The
Bure Valley Railway is a
minimum gauge heritage railway in
Norfolk, within
The Broads National
Park.
The railway runs from Wroxham
to Aylsham
( ) and is
Norfolk's longest railway of less than standard gauge. It uses both
steam and
diesel
locomotives.
There are intermediate halts at Brampton
, Buxton
and Coltishall
. There are 17 bridges, including a -long
girder bridge over the River
Bure
in Buxton with Lammas
as well as Aylsham Bypass Tunnel
under the A140 at Aylsham.
History
The railway is built on the trackbed of the
East Norfolk Railway (ENR).
The ENR
started in 1877 when the East Norfolk Railway
opened from Norwich
to Cromer
, with an
extension from Wroxham to Aylsham in 1880. The ENR was taken over by the
Great Eastern Railway in
1882, which was amalgamated into the
London & North Eastern
Railway in
1923. The
railway was nationalised in
1948.
In
1952 the
passenger service stopped, but the
freight service continued.
, as it was then
known, closed for goods in 1964, and Aylsham
and Coltishall in 1974.
Freight trains continued to run over the line after this for two
principal sources of traffic.
The line west of Aylsham via Cawston and Reepham
originally
went further to a junction at County School
Station
; by this time it instead turned south via a new
curve at Themelthorpe to join a fragment of the old Midland and Great
Northern system to reach and .
Coal traffic continued to be carried from via Aylsham to Norwich
City - a fantastic trip around Norfolk just to cross
Norwich! There was also regular traffic from Lenwade in the
form of concrete building components.
This traffic ended in
1981 and the line through
Aylsham formally closed on 6 January 1982. A weed-killing train ran
in
1983 and track-lifting trains ran the
following year.
Re-opening
The Bure Valley Railway opened on
July 10th
1990, and a
long distance footpath (
rail trail) opened alongside it in
1991.
It is currently home to Norfolk's only
operational railway tunnel, which
carries the railway under the Aylsham Bypass. The only other tunnel
, in Cromer, is
disused.
Locomotives
| No. |
Name |
Livery |
Locomotive type |
Wheel
arr.
|
In Traffic? |
| 1 |
Wroxham Broad |
Light Blue |
Steam |
2-6-4T |
Yes |
| 6 |
Blickling Hall |
Midland Crimson Lake |
Steam |
2-6-2 |
Yes |
| 7 |
Spitfire |
Brunswick Green |
Steam |
2-6-2 |
Yes |
| 8 |
Thunder |
BR Lined Black |
Steam |
2-6-2T |
No |
| 9 |
Mark Timothy |
Madderlake |
Steam |
2-6-4T |
Yes |
| 3 |
2nd Air Division USAAF |
Golden Ochre |
Diesel |
Bo-Bo |
Yes |
| 4 |
Awaiting Naming |
Orange |
Diesel |
0-4-0 |
Yes |
| 5 |
Toby |
Brown |
Diesel |
0-4-0 |
Rarely |
|
When the
railway first opened, several locomotives were hired from the
Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch
Railway
, including: Southern Maid, Samson and Winston
Churchill.
Operations
The track is laid to a gauge of . The railway is operated by a
fleet of five steam and three diesel locomotives. Passenger rolling
stock consists of 26 fully-enclosed bogie carriages and two
four-wheel brake vans. Trains almost always include carriages
capable of accommodating wheelchairs. Approximately half the
carriages are equipped with electric heating, for winter
services.
The Friends of the Bure Valley Railway
The Friends of the Bure Valley Railway (FoBVR) is the volunteer
supporting group for the Bure Valley Railway. It owns locomotive
number 4 and supports the railway financially and with regular
working parties of volunteers. There is a hut at Aylsham which
sells second hand magazines during the season to support the
Friends.
External links
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