Exploring the remains of Suffolk's Closed Railways with Lawrie
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 20 окт 2022
- Hello everyone,
Today we're doing something a little different. Lawrie has realised in his travels over his home county there are plenty of remnants to the railway network that used to operate there, and thought it would be fun to show you some of his favourites, so join him for an adventure!
A video featuring, shot and edited by Lawrie.
Want more info on us and the stuff in The Shed, or want to get in contact? Check out our Website!
lawriesmechanicalmarvels.com/
Fancy supporting us on Patreon and receiving extra bits of LMM? Have a look at our Patreon here:
/ lawriesmechanicalmarvels
Get more of what we're up to with Instagram! - / lawries_mechanical_mar...
Want to some LMM Merch? Check out our teespring store!
teespring.com/en-GB/stores/la...
Chat with us and other like minded people on our discord - / discord
Follow us for video alerts and other updates on Facebook - / lawriesmechanicalmarvels 
Авто/Мото
![[SFS] This is a boxcar that ruined our week.](/img/1.gif)
Oh nice! Some industrial archeology with Lawrie. Excellent.
Quality stuff init
In the 60s mum remembers running along the docks from Suffolk college which then was the civic college she was part of the first intake of students. She would use the docks as a short cut to get to the station to get back to Saxmundham so nan could pick her up to get home to Kelsale. Yes she did wear a short skirt heels and hope for wolf whistles from the dock workers and remember to look out for the engines otherwise they would blow their whistle at her. 😊
Ah back in the day 😂
Excellent! I live by the Stour Valley Line and every day cars queue all the way from Haverhill into Cambridge. The track bed is still 90% intact so the line could be, and should be, returned to use as light rail
You've started down this rabbit hole. Please continue!
That I shall!
Let us see - there is the Norfolk and Suffolk Joint Railway between Lowestoft and Yarmouth, there is the Beccles-Yarmouth ex-GER mainline through St Olaves, there is the Waveney Valley line from Beccles through Bungay and Harleston, there is the Saxmundham to Framlingham line through Marlesford and there is the Halesworth-Southwold narrow-gauge line!
Sudbury's current station is located on the site of the old station's cattle dock, the original station building stood on the site of the car park entrance next to the Kingfisher and was demolished in 1991. The very first station was a terminus and was closed in 1865 when the second station opened (the branch line to Haverhill closed on 06/03/1967), and it stood on the site of Roys of Wroxham department store in Great Eastern Road.
Great video, Lawrie, well researched and presented as usual. Give us more like this!
That we can do!
That brought back a few memories. I used to live on the opposite side of the road to Long Melford Station in the early 1970s. We used to play in the station and yard area where you could see the indentations of where the sleepers used to be. The retired (redundant?) Station Master still lived on the premises. We then moved to Cavendish where you could still find the end of the platform, despite the new-build houses. I caught the train from Sudbury to Marks Tey/Colchester from the old (through) station many times. The current station is on the site of the original 1800s station, which then became the goods yard. At one time you could see rails in the tarmac extending along a couple of roads.
Oh back in the day!
This is a very fitting video :) You'll be happy to hear, Lawrie, that I saved some of my local railway history from being scrapped just a few days ago :) (sorry in advance for writing a novel here.)
A former lumberyard near the downtown area is being redeveloped after 20 years of being vacant. The structures were pulled down almost immediately after it closed, and nothing remains on the property, with the exception of some concrete pads, and the rails embedded in the asphalt of the back lot, that the rail cars once rode on to deliver lumber :) I was lucky enough to see one there being unloaded when I was a kid, during a trip with my dad.
Anyway, I just happened to drive by there last Friday, and I saw excavators there ripping up some of the concrete. I knew I had to stop by. In the process of taking some pictures, I noticed a gentleman standing near the temporary construction fence. As it turned out, he was the Superintendent of the construction company, and we talked for a bit. I asked him if it would be possible to buy a chunk of the rail near the edge of the property, as a souvenir. He told me that it would be up to the contractor that would be ripping up the rail next week, and that I should swing by at some point to talk to him. I asked the superintendent for his phone number, which he gave me, and I went on my way.
Monday came around, and I figured I would call him, to see when the guy would be there ripping up the track. When I talked to him on the phone, I couldn't believe what he told me. He informed me that they had found the remains of an old locomotive turntable, long since buried under the ground! I have no idea how long it had been buried, but it was at least since 1930, when the first lumberyard moved in. Anyway, the actual turntable mechanism was long gone, and the pit had been filled in with concrete. But the gentleman informed me that the track stubs were still there, embedded in the outer ring of the turntable foundation. And he said they were going to try to get them out, and if they did, I could have them!
