News Archive  May - June 2009                      Back to News Archive index

National Network 

Oliver Cromwell delights main-line tour fans – but disappoints the MNR 

Long-time Bressingham resident, Britannia 4-6-2 no. 70013 Oliver Cromwell is spending several days in Norfolk. 
Late on the evening of May 11 the loco and support coach no. M17019 arrived at the Mid-Norfolk Railway's Dereham station where they stayed until departing for Norwich on May 15. The next day no.70013 worked the Railway Touring Co's sold-out tour The Easterling from Norwich via Lowestoft to London, and back via Diss (between Norwich and Lowestoft the train engine was WCRC no. 47760, with Cromwell bringing up the rear). 
The Pacific was due to return to the MNR and operate the heritage line's Sunday trains on May 17, but due to 'unforeseen circumstances' the loco remained at Crown Point and the MNR had hastily to withdraw its publicity for the prestigious steam-hauled service. 
The following Saturday, May 23, Oliver Cromwell worked a second railtour, the RTCo's Dorset Coast Express from Norwich to Eastleigh and Poole. 

More hungry journeys 

NXEA incurred the wrath of commuters and politicians when it axed its dining cars. Now on-train eating has become even rarer. With the start of the new timetable on May 17, East Midlands Trains removed the catering trolleys from Norwich – Liverpool trains, despite the end-to-end journey lasting over five hours. 

The trolley service was subcontracted to a catering firm and EMT was quoted as saying "Catering on the Liverpool to Norwich service was heavily subsidised by us. We estimate about three per cent of passengers were benefiting. Although the route is lengthy, about 93% of the journeys made on it are less than 100 miles long." 

FL eyesore leaves Ipswich 

Out of use and grimy, Freightliner no. 47370 has languished at Ipswich loco stabling point for around seven years. Although it was bought some time ago by Stockton-on-Tees metal recyclers T J Thomson & Son, it could not readily leave Ipswich because of the condition of its wheels. Finally, on the morning of May 25, no. 66569 hauled it on a 25mph trip to Felixstowe (the nearest suitable road transfer point) as 8Z47 09:00 Ipswich - Felixstowe South. Four days later it left Felixstowe by road. 

Yarmouth drags return for summer 

The Norwich – Great Yarmouth 'drags' – Class 47s hauling Class 90s and NXEA main-line stock – can once again be seen on Saturdays. Timings are:

08:48    Norwich Crown Point – Yarmouth           via Reedham
1V29   10:08    Yarmouth – Norwich                    via Reedham
1V18   12:06    Norwich – Yarmouth                    via Reedham
1V41   13:10    Yarmouth – Norwich                    via Reedham
1V26   14:18    Norwich – Yarmouth                           via Acle
5V26   15:40    Yarmouth – Norwich Crown Point      via Acle

On May 23, the first working of the season, DRS no.47832 Solway Princess was on duty, while no. 47501 Craftsman was in charge the following Saturday. 

Train punctuality better than ever 

Network Rail has announced that between April 2008 and March 2009 train punctuality on Britain's railways was the best ever recorded. 90.6% of trains arrived on time – the highest since records began in 1992. 
Top TOCs were c2c Rail (95.3%) and Chiltern (95.2%). Results for the operators serving our region are:

7:  First Capital Connect (91.1%)
9:  National Express East Anglia (90.5%)
16:  East Midlands Trains (89.3%)

*NB 'Arrived on time' means a trains arrived at its destination within 5 minutes for commuter services and within 10 for long distance services. 

OHL damage ends Bank Holiday on sour note

As if the Liverpool St – Shenfield bus replacements weren't enough inconvenience for Bank Holiday travellers, another ‘wires down’ incident occurred on the evening of Monday May 25 when the pantograph of no. 90010, powering the 17:30 Liverpool St - Norwich, was damaged on the up road, bringing the train to a stand at Ardleigh level crossing. 
For the rest of the evening Ilford – Ipswich – Ilford circuits started and finished at Colchester. Norwich – Shenfield services were split into Norwich – Ipswich and Colchester – Shenfield portions, with buses filling the Ipswich – Colchester gap. 

Unofficial action disrupts EMT Sunday trains

East Midlands Trains between Norwich and Liverpool were wiped out on Sundays in May after nearly all the company's drivers refused to make themselves available for work.  The unofficial action related to dissatisfaction with EMT’s 1.5% pay offer and continued in spite of an injunction which EMT was granted against ASLEF prohibiting further unlawful industrial action. 

