About the Railway: History of the Line The Line's Rebirth

While Dereham, North Elmham, Ryburgh and Fakenham remained open to freight, efforts were made to restore passenger services. In 1974, the Railway Invigoration Society (later to become the Railway Development Society) called a meeting in Dereham to try to get a passenger service restored between Wymondham and Fakenham. As a result of this, the Wymondham, Dereham and Fakenham Rail Action Committee (WyDFRAC) was formed, principally to show that the line could still prove useful; and after three years of trying, they managed to charter a train in April 1978. Two return trips between Dereham and Norwich were run, and were an outstanding success. Between 1978 and 1988, at least one train was operated each year, and included ten-coach locomotive-hauled trains to as far away as York and Portsmouth.

In 1978, rumours of the closure of the Ryburgh to Fakenham section started to spread, and so the Fakenham and Dereham Railway Society (F&DRS) was formed with the aim of operating the section after closure by BR. In 1979, a charter train ran as far as Fakenham, but later that year it was announced that the section of line between Ryburgh and Fakenham would close from 1st January 1980. Local pressure brought about a brief delay while the F&DRS endeavoured to secure the future of the section. Although a substantial amount was raised, it was insufficient to purchase the line, which eventually closed in August, and subsequently the track was lifted.

It was not long before the section from North Elmham to Ryburgh came under threat of closure. The last freight train worked from Ryburgh in August 1981, but the section remained intact for a while longer. Perversely, a weedkiller train visited Ryburgh in May 1982 and the Neptune Track Recorder unit reached Ryburgh in August 1982, after which the section was officially closed.

Following this further setback, the F&DRS decided to concentrate on the Wymondham to Dereham section, and in 1983 it successfully negotiated the lease on part of the station and yard at Hardingham. Some track was laid in the yard, a Ruston diesel locomotive was acquired, and a small museum was set up in the building.

Unfortunately, the rent and rates were higher than income, and when BR decided to auction off the site in 1986, the F&DRS decided to cut its losses and move to a temporary site down the line at Yaxham. This was a low point, with only about 35 members, but before long, the District Council enquired about a railway presence at their proposed Heritage Centre at County School. The F&DRS moved in and laid tracks, relaid the level crossing and established a thriving railway centre.

It was hoped that once a rail centre was operating at County School, it could be linked again to the BR line at North Elmham to connect with chartered trains on the branch, but this dream was rudely shattered when the complete closure of the line from June 1989 was announced. The likelihood of getting the funds together to purchase a 17.5 mile stretch of line was almost unthinkable, but a sudden surge of interest kept the idea alive. It was agreed that all the organisations interested in saving the line should meet. Thus the Mid-Norfolk Railway Project (MNRP) was born.

The original idea of the MNRP was to set up a company to try to raise capital to purchase all, or part, of the line. Interest from local councils was much greater than in the past and many people asked to be kept in touch with events.

In the hope that the line could be purchased, and with the need for a big supporting society, it was decided that unification of the various groups with an interest in the line would be a good thing. The groups amalgamated in 1990 and, shortly afterwards, the F&DRS voted to change its name to the Mid-Norfolk Railway Society (MNRS).

The MNRS maintained a presence at County School and became the supporting society for a company set up to purchase the line, but the arrangement came to an unpleasant end in 1994, after which the Society resolved to make its own bid for the line. A result of the dispute was that various items of rolling stock were moved by road from County School to Dereham, from where, with special permission from BR, some went by rail to Yaxham and others were placed in store at Hardingham.

The desolation at Dereham Station when the MNR took over in 1995. Photo: Owen Stratford

In order to buy the line, the MNRS agreed to set up a Charitable Trust Company limited by guarantee, which formally came into being as the Mid-Norfolk Railway Preservation Trust (MNRPT) in March 1995, and was registered as a Charity in the following June. Yaxham became the centre of operations, and permission was given to clear the line of undergrowth and to build a platform in order to run trains. The station at Dereham was cleaned up, and open days held. After building a platform at Rash's Green near Dereham, passenger trains were run between there and Yaxham in 1995. This was a huge success and provided tangible evidence of the Trust's achievements and its ability to operate the line. After relaying track into Dereham station in early 1997, the first train ran from the station in the summer of that year.

After many years of patient negotiations, and with considerable help from Norfolk County Council, Breckland District Council and South Norfolk District Council, the Wymondham to Dereham section of the line was purchased in April 1998 and became the property of the MNRPT. The line and its connection with the main line at Wymondham were passed for use by freight trains in June 1998, and within a few days a test freight train from Eastleigh worked onto the line - the first train to work into Dereham from the national rail network since closure of the line in 1989.

The resumption of train services on the Dereham line has, for many people, been the realisation of a dream. A great deal of time, effort and sweat has been put into making the Mid-Norfolk Railway the success that it undoubtedly is, and that immense effort is ongoing, gradually reversing the effects of 40 years' neglect and decline. Looking back at old photos, in which the line was barely visible beneath great thickets of trees, it is amazing that so much has been accomplished in such a short amount of time. Long may it continue that way.

Based on an original essay by Owen Stratford.