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Photo Album
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Photo Album
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The Mid-Norfolk Railway has always relied on its heritage diesel fleet for most of its motive power. However, the real crowd-pullers are always steam locomotives. After a massive effort to provide the necessary infrastructure, our first steam-hauled passenger trains ran between Dereham and Wymondham during May 2006, hauled by 9466. The previous steam-hauled passenger services on the line only ran between Dereham and Yaxham in the late 1990s, hauled by the industrial shunting loco "Sir Berkeley". The line was also briefly visited by "Little Barford" and the B1 61264.
Photos of the line in days gone by. Includes the period up to the end of freight services under BR in 1989.
A wide selection of locos have used our mainline connection to visit Dereham. Some of these visitors have come for one of our gala events, while others are hauling railtours. Our maintenance facilities are regularly used by mainline rail companies as they are cheaper, more convenient and closer to hand than the alternatives.
When we bought the line, Dereham Station had no loco servicing facilities whatsoever. Part of our long-term plan has always been to run steam engines, and that requires a pit to drop ash out of the firebox. We were also finding that we increasingly needed to access the undersides of locos to carry out maintenance. Our pit was built out of reinforced concrete, with bullhead rail mounted on ex-Great Western through-bolted chairs.
During Spring 2005, we began the construction of a new run-round loop at Wymondham. Prior to this, all trains had to have a loco on both ends. The Permanent Way work took five months to complete and used materials recovered from Cambridge in 1999 and Ipswich in 2004. Three new points were installed. The two at the south end are longer ones that will eventually be used by passenger trains running to our junction station. We successfully completed the work to a challenging timescale and on a difficult site. At present, the loop is to be controlled from ground frames which are unlocked as the train requires to use it, but will eventually have full signalling installed.
During 2002, the Mid-Norfolk Railway was awarded grants by the European Union and the East of England Development Agency totalling over £600,000, enabling us to restore Dereham station and many of the surrounding buildings, including two crossing keepers' cottages and a World War 2 pillbox. The work is still in progress, but already you can see an enormous change in the centre of Dereham.
Over the weekend of the 27th-29th September 2002, we had the opportunity to re-lay Norwich Road level crossing which had got into a bad state, causing irritation to road users. The original crossing was a hybrid with both sleepers and tarmac forming the road surface. Our crossing has been laid with tarmac throughout, and check rails to keep the road in place. This should provide a more consistent surface for cars and lorries. We also took the opportunity to install cable ducting under the road, allowing us to provide signals for the northern approaches to Dereham.
As the restoration of the line to the north of Dereham proceeds, this page will be updated with photos of the progress made. Getting trains running to North Elmham again will be a monumental task: if you'd like to help, then volunteers are always welcome! Already, the line through Dereham has been stripped of its undergrowth and the track restored to working order, and work continues apace.
In 2001, we began a major project to rebuild Dereham Central Signal Box. This will form the first part of our fledgling signalling system, controlling the yard at Dereham, and eventually connecting to boxes further down the line at Hardingham and Wymondham. We were generously donated the former Stratford Southern box, together with the levers and locking frame, and since then a great deal of work has been put in to restoring it to its former glory. Worthy of particular mention are the efforts of: Ian Nugent, whose carpentry skills are unmatched; Mike Boakes, who made a top-class job of the brick base of the new box; Derrick Plyer who has coordinated the whole project, and has made sure that everything looks as authentic as possible; and many others who have put in a great deal of time and effort to make the project a success.