Colne Valley Railway
14 September 2003
While Lucy and Henry were winning Best of Breed for the seventh time, at
Newmarket, Stephen went for a visit to the
Colne Valley
Railway, in Essex south-west of Sudbury.
Approaching from the car park, two views from the same point show some of the
range of rolling stock at the railway
The 1200 train from Castle Hedington station waits at platform no. 2
The smart footbridge was originally built by the Great Eastern Railway at
Stowmarket in 1898, and dismantled
by British Rail in 1981.
The locomotive runs around at the Nunnery Street loop, currently the southern
end of the line
Having travelled to the northern extremity, we arrive back at Castle Hedingham,
as the diesel raibus waits at platform no. 1 for the line to become free
Although the line is only a mile long, the fact that the station is in the
middle allows for two trains to be in service at once, with one departing
platform 2 every fifteen minutes, rather unusual for such a short line.
WD190 was built in 1952 by the Hunslet Engine Company Ltd. of Leeds to the
famous austerity saddle tank design. This engine was built for the War
Department, and saw service at Long Marston, Bicester and Shoeburyness. After a
brief spell at the East Anglian Railway Museum, it became the first locomotive
to arrive at the Colne Valley Railway, in September 1973.
After the steam train has departed for the south, the railbus pulls into
platform no. 2.
Diesel railcar No. W55033 was originally built for the Western Region of British
Railways. It has a driving cab at each end, with only a glass partition between
the cab and the passengers, allowing for a wonderful view.
A view through the driver's cab: on the return from Nunnery Street, we await the
signal to clear to allow us onto the line for platform 1.
Video of the journey from the northern end of the line back to the station:
Medium connection (100k) |
Fast connection (384k)
(Play will start
automatically once video buffering is complete: please be patient!)
On the return to the station, we pulled right in behind the steam train for the
volunteer staff to have a lunchtime break.
Filling up WD190 with water
Brake van 17436, built for the Great Western Railway
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