1932 Midland and Great Northern Joint Committee
Note: This is a sub-section of 1932 Railway Year Book and Midland and Great Northern Joint Committee
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CHIEF OFFICES.
AUSTIN STREET, KING’S LYNN.
DIRECTORS.
SIR ALAN G. ANDERSON, K.B.E., 5, Fenchurch Avenue, E.C.3.
CHARLES BOOTH, Elmhurst, Aigburth, Liverpool.
FRANK TATLOW, C.B.E., St. Oswalds, Duffield, Derby.
SIR THOMAS WILLIAMS, Oakdene, St. Margarets, Middlesex.
HUBERT T. BAILEY, 29, Princes Gate Court, Kensington, S.W. 7,
OLIVER R. H. BURY, Peruvian Corporation, Ltd., 43, Threadneedle Street, E.C. 2.
LT. COL. THE HON. A. C. MURRAY, C.M.G., D.S.O., Elibank, Walkerburn Peeblesshire.
WILLIAM WHITELAW, Hatton House, Kirknewton, Midlothian.
? Represent the London Midland and Scottish Railway Company. ??Represent the London and North Eastern Railway Company.
OFFICERS.
Secretary— G. R. SMITH, Euston.
Traffic Manager—ROBERT B. WALKER, A.M.Inst.T., King’s Lynn.
Resident Mechanical Engineer— W. E. NEWMAN, M.I.Mech.E., Melton Constable.
Civil Engineer— A. E. LANGLEY, Assoc. M.I.C.E., Melton Constable.
Accountant—E. TAYLOR, Euston.
Solicitors—Messrs. BEALE & CO., Birmingham and London.
Bankers—BARCLAYS BANK, Lombard Street, London.
Tel. Address : Traffic Manager, Vigorous^ King's Lynn,
Tel. Nos.; Traffic Manager 439 King’s Lynn.
Engineers ... 3 Melton Constable.
HISTORICAL SKETCH.
OWNED jointly by the London Midland and Scottish, and London and North Eastern Ry. Cos., this line includes the Peterborough, Wisbech and Sutton Bridge Ry., Bourne and Lynn Ry., and Eastern and Midlands Ry., the latter being an amalgamation of the Lynn and Fakenham Ry. and Yarmouth and North Norfolk Ry. The Eastern and Midlands Ry. was the last to be absorbed, it disappearing 1st July, 1893 ; for eighteen months it was under a separate Joint Line Manager, the line west of King’s Lynn remaining under the Manager located at Spalding. On 1st January, 1895, both sections were combined under a Traffic Manager with Office at King’s Lynn, the old headquarters of the Eastern and Midlands Ry. The first portion of line opened was Spalding to Holbeach, 1st November, 1858. The extension thence to Sutton Bridge was made use of 1st July, 1862, and four years later Peterborough to Lynn and Bourne to Spalding commenced active service. The finishing touches to the railway west of King’s Lynn were made in 1893, when a short line avoiding Spalding station was opened also for (for goods in 1893 and passengers in 1894) a continuation of the line from Bourne Io join the Midland line at Little Bytham Junction, whereby a shorter route was given between the Midland system and the Norfolk coast. The growth of the railway east of King’s Lynn commenced at Yarmouth in 1877, Martham being reached that year, Catfield in 1880, and North Walsham in 1881. This was the Yarmouth and North Norfolk Ry. At the west side of Norfolk, the Lynn and Fakenham Ry. spread as far as Massingham, in 1879, Fakenham, 1880, Guestwick, 1881, and Norwich, in 1882. The Eastern and Midlands Ry. came into being in 1883, and pushed ahead from Melton Constable to North Walsham in that year, thereby effecting a junction with the railway, thence to Yarmouth, to Holt, in 1884, on the way to Cromer, which was reached in 1887. A loop line was opened for goods in 1884, and passengers in 1885, from South Lynn to Bawsey, giving a connection with the Peterborough and Spalding lines without having to use King’s Lynn station. Construction remained in abeyance until the lines were all combined under the present management, when jointly with the then Great Eastern Company, the Norfolk and Suffolk Joint Line was made. North Walsham to Mundesley, in 1898, Yarmouth to Gorleston and Lowestoft, in 1903, and Mundesley to Overstrand and Cromer, in 1906
The Joint Line serves the agricultural districts of South Lincolnshire and North Cambridgeshire on the western section, and the rich alluvial deposits found there are suitable for a somewhat intensive culture, and produce exceedingly heavy crops of vegetables and fruit, thus contributing materially to the nation’s food supply. It also serves the important fishing ports of Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft, and the popular East Coast resorts of Yarmouth, Lowestoft, Cromer, Sheringham and Mundesley, also the Norfolk Broads. The whole district is of great archaeological and historical interest, and many first-class golf courses, good fishing, and other popular outdoor health-giving pastimes are to be found to meet the requirements of resident and visitor.
