22 ‘fresh air’ trips to Cromer
Twenty-two unannounced return trips between Cromer and Sheringham on June 6/7 heralded a new method of operation for the North Norfolk Railway’s dining trains. ‘Standard Four’ 2-6-0 No. 76084 and Class 20 diesel No. 20227 top-and-tailed non-passenger trips over the less than four-mile branch as part of preparations for this summer, when ‘North Norfolkman’ Cromer specials will be operated under a partnership between the NNR and North Yorkshire Moors Railway. The first public trip is to be on July 5. Initially, the trains are to be operated on the NYMR’s licence - specifically expanded from its Whitby operation to cover the Sheringham-Cromer stretch. Norfolk crews are to be passed out to work the trains; a subsequent phase could involve the NNR taking over the operation itself. The NYMR’s Philip Benham told Steam Railway the Cromer operation was not the start of a bigger expansion of its operations on NR. “I don’t think we see ourselves going down this route a lot,” he said. “The NYMR benefits from its contact with the NNR. It’s a similar line with similar challenges. “The NNR approached us for advice, because we’d already gone down this route and out of that, this emerged.” NNR managing director Hugh Harkett said he believed that such a collaboration between two preserved railways was “unprecedented”. Trains on June 6/7 used the spare platform at Cromer to keep out of the way of the regular Greater Anglia service. Most of the shuttles ran between there and Sheringham’s NR platform, with only the first and last trains using the town’s level crossing that connects the 5¼-mile ‘Poppy Line’ to the network. Water for the Horwich-built ‘4MT’ was taken during the day at Cromer. As Steam Railway went to press, the first day of the trial ‘shuttles’ had already passed without problems, with No. 76084’s second day on the trains well under way. The North Norfolk Railway’s long-held ambition to run dining trains to Cromer was realised last August (SR458), with further trains running in September. The 2016 trips were operated by nationwide charter company West Coast Railways. Confirmed dates for 2017 are July 5 and 21; August 3, 9 and 23; and September 27.