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East Suffolk Railway by John M Cooper Soft Cover DAMAGE
East Suffolk Railway by John M Cooper
Soft Cover
55 pages
Copyright 1982
CONTENTS
1.Railway Mania Plans 1844 to 18475
2.Halesworth, Beccles and Haddiscoe Railway 1850 to 18597
3.East Suffolk Railway Company 1853 to 186211
4.Ipswich to Woodbridge 1844 to 185917
5.Yarmouth and Haddiscoe Railway 1855 to 185818
6.Lowestoft and Beccles Railway 1855 to 185820
7.Operation of the East Suffolk Main Line 1859 to 190021
8.Operation of the East Suffolk Main Line 1900 to 193923
9.Operation 1939 to 196225
10.The Fight to Save the Line 1963 to 198027
11.Main Line Stations32
12.The Branches45
13. Locomotives52
Acknowledgements and Bibliography54
INTRODUCTION
The East Suffolk Railway was paid for by local men, because the big railway companies did not want to serve East Suffolk, like Beeching a hundred years later, the large companies thought that the Ipswich Norwich Lowestoft and Yarmouth lines already open gave the area adequate access. Local people disagreed then with that view, just as they do today.
The East Suffolk line is among the most interesting in Britain, because it has all the character of a rural branch, yet was until 1962 a main line to Yarmouth. The line was supported by the Earl of Stradbroke and Sir E.S. Gooch, but opposed by the Duke of Hamilton, who kept the railway out of Easton Park. Sir Samuel Morton Peto, the second greatest railway contractor in the history of the world and the father of modern Lowestoft, financed it. Thomas Brassey, who was the greatest railway contractor of all, helped Peto to build the line.
The East Suffolk line has gained extra passengers in recent years as people find motoring is more expensive than using public transport. British Rail are planning to modernise the line, cutting costs, so the railway can be made viable for the future.
The East Suffolk Railway, which was nominally independent for a few years before becoming part of the Great Eastern Railway, was itself an amalgamation of three railways, which between them bridged the area between Woodbridge and Lowestoft and Yarmouth. By its association with the separate company which filled the gap between Woodbridge and Ipswich, it offered a shorter main line from the two seaside towns to London. For most of its life it was regarded as the main route, rather than that via Norwich. However, it was not an easy main line. After leaving Ipswich, there was the Westerfield bank of 21/2 miles of 1 in 111 to 1 in 150, which could not be rushed as there was a 20 mph restriction at East Suffolk Junction. There were several grades of 1 in 75 and 1 in 100 on the way to Beccles, and then 2 miles of 1 in 95 to 1 in 108 on the Wickham Market bank. Grades of 1 in 80 to 1 in 107 were met with at various points until the mile down into Halesworth at 1 in 75, two miles of climbing after that, and 11h miles down to Beccles at 1 in 87. For many years trains were also required to cross the swing bridges at Beccles, St. Olaves, and Carlton Colville at 3 mph. As will be shown in the following pages, there were also severe curves resulting from the Company's decision to engineer the line for only moderate speeds.
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