May Gurney wins rail work nearer home 
May Gurney, based in Trowse near Norwich, has won an extension and an expansion of its long-term contract with Network Rail. The current contract covering the ECML was due to expire next year, but it will now be expanded. From next April until 2012 May Gurney will take over maintenance and renewal of rail structures in East Anglia as well. The work will include bridge reconstruction and refurbishment, embankment stabilisation and viaduct repairs. 

The best yet – but not perfect, says FLUA 
The Fen Line Users’ Association has welcomed the May 2009 timetable for the King’s Cross – Cambridge – King’s Lynn route. It represents the most significant alteration to the GN route timetable for at least 15 years and sees some peak King's Cross – Cambridge trains (including the notoriously packed 07:15 and 07:45) formed of 12 cars for the first time, providing extra seats. It also tackles overcrowding by dropping stops south of Cambridge. 
The 17:14 from King’s Cross is extended to Ely and the 18:14 runs through to King's Lynn. However 8-car trains cannot stop at stations with shorter platforms (Waterbeach, Littleport and Watlington), so these trains, as well as the new 09:30SO from King’s Lynn – King’s Cross, run as ‘expresses’. FLUA looks forward either to new trains being fitted with selective door locking, or platforms at the smaller stations being extended. 

Booking a seat? Fork out a bit more! 
From the start of the new timetable on May 17 NXEA has begun charging for seat reservations on Norwich – Liverpool Street trains. Holders of 'walk-on' tickets, including anytime and off-peak, are charged £2.50 per single and £5 per return journey to reserve a seat. 
A National Express spokesman said: "We find that people are often reserving multiple seats as they're not sure which train they are going to catch. By asking people to pay for a seat reservation, seats will no longer be left empty with a reserved sign, therefore being made available for other customers to use." 
The Transport Salaried Staffs' Association feared that booking clerks could expect regular abuse when they ask for the supplement. 
The charges do not apply to advance purchase, first class and season tickets. 

Nenta passengers end their day out on early-morning coach 
Although Nenta Traintours are renowned for early starts and late returns, passengers on the Torbay Coast Boat Train on April 18 got an even longer day out than they’d bargained for. 
All went well on the outward trip (1Z47), which left Norwich for the Paignton & Dartmouth Railway at 04.34, behind no. 47804 with no. 47854 on the rear. However on the trip back no. 47854 suffered a bogie fire and was halted at Fairwood Jnc near Westbury.  Local fire crews extinguished the blaze, but no. 47804 could only take the train forward after the casualty had been made safe and shunted into a siding at Westbury. 
Now running about 21/2 hours late, the train couldn't proceed past Ely because of an engineering possession between Ely and Norwich. A fleet of road coaches were hired, and Norwich passengers finally arrived in the city at about 02.15 on Sunday morning. 


Heritage, Narrow-Gauge and Miniature 

Hunslet arrives at Yaxham 
Hunslet 0-6-0ST no.3193, purchased from the Lavender Line by Norfolk Heritage Steam Railway Ltd (NRS NewsletterMar/Apr 2009), arrived at Mervyn Mayes’ Yaxham yard on May 11, but without its boiler. 
NSHR’s target is to raise sufficient money to fund the 48-ton loco’s substantial restoration to full working order. A major expense will be bringing the boiler to the high standard required for its ten-year certificate.  Donations and enquiries about the loco and its owning group should be addressed to: 

NHSR Ltd, 10 Walnut Tree Meadow, Stonham Aspal, Stowmarket, Suffolk IP14 6DF or [email protected]. 

New group to take on J21’s restoration 
Beamish, the North of England Open Air Museum, has placed its NER J21 0-6-0 no. 65033, which has been stored on the North Norfolk Railway for several years, in the care of the newly-formed Locomotive Conservation and Learning Trust. The Trust aims to raise funds to overhaul the 1889-built locomotive so that it can be operated on other heritage lines. 
Also in the Trust’s care is Beamish’s NER bogie tools van No. 5523, which is to be restored and converted into a mobile exhibition and educational space. 

Quad-Art set to come out for a week 
From Saturday July 4 to Sunday July 12 the North Norfolk Railway will hold a Quad-Art Set week. The Quad-Art set will be in normal passenger service on each day. A second train formed of standard ex-BR stock will also operate, while a DMU will work the day's last two trains. There will be no extra charge for this event. 

The North Norfolk’s little neighbour 
With all that’s been happening on the North Norfolk Railway, it’s easy to overlook a nearby line. The North Norfolk Model Engineering Club has operated its 5”-gauge line for four summer seasons at the NNR’s Holt terminus, last year extending the track to 1000ft. Current work includes electrifying signals and points and improving the workshop area and the lineside. 
The NNMEC tries to work as many Sundays and NNR ‘red service’ days as possible throughout the summer, weather permitting and subject to engine and driver availability. 