Sure enough, he called me a few hours later, and said that they had successfully removed four 4 foot sections of rail, and I could have them if I bought the workers lunch. I was shocked! I let him know that I would swing by the next morning to pick them up. The next morning rolled around, and I met him at the site. And I was surprised to discover that they had found 2 MORE pieces, which they had also pulled out for me :) So, in all, I took home 6 pieces of 4ft rail, that had been buried since at least 1930. And they were in amazing condition, because there was also a thin slab of concrete poured on top of them, before they backfilled with dirt. That preserved them very well. As far as dates go, one of the rails said 1907 on it :)
But it gets better! A few hours later, he called me again, and said that he had found more pieces! It must have been a pretty big turntable. So he said I could have those too, as long as I bought lunch again. So I showed up the next morning, and collected another four pieces :))) In all, I now have 10 pieces of 4ft rail, from a historic turntable that I never knew about :) One rail from the second batch also had a date on it, which was 1901. I went digging through some maps online, and I found one that showed a turntable on the property back in 1892 :) So it is at least that old. And I still can't believe how good the rail still is, after all of these years! Though it is mostly white in color now, because of the concrete (I may coat it in oil to make it look more like normal rail again.) I ended up with something much cooler than what I was originally trying to get, because the piece of rail that I wanted was from 1987 :P
And I intend to use this rail again, for what it was meant for. I'm going to clean up the ends that were cut with a torch all of those decades ago, and put them back into service. As I mentioned to you a long time ago, I plan to install a 2 foot gauge railway on my property. But first, I want to build the locomotive, which I have already acquired several thousand pounds of steel to do :) It will be my own version of the narrow-gauge Ruston 48 that you reviewed several years ago (the loud one.) But in order to build it, I need some rails in my garage ;) And that is where these sections will come in. In all, I have 40 feet of rail now, which means that I can have 20 feet of rail side by side. And that is just about perfect, because my garage is 22 feet long :) The rail is 100lb, which is overkill for the 5-6 ton loco that I will be building, but that's just fine.
It really is amazing how one thing can lead to another. If I didn't have last week off, I never would have driven by that site in the first place. And if I didn't make the choice to turn around once I saw what they were doing, those pieces of historic rail would have been lost forever. Sometimes, you're just the right person at the right time, and if you don't do something, no one will.
Thank you for sharing! And nice bit of saving history
Oh that's awesome!
Well done you, and to re use it for what it's meant to do is awesome
@@lmm Thank you Lawrie :) Saving those pieces of rail made me very happy, and putting them back into use will make me even happier :)
Being a local this is a interesting video, we done walk from Raydon to Hadleigh a few years ago and it's well worth doing along the old rail track. It used to carry on into Capel St Mary but it's all gone now, Capel Station Garage is where the old station was.
Yes it is. I never realised until I made this video
Wow, this triggered lots of memories, from ten years ago being thrown off my bike by now gone rails at Ipswich wet dock to the Hadoop railway walk bring a childhood biking favourite. Trying to walk the the line from Hadleigh from whenham to the Bentley junction. Cheers and would love to revisit some of Suffolk's railway now. I want to model the gun shed on the Felixstowe line from the Second world war.... Very well timed video to land on RUclips on a great Friday night!
Glad you enjoyed it and it brought back memories.
Loved it. Thanks. We all live near disused railway lines unfortunately. Mine is the Malton to Driffield line. Closed to passengers in 1952, freight in 1958.
Oh I've heard of that one!
Yes! More please. Thanks John
We shall do!
What a fantastic video! So marvellously spoken throughout
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it!
Loved this! Reminds me of watching "RailAway" as a child.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Laurie please do more I really bloody enjoyed this vid
Glad to hear it!
Wonderful video! There is another interesting bit of lost line running from Lowestoft to Great Yarmouth as well. Plenty of old remnants of the line can still be found, such as the East Linear Park in Lowie (I used to walk it every day going to school way back when). The Park is the old line, Used to cut in across Barnard's Meadow Football Ground (Which also used to be Coal yards).
Oh really? I'll have to have a look at that
would love to see more in my hometown of southwold and the old line to Halesworth
Oh yes indeed!
Please do more of these. Its just like where I live in Western Australia, lots of abandoned railways. It is sad seeing it but things happen for a reason.
That we can do!
Good to your still making interesting content around Suffolk Lawrie
We try our best!
The bridge near Debenham on the Mid Suffolk Light Railway was used, it had a brick arch, which was demolished during WW1 for building materials. The line did reach the site which was to become Debenham station, but because of heavy earthworks needed beyond, and lack of money, it went no further.
Oh did it? The railway didn't think so! I don't believe a train travelled over it?
Loved it! Please do more, and in-depth explorations! Many thanks!
That is the plan! Glad to hear you enjoyed it!
I love rail walks and tours please do more
That we can!
Is it just me or are others watching this and wondering how much you could realay and create new preserved lines
Several others too.
Lots of it could be done, but it's a matter of manpower and money, and loads of established railways are desperate for that as it is.
fascinating , i do love industrial archaeology .. and Lawrie seems to be getting the hang of drone work
Launch and hope!
Yes please lawrie more of these vids 👍👍
Glad you enjoyed it!
