MID-NORFOLK RAILWAY
Mid-Norfolk Railway Chairman Charlie Robinson details the line’s growth and its plans.
Slow but steady growth has helped this preservation latecomer carve a niche in a crowded marketplace
The Mid-Norfolk Railway, based at Dereham, is one of a new generation of preserved railways. Unlike many preservation groups who were able to step in relatively quickly when a branch line was closed, the MNR had to wait 20 years after the last scheduled passenger train left the line before freight services finally ceased operation in 1989 and the serious work of creating a preserved railway could begin. Thanks to the vision and determination of the MNR founders, the railway started initially with County School as its headquarters, moving quickly on to Dereham when the old station and running line to Wymondham were acquired. While trains now run regularly from Dereham to a temporary (now 18 years old) platform near Wymondham Abbey, the line is being restored northwards towards County School. A grand reopening of the line as far as Worthing Crossing was due to take place this month (May 18) and, hopefully, reopening to passenger traffic as far as North Elmham in 2020 to coincide with the MNR’s 25th anniversary. The challenge facing the MNR, and almost all preserved railways, is to raise sufficient revenue not simply to keep afloat but to develop further. Norfolk is a recognised holiday destination, and while the North Norfolk coast currently attracts the lion’s share of visitors, Dereham is ideally placed to cater for holidaymakers’ needs. The Tesco car park in Dereham is, apparently, the centre of Norfolk, and with Norwich and the North Norfolk coastline just a 30-minute drive and King’s Lynn and Thetford only 40 minutes away there should be plenty of scope to attract more visitors to the town and, of course, the railway.
BLOCK BOOKINGS
To this end we have concentrated on increasing the number of visits by holiday companies, coach tours, clubs and family parties and there was a 30% growth in the number of bookings taken in 2017 compared to 2016. For coach companies in particular we now organise day trips to Norfolk, which usually include a ride on the train, lunch at Dereham station and then an onward trip to either Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse Museum just outside Dereham, Gooderstone Water Gardens near Swaffham, the Wells & Walsingham Light Railway, Broads Tours in Wroxham or Dereham Windmill and Wymondham Abbey. The appeal of these days out is measured not just by the number of repeat bookings we take each year from companies which are very happy with what we have to offer, but also by the growing number of groups who have never visited us before.
LURE OF STEAM
However, apart from days out, a little extra usually helps to entice both visitors and locals to the MNR. Steam usually arrives each year at the end of May in the form of ‘94XX’ pannier tank No. 9466 and runs through the summer until mid-September. In addition, our steam gala in June always attracts plenty of visitors, with No. 60009 Union of South Africa starring in 2017 and Duchess of Sutherland and Royal Scot setting the pace in previous years. Our 1940s weekend in early August and the beer festival on the August bank holiday weekend are also growing in popularity and, hopefully, the recent introduction of murder mystery trains will appeal to all budding supersleuths in the area. Thanks to the hard work of our excellent catering staff, our reputation for afternoon cream teas in the summer has really taken off, with bookings in 2018 markedly up compared to 2017. Diesel galas also draw in plenty of visitors, but we are looking at the timings of these to see if a possible change of date may help bring in even more. Our Christmas extravaganza, ‘The Polar Express’, is also proving extremely popular with a record number of visitors attending in 2017, our first year of providing this well-known train ride. Music plays an important role with evening jazz and folk trains. Dereham station also becomes an incredibly atmospheric venue for the Dereham Blues Festival, and there is usually live music on the platform at the Summer Beer Festival.
BRANCHING OUT
Broadening our horizons, Dereham station is now an approved venue for the solemnisation of marriages and formation of civil partnerships. With cream tea on the train after the ceremony, footplate rides available for the guests and an evening reception later on, all feedback received so far has been really positive and it is again an area which is steadily growing. We are, naturally, indebted to all our staff and volunteers for all the time and expertise they bring to the railway. Eleven and a half miles of track (not including north of Dereham) and five stations, not to mention the rolling stock and so on, is a daunting proposition, even to highly paid personnel. For a railway where 98% of the staff are volunteers (and employed staff usually put in more hours than they’re paid for), what has been achieved and what is planned for the future is truly awe-inspiring. Long may it continue (and new volunteers are always very welcome!). Talking of the future, our potential for development is huge and this is one of the reasons why the MNR is so attractive to anyone interested in working for a preserved railway.
OUR POTENTIAL FOR DEVELOPMENT IS HUGE – ONE OF THE REASONS WHY THE MNR IS SO ATTRACTIVE TO ANYONE INTERESTED IN WORKING FOR A PRESERVED RAILWAY
Our principal objective is to build a maintenance shed at Dereham station, something sadly lacking at the moment.
Currently, all work on locomotives, carriages and wagons has to be done outside, so it is always dependent on the weather and, consequently, much slower (and often miserable!) than if there was covered accommodation. We are about to submit a grant application which, if successful, would allow the basic structure to be up by the end of the year. This in itself would not only allow our rolling stock to be more easily maintained and better presented but also dramatically increase our chances of attracting more steam and diesel locomotives to be based at Dereham – and enhance the appeal of the railway.
FUTURE PLANS
In the long term we aim to reinstate the footbridge at Dereham, turn the goods shed into a much larger and more attractive museum, restore the GER stable block and have occasional demonstrations of horse-drawn shunting, plus have a working turntable. Work on Thuxton station, to make it the lovely country halt it once was, needs to be completed and, at Wymondham Abbey station, a completely new platform and station building is planned.
Going north from Dereham, a new platform needs to be built at North Elmham which will be our terminus until such a time as the line can be extended back to County School.
New signalling and track at Dereham are planned to allow Platform 4 to be put back into use and the bay platform there to be reinstated for use by our DMU service.
The Mid-Norfolk Railway has made huge strides in the 23 years it has been in existence. While we continue to build on what’s already been achieved with our current dedicated staff and volunteers, plans for future development are exciting – watch this space!