 

  Norfolk County Council has safeguarded it as railway land in their plan. By agreement with the Mid-Norfolk Railway, the Norfolk Orbital Railway intends to bid but fears competition from people keen to own a piece of the GER. 

 

Was it built for Cley’s station master? 

On the market at £685,000 through Bedfords is Station Master’s House, a renovated three-bedroomed house in the north Norfolk coastal village of Cley. 

  Between 1846 and the end of the nineteenth century there were a number of proposals to link Cley and the neighbouring settlement of Blakeney to established railways, but none ever came to fruition. The vendor of Station Master’s House makes the surprising claim that it was built in preparation for the railway’s arrival.