North Norfolk Railway

Post by **NeutronIC** » Sun Aug 24, 2003 4:30 pm

Hi Folks

Myself, Dad and family spent the day at the North Norfolk Railway on Saturday (Yesterday). We are going to do a model of it for MSTS and having obtained some basic info such as the Quail track plan and various maps, the next step was to go and see what the railway looked like in person!

Wayne and Russell met up with us and then Russell chatted a little while about the project - he's an MSTS and UKTS user himself! He then offered us (and we accepted

) a cab ride on the Class 25 awaiting departure up and down the route so we now have outstanding footage of the route from end to end on two video cameras (one pointing straight, one angled out of one window).

After this we had lunch and then we travelled up to Weybourne (one stop) to meet up with Russell again who is working on restoring their latest acquisition, a 101 DMU. He explained some of the oddities with the NNR signalling, showed us a lot of things and we had a brief look around the yard (their loco and coach works are at Weybourne), before finally heading back to Sheringham and then taking the Anglia train home.

I want to thank Wayne, Russell and the two drivers of the 25 for their assistance - we came out of it with far more information than we had hoped for in a first visit.

Now to get the route terraformed and track down!

We'll be doing it in UK Finescale to get that extra bit of realism

I can recommend the NNR as a great day out, the railway and the surrounding village is most excellent (and there's a fudge shop in Sheringham that sells the most absolutely wonderful fudge ever

).

More news as it happens!

Matt.

gblandford · Post by **gblandford** » Sun Aug 24, 2003 7:58 pm

Hi

Thats great I been on the route several times when I use to live in Norfolk

GUy

markw · Post by **markw** » Sun Aug 24, 2003 8:32 pm

Well, if only you had said you were going, you could have got off at Hoveton and Wroxham for a cup of tea and some cake, as I live about ten minutes from the station.

By car, admittedly. About 15 minutes on the no 54 to Stalham, or an hour and a half by boat to Womack Staithe.

I bake a mean Bakewell Pudding - the authentic Derbyshire "almond omlette" recipe, none of that Mr Kipling spongey cojones, or a Black Forest gateaux.

Ah well.

Post by **NeutronIC** » Sun Aug 24, 2003 8:51 pm

I'll be back several times I am sure, and will make note to give you a bell next time i'm up that way, your invitation is far too tasty

Matt.

saddletank · Post by **saddletank** » Sun Aug 24, 2003 9:59 pm

Great news Matt, one of my favourite preserved lines. We have friends who own a holiday cottage at Weybourne and often stop there for weekends. Did you miss the cheeseshop in Sheringham - right by the level crossing? Not one to be missed, a lump of their runny Cambozola on a warm day is heaven

There was talk a year or two back of connecting Sheringham to the Railtrack station across the road and allowing RT to run local services thru from Norwich to Weybourne, and there was talk of extending to Holt as well, have you thought about including either of thes etwo features?

Holt is also excellent for restaurants

rwaceyw · Post by **rwaceyw** » Sun Aug 24, 2003 10:08 pm

The lines ran to Holt since about 1985 Martin

David.

ianmacmillan · Post by **ianmacmillan** » Sun Aug 24, 2003 11:37 pm

STOP THIS FOOD TALK NOW.

I'm starving.... Bloody diet.

markw · Post by **markw** » Mon Aug 25, 2003 12:11 am

The line is open to Holt, where the old station from Stalham (just ten minutes from this PC - or it was until it was dismantled...) is being erected. On the extension of the Bittern line into the Sheringham NNR station, that is more doubtful, as it would have to comply with current regulations on signalling, platform heights and the like to become the terminus of the Anglia service. Whilst many still would like to see this happen, the costs involved in reinstalling a fully functioning level crossing, widening the island platform to get full disabled access to the platform (barrow crossings are not suitable for new build) and raising the platform would be very high, plus would need to take some land from the adjacent car park and spoil the original features of the existing station. And before anyone goes off on one about the HMRI, all new stations should be made fully accessible as a basic human right, and this would be a new Sheringham station as far as Network Rail goes. The signalling would also need to be upgraded - and we all know how much that would cost.

