Next Stop Holt Central?

Sorry, I didnt mean people who do help as you clearly do, I meant to target the "haters" who are just negative about everything and dont contribute at all. I myself volunteer on 3 railways with 2 of them being over 6 hours away, but both close to convinient stopping places (friends and family ). I do not however contribute much money to the places I volunteer at since, Id rather spend what little I have going to other places and supporting things like the GWR landslip and of course the Claud Hamilton with which I am involved.

 

Ah I see. Target away then! For every supporter there seems to be 10 doubters

 

For what I am reading so far it seems like people are trying to point out that helping out a preserved railway is one thing but "Arguing / Targeting" is another thing...

But "Yes" I most of the time keep to the "National" or BR Railways but even I enjoy seeing what restoration or what work has been completed on various preserved railways all over britain...

Well that's my aim anyhow - But I do think that both or not all people have an opinion in their own right...

But the best thing to do is not to go moaning about it too much on forums as that is likely to tee everyone off!

Which is not going to help!

It's good however & I support what M59137 & Chris A are saying as it is helpful that "Both" members are putting hard earned time & money into projects like these!!

And all I can say to that is - "Keep up the Great Work Lads!"

Every little bit helps!

 

What a ridiculous comment. The NNR only has one industrial loco working and Ring Haw is an excellent engine. At last years gala it climbed the banks in first valve with 5, on what more do they need?

As regards the extension well it would be nice.

The NNRs galas are superb, the two I have attended have offered non -stop action and are as good as any gala I have ever attended. Well worth the long journey to get there.

 

Agreed. I think the NNR should be applauded for using ex industrial locos. If they and other lines such as the Bolton & Embsay, P&BR etc. didn't, then apart from the Foxfield we'd see precious few industrial locos in action.

 

I was on holiday in Sheringham last week and I came across this thread while looking for pictures of the railway as it was.


While in an ideal world I’d like to see a lot more railways restored, you can’t really restore everything and I can’t see that spending a lot of money getting to Melton Constable is really a viable plan. They can’t get back into the actual station, so it’d be a new halt on the outskirts of the village. And what is there at Melton Constable when you get there?! It only seems a worthwhile target if there’s another railway already there allowing further travel.

As a user of, rather than a volunteer on, heritage railways, I agree with earlier comments that money would be better spent on improving Platform 2 at Sheringham but more importantly getting nearer to Holt. That 20 minute walk is a killer – especially if it’s raining. When I was there, many people just got back on the train to travel straight back to Sheringham.

I will chuck in a suggestion that may provoke some comments: I saw on the display boards in the museum that there once was a plan for a branch to Blakeney. Now that would be a destination people would want to go to, rather than Melton Constable. And (fantasy number 2) go on to Wells and you could link with the railway (yes, wrong gauge, I know) that already goes halfway to Fakenham. On the other side of Fakenham is the mid Norfolk, trying to get to Fakenham.

PS I did support NNR with donations, for both the Holt extension and the level crossing.

 

Once over Cromer Road, how clear is the route to station road Holt? I presume its the its the A148 going north from the roundabout that is the major obstacle? A longer run would be great, but I suppose it depends on the resources needed to maintain the route & whether it would significantly improve income. I guess running from Cromer to Holt would achieve more income - if it could be worked out with network rail / occasional use crossing / etc? Would mean mainline certified locos though (no 9Fs?)

I visited the NNR at the weekend & its a great line, nice people & great countryside. Its a shame that the N7 has now gone back, the J15 looks to be out for some time & the B12 is going to be under overhaul for some time. Black Prince looks great, but I really wanted to at lease see the quad-arts or the out of action J15 or WD. These were locked up off limits - surely there must be some way that out of action stock could be viewed?

 

I was told last night that the J15 is out for washout and at the moment there is nothing seriously wrong with her. She is getting rather close to the end of her ticket and is definitely showing signs of it. I assited with replacing 5 tubes a few weeks ago.

The WD is tucked safely away in the warm and dry out of view of anyone, but she is safe.

As for seeing viewing things in weybourne yard, contact the railway before you visit and someone may be able to take you around at lunchtime when no work is being done. I will check that it is ok first but if management and shed staff are ok with it I am more than happy to take somone around the yard at lucnhtime if I am at the railway.

