Norfolk news

MNR

Two more historic items have arrived at the Mid-Norfolk Railway’s Dereham station.

From Watton comes a LNER four-wheeled hand-operated crane. Donated to the MNR by motor dealer Frank Dye, the 1-ton crane was used at Watton station until goods traffic ceased in 1965. In Dereham goods shed, dismantled and awaiting re-use, lies the ex-GER wooden waiting room from Histon station, Cambridgeshire. Histon was on the Cambridge – St Ives branch, which is undergoing conversion to a guided busway.

Wroxham Box finally gets shifted
Disused since 2000 when control of the Bittern Line was transferred to Trowse Swing Bridge, Wroxham signalbox has at last been moved further from from the running line so that it no longer obscures a colour-light signal. The move took place on the night of November 25 /26.

The Wroxham Signalbox Trust, a registered charity, has been set up to restore the Grade II-listed signalbox and open it as a working museum so that visitors can learn about the role it played in railway history. Restoration funding has been secured from the Railway Heritage Trust, but £40,000 more is needed. The Trust plans a public launch early next year. For more details contact:

Wroxham Signalbox Trust, Barton House, Hartwell Road, Wroxham, Norfolk, NR12 8TL

Sizewell A shutdown brings local ‘flasks’ to an end
Nuclear flask trains from Leiston, whose DRS Class 20-haulage has long been an attraction for photographers, have come to an end.

Sizewell A nuclear power station shut down on December 31 2006, setting in motion a 100 year-long decommissioning process. Flask trains continued running for several months, as spent radioactive material needed removing for reprocessing. But, as briefly noted in the last issue’s Lineside Observer, nos. 20313 and 20314 worked the last train on October 3.

Sizewell B, the UK's only large pressurised water reactor (PWR), generates a different type of waste, and it is not taken to Sellafield for reprocessing. The ‘Suffolk Latch’ railtour on July 21 2007 may have provided the last opportunity to travel over the branch.

2008 will see Network Rail refurbish three local swing bridges.

The 100-year-old Oulton Broad swing bridge will close between February 9 and 15 so that it can be updated. The process will include better navigational lighting, a standby generator, steelwork repairs and a full repaint. Swingbridges at Reedham and Somerleyton will undergo similar treatment later in the year. The total programme will cost £4.5m.

The Norwich-Lowestoft line will also close from March 3 to 10 for engineering work. Replacement bus services will be laid on during the closures, and Norwich – Yarmouth trains via Reedham will instead run via Acle.

New Ely bridge opens on schedule
A six-month reconstruction programme saw the new bridge spanning the River Ouse at Ely completed on schedule and open to traffic before the year end. The original bridge had been damaged beyond repair by a freight train derailment on June 22 (NRS Newsletter Jul/Aug 2007).

The new bridge’s centre span was craned into place over the weekend of December 15/16 and new track and signals were then installed. The first revenue-earning service to cross, on Dec 20, was 4L85 08.57 Leeds - Felixstowe headed by no. 66517. one’s Ipswich to Peterborough passenger services resumed their normal timetable the next day. While the bridge was out of action a bus replacement had operated between Bury St Edmunds and Ely.

The new bridge, steel decked and with a 30m span, sits on independently-piled reinforced concrete abutments and box culvert side spans. It carries a single track across the river but can take two if required later.

source: http://www.norfolkrailwaysociety.org.uk ... _news.html