At Melton Constable are situated the Offices and Workshops of the Resident Mechanical and Civil Engineers for the repair of rolling stock, etc., and the requirements of the Engineers’ Departments. The latter department manufacture reinforced concrete, signal and other posts, building blocks, etc., to meet all requirements of the Joint Railway. The Committee have 100 houses and cottages for their workmen’s accommodation, also an up-to-date Institute.
Steepest Gradient.— 1 in 56 for a distance of 14 chains, at North Walsham, falling towards Melton Constable.
Summit Level.—312 feet above sea level; Piggs Grave Bank (1| miles west of Melton Constable).
Largest Station.—Norwich City.
Principal Towns Served.—Peterborough, Wisbech, Spalding, Holbeach, Sutton Bridge. King’s Lynn, Fakenham, Holt, Sheringham, Cromer, Norwich, Aylsham, North Walsham Yarmouth and Lowestoft.
Longest Platform.—Yarmouth (Beach), 330 yards.
Tunnels.—One only, 330 yards, IJ miles west of Bourne.
Important Swing Bridges.— (a) Breydon Viaduct, over Breydon Water, Great Yarmouth ; 5 spans, one of which swings. (b) Cross Keys Bridge over the River Nene at Sutton Bridge, carrying County Highway and Railway between Lincolnshire and Norfolk ; 3 spans, one of which swings.
Level Crossings with Gatehouses.—105.
Colours of Tickets.—First-class, white. Third-class, green.
Colours of Locomotives and Rolling Stock.—Locomotives.—Dark brown and black, picked out with chrome. Coaching Stock.—Varnished Teak.
Heating of Passenger Trains.—Steam.
Mile Posts and Gradient Boards.—No rule has been employed with regard to position. They are situated in some places on the up and in others on the down side of the main line.
Mileage (owned).—Single 109 miles 18 chains
Double or more 74 miles 14 chains
Total 183 miles 32 chains
Equivalent in single track, 261 miles 19 chains.
Rolling Stock.—Locomotives : tender, 55 (4-4-0), 28 (0-6-0); tank, 3 (4-4-2), 9 (0-6-0), and duplicates 1 (0-6-0), 1 (4-4-0). Several of the tender engines have been fitted with large boilers. Passenger train vehicles, 218.
Road Equipment.—Drays and carts, 67; horses, 30 ; motor lorries, 7.
Train Tablet.—The major portion of the railway is single and worked by the electric train tablet system, the line and engines being equipped with Whitaker’s Patent Automatic Tablet Exchange Apparatus. Double line loops are provided at practically all stations.
Statistics (1931).—Receipts: passenger train traffic, £164,521; goods train traffic, £363,725; total (with other items), £530,943. Expenditure, £524,771. Net revenue, £6,171.
Norfolk and Suffolk Joint Committee.—Single, 11 miles 66 chains ; double or more, 10 miles 36 chains ; total. 22 miles 22 chains ; equivalent in single track, 32 miles 66 chains.
See Also
Sources of Information