 

Thanks for the reply Will

I was visiting with with wife & small child so didn't really get the chance to sort out a visit in advance. I do wonder if it is a missed opportunity to view stored locos & stock - I certainly pay money to see static locos including the E4 and Thundersley at Bressingham. It must be more difficult for the NNR as the carriage and loco sites are separate, but a thought for the future?
Good news on the J15 though - the quote I heard was 'more like a sieve than a loco at the moment' which sounded worrying!

 

The NNR do run shed tours and have them open on selected days.

The A148 is no problem, it was built with the railway in mind.

 

There's nowt wrong with our plucky little Industrial, it's a super little loco, I'd much rather spend a day on Ring Haw than 5619 or the N7. And it makes some nice noises too! (have a look 1min in):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wb5Y56AoNjI

To suggest the Railway is reliant on ex-industrials is nonsense - the M&GN Society only owns one - Wissington, and the NNR one - Ring Haw. Now they're hardly going to run a red service are they (I would gladly eat my hat on this point though!) Obviously an ill thought comment considering the Society also owns the B12, J15 and 90775 and the Railway now hosts a 9F and now regularly brings in large locos for galas.

As for extension, I wouldn't be suprised if Holt Town Council fancy a bit of the cake - you only have too look at some of the events, such as Thats Yer Lot and the Level Crossing opening to see what benefits the NNR brings to Sheringham. All it takes is a little vision, a bit more money and a lot more time. It'll happen, it's just a case of when.

 

Where on earth did you get that little gem from? It's complete fiction. The A148 was built in the early 1980s. At that point the NNR didn't reach beyond Weybourne and Holt was a far off aspiration. The A148 was built on the trackbed completely obliterating it. There MAY be room for a new alignment to the north of the old trackbed but there was certainly no forethought on Norfolk Highways' part to make room for any possible reinstated railway. At that time they were completely anti-railway, remember just few years before this they insisted the NNR remove Sheringham level crossing.

SteveA

 

I thought it was a well know fact. Been spoken on this thread a couple of times.
And with that handly little gap on the north edge of the road shows.

 

Steve,

If you go onto Google earth, you can see quite clearly, that the old formation runs parallel to the north side of the A148. I don't know if this was through luck or judgement though. In fact you can follow it quite easily from the current Holt Station, pretty much all the way to Melton Constable.

I have driven along the stretch of road many times, and although it wouldn't be without its challenges, there appears to no major obstacles and plenty of room to lay a single track line.

 

I was around when the built the road, yes, by luck they MAY have left sufficient room but that was certainly not deliberate. The tarmac was layed on the route of the original trackbed. The formation may be wide enough to squeeze in a track now but it certainly was never planned.

Steve

 

Things seem to moving along with the plan to extend the line into Holt.

According to the Eastern Daily Press, Norfolk Orbital Railway have reached agreements with private land owners to enable the purchase of the land to allow the line to be extended into Holt.

Rail groups on track to complete Norfolk Orbital Railway - News - Eastern Daily Press

 

Further report here:

£250,000 campaign to buy land at Holt for latest stage of Norfolk Orbital Railway is launched - News - Eastern Daily Press

 

I think it would be fantastic for the NNR and Holt for the line to be extended in to the town centre (and who knows maybe on to Melton Constable?), but if the Norfolk Orbital Railway group did achieve their goals (and I realise it is a big if), would the NNR really want modern National Rail DMUs running along their line? It would ruin the bygone atmosphere that the NNR has worked so hard to achieve, surely?

 

I think sorting the 'bottleneck' at Cromer ought to be the biggest priority for the NNR now, either changing the signalling/pointwork so a decent length charter can reverse at Cromer or reinstate the missing side of the Triangle, as although incoming charters are now technically possible, they will be few and far between due to the limited load making it difficult to justify financially for a promoter, as for turning Loco's a Cromer Triangle could double up in this role, or im sure a Turntable could be installed somewhere if needbe.

Those people moaning about bypassing Cromer need to look at it from a Tour Promoters point of view, ie 6 coaches generally = heavy loss, often the choice is run load 10/11 or don't run at all, Cromer's layout is inca[able of dealing with such a concept currently.