Also, the usefulness of a train service from Holt station, on the edge of the town, via Sheringham (25mph from Holt to Sheringham), Cromer (reverse) to Norwich Thorpe (a good mile from the principal shopping a business areas) compared to the recently upgraded and popular express bus running hourly from centre to centre, more directly, in roughly the same time is doubtful and would be unlikely to gain financial support when the SRA has asked Anglia bidders to suggest cost cutting measures for the rural branches - including bustitution.

So the long and short of it is that Matt should assume the level crossing won't happen but that a nice former MGNR station building will replace the portacabin at Holt.

I do of course await correction if things have changed sice I last was involved in this saga!

Post by **NeutronIC** » Mon Aug 25, 2003 7:00 am

Yes Russell gave us lots of information including a tour of the new station at Holt and lots of information about it. My aim is to initially model track based on present day but by the time the station is finished i'll probably still be working on scenery so I will revamp the Holt area to include the new track layout and the new station and surrounding scenery.

First time i've seen "somersault" signals though, I figured they were all broken!

Yellow ground frames? That's a new one too, Russell provided lots of info on those.

Somersault ground frames too, wierd lookin' things.

There will probably be changes at Weybourne by the time I get to the end of the project too - such as a new siding and the sheds being extended across all sidings.

Matt.

saddletank · Post by **saddletank** » Mon Aug 25, 2003 10:54 am

Sorry about the Holt mistake - I meant the next station along the line west from there, whatever that one is

markw · Post by **markw** » Mon Aug 25, 2003 2:47 pm

Of course there's absolutely nothing to stop you virtually running Anglia Sprinters (seeing as someone did repaint Steven Weller's unit into one...) from Sheringham into Holt. And of course they've only just sold their 117 which of course was modelled not long back...

Must go out and see if I can track down the Anglia 153 as a next project.

gblandford · Post by **gblandford** » Mon Aug 25, 2003 4:11 pm

Hi

Is there any more news about them go to meet the Mid Norfolk. I know there was talks of it about 5 or 6 years ago.

Guy

markw · Post by **markw** » Mon Aug 25, 2003 5:26 pm

There is a group promoting the idea of the Norfolk Orbital railway, linking the NNR (plus level crossing link to the Bittern Line) to the Mid Norfolk, and using the Ely-Norwich line to get back to Norwich.

Sadly, I think the plan is over ambitious and underestimates the amount of engineering and costs involved. Leaving aside the general lack of population in the area and hence low demand, the Holt Bypass occupies the former trackbed of the railway for part of the route from the NNR station, so there would be land take issues in Holt, a new stretch of line would need to be built in the Melton Constable area, large sections of the route have returned to farming, the line would need to cross a nature reserve which has become established in the fifty years the line has been closed, and that's without the buggeration factor of making any connection with Network Rail, which is why the Mid Norfolk are likely to have their own station at Wymondham with a footpath link to Wymondham, NR. Also, with the hourly Central and hourly Anglia services to Ely and beyond, plus some freight traffic, and the half hourly London mainline service all coming together on the single track Trowse Swingbridge in both directions, there must be a restriction on the number of paths available into and out of Norwich towards Ely and Diss.

That said the group are still plugging away and who knows, perhaps some of the ideas might come to fruition, even if the full idea of the Orbital route falls by the wayside in the current climate of cuts from the SRA.

TomB · Post by **TomB** » Mon Aug 25, 2003 6:17 pm

I have relatives in Sheringham and visit frequently

. I will be glad to give any assistance needed

.

qzdcg8 · Post by **qzdcg8** » Wed Aug 27, 2003 7:11 pm

I'd love to see this project succeed - my first ever visit to a preserved railway happened at Sheringham in 1975 - I was 10 years old and was on a week-long school trip to Norfolk. Two things alway stick in my mind from the visit; the level crossing and closeness of the preserved railway to the mainline (sic) either side; and the fact that the staff were proud of the fact the line featured in an episode of Dad's Army! Best of luck Matt