N7 tank visits the MNR 
The predominantly diesel Mid-Norfolk Railway has enjoyed two weekends of LNER steam-hauled services. On April 25-26, and over the May 2 - 4 Bank Holiday weekend, N7 0-6-2T no. 69621was in action on the Dereham – Wymondham line. The recently-overhauled N7 is owned by the East Anglia Railway Museum and was the last engine to be built at Stratford Works. In 1989 it was named A.J. Hill in honour of its designer. 
Weekends in July and August should see the return to the MNR of BR(W) 0-6-0 pannier tank no. 9466. 

Contract will bring MNR track improvements 
The Mid-Norfolk Railway has won a contract from Network Rail for on-track machine training. To prepare for the programme, contractors assisted by MNR volunteers are laying and replacing track at Wymondham’s run-round loop and the new passing loop at Thuxton.  Once the new track has been ballasted and tamped, NR trainees will learn how to operate track machines for a number of weeks at a time. 

Ashmanhaugh extension opens 
After hard work by the Ashmanhaugh Light Railway’s track gang, Honda-powered no.1 Thunderbox was first along the new ‘back straight’ section on April 22.  
The newly-extended circuit is nearly half a mile long.  It was formally opened on Sunday May 3, the railway’s first open day of 2009, by Norman Duffield. Norman, who used to work on the now-defunct Little Melton Light Railway and is an Honorary Life Member of the ALR, drove no.4 The General through a ribbon to take the first public train around the full circuit. A three-train service was laid on to cater for the day’s crowds, many of whom had come after hearing the railway featured on Radio Norfolk's Treasure Quest. 
A recent arrival at the ALR is 'No.2', a 1/3-scale model of a 2ft-gauge Shay built by Edwin Peck of Norwich. Edwin devoted ten years to this project and was awarded a bronze medal at the 2000 Norwich Model Engineering Exhibition. Shays were designed primarily for use in the North American logging industry. Edwin's model – powered, despite appearances, by a 5hp Honda engine – is now owned by two of the ALR's founder members. 


Away from the Tracks 

Poster hoard turns up trumps for Fakenham woman 
A collection of railway posters which which lay undisturbed for years in the attic of Fakenham woman Mo Blundy has fetched more than £22,000 at a Christie's auction.
The thirteen posters were originally collected by Ms Blundy's uncle who worked in the printing industry in the 1920s and 1930s. They included Frank Mason's The Flying Scotsman which sold for £5,625, and other work by some of the country's most celebrated poster artists. 

Move over NXEA – here comes the Cambridge-Norwich bullet 
Could the 1845 Eastern Counties line from Ely to Norwich become a secondary freight-only byway? The Independent on Sunday reports that George Freeman, prospective Conservative MP for Mid Norfolk, and Nigel Brown, chairman of the Greater Cambridge Partnership are examining the possibility of raising up to £4bn to build a high-speed rail link from Cambridge to Norwich. 
Citing East Anglia's 'appalling communications, both road and rail', Mr Freeman says a high-speed link is needed between the two cities, which are leaders in medical, biotechnology and 'clean tech' research. 
Mr Brown stressed the property advantages of better communication.  "You only have to look at the effect which the Victorians had on the districts in which they built their new railway lines," he said. "Houses, commerce and wealth always follow. Many new houses are being planned but no one has thought about communications. Many trains in the region take longer than they did in the nineteenth century." 

Haulier spreads the M&GN word 
The M&GNJR Society, which supports the North Norfolk Railway, is being publicised to road users by haulage firm David Bletsoe-Brown Transport.  The Kettering-based haulier has taken delivery of two new curtain-sided trailers which bear the M&GNJRS emblem and a message about the Society's activities. The trailers will be used throughout Britain, mainly to collect recyclable materials from supermarkets. The haulage firm's transport director, Ashley Barrs, is a NNR volunteer and a M&GNJRS management council member. 

Raise a wagon load of cash, urges Bramley Line 
The Bramley Line, which aims to restore trains to the mothballed March – Wisbech branch, needs to raise the money to pay Network Rail’s legal fees, after which it can obtain a lease and set to work to reopen the line. At its recent AGM, the society launched a ‘Raise a Wagon Load of Cash’ appeal, asking supporters to save loose change, e.g., 1p, 2p and 5p coins. Postal donations should be addressed to to:- Raise a Wagon Load of Cash Appeal, The Wisbech & March Bramley Line Ltd., Suite 9, Old Bank Chambers, Dartford Road, March, PE15 8AQ.