@@lmm hi lawrie I tried to send you a video of the isle of man closed Railway don't know if you received it if you didn't it's well worth a look even though it's sad it's not running any more
Great idea Lawrie, I used to live at Belchamp St Paul, so Clare station was very formular to me. One thing you didn't mention was Clare is the only station built in England in the grounds of a castle. I worked on the Colne Valley Railway from 1979-2019 when I moved with my job to Derbyshire! The CV&HR run from Chappel & Wakes Colne to Haverhill & like the Mid Suffolk was independent of the GER, they used to say you could hop of the train at Chappel and get on the same train at Haverhill via the CV&HR weather that was true I don't know!
My plan was to talk about that in a future video!
Brilliant video!! Very enjoyable and great to see some more areas having remains of old railway lines, I recommend looking at Stumer in Suffolk the entire station is still there but the building itself is a private residence now and you are able to get a Brilliant view of the station from the road, there is also plenty of remains to see in Haverhill along the track bed such as old bridges and railway fencing found in the trees, Great Yeldham on the Colne Valley Line also has its station platforms remaining and station buildings such as Linton and Long Melford can also still be seen today 😀 I shall be interested to see more videos like this thankyou for sharing
I shall do just that!
My granddad worked on the fish docks of Ipswich on the J70's as a guard and my father worked part time before working as full time guard on the Ipswich line to Felixstowe and towards London before the terminal at Norwich was built.
Oh really? Must have been amazing back in the day
please do more, always interesting to see what is left of the railways.
That we will!
Good one Lawrie. Much enjoyed.
Rob
Glad to hear you enjoyed it!
This video was really really interesting as I'm just outside of suffolk so O can explore this quite easily❤😁👍.I have one question though, at 7:14 what song was playing in the background? 😅
I would love to see an entire episode of this devoted to the Middy alone.
That we could certainly do
You could be the Suffolk Geoff Marshall !
I enjoyed that 100 cent can you please do more like this thank you and hope you have a good day
We shall! Glad you enjoyed it!
absolutely superb more please
That we can do!
Try looking at the haverhill line and the Sturmer arches
Its always interesting learning about abandoned railways. There are a few in Warwickshire one is near where I live in Lapworth and evidence is noticeable if you walk along the canal outside the village of lowsonford where there once was a halt and a bridge spanning the canal.
Oh really? It's great discovering these things
Yes, Lawrie, I did enjoy that video
Super! More to come then
We have an abandoned railways in Weymouth Dorset called the rodwell trail linking Weymouth to the isle of Portland and the harbour line from weymouth train station to around to weymouth harbour. The videos are brilliant 👏 and please more what’s broken now
What's Broken Now will return before too long.
Glad uoi enjoyed the video!
An excellent way to expand the channel, evidence of what was is always of interest that chronicles the past from a different perspective that can only make history more complete.
Thank you, I hope you enjoy the next ones we do
A very interesting video, I'd definitely watch more.
One thing I will mention, which you probably already know but anyway, when the Stour valley railway ran up to Haverhill it linked up with the Colne valley railway.
The really interesting part though is that that is the second time the two lines met, they met for the first time at Chapel and Wakes Colne station which today is the East Anglian Railway Museum.
If that had all been preserved it would of been a very interesting railway to operate.
Two trains departing from the same station, running on two separate lines but arriving at the same station.
We can but dream.
Ah the madness of the railway age 😂
I used to visit Clare station park all the time when I was younger, I now live in Essex near Maldon and there are two abandoned lines, there's a branch that used to connect the still active South Woodham ferries station to Maldon west station and there was another branch line that connected Maldon east station which still stands to Witham. I believe there still a lot of the lines infrastructure that still stands.
Oh really? I'll have to have a look
I've been doing research into the local lines in york and there is a re done station at Stamford bridge despite there being no trains for a long time.
Please do more of these these are awesome
Thank you very much
Please do some more. It is sad that these tracks are no longer used.
We will do!
Love this. Please more of that.
That we can do
I live near the Driffield and Malton railway ( The Malton Dodger) a small part of which is being preserved as The Yorkshire Wolds Railway. It has and amazing history ,including a connection with Charles Dickens well his younger brother?
Ah yes, a good railway
This is awesome! I particularly liked the Thorepness platforms and bridge at Sudbury. Any plans on a Norfolk video? E.g. Norwich City, Honing station is really cool with station remains (check out the nearby unsual bridge near there too) Aylsham North is a really cool section to walk with lots of bridges. North Elmham has track remains. Even Swaffham has an abandoned signal.
I really enjoyed this one Lawrie, I live in Hadleigh so I was pleased to see you mention it. Long Melford station still exists as a private residence and the embankment along the A134 is still visible where it crossed over. Lavenham is where you should check out, the station long gone and a housing estate built on the site but the bridge the tracks passed under is still there, soot stained and all! Thanks mate. (PS I have a few vehicles you may be interested in too!)
Oh really? Thanks for that - drop me an email at Lawrie@lmm.media thank you!
6:50 That bridge looks gone to me, though the abutments are still there!
Well, yes. Remains of bridge
Yes definitely more like this please, I’m not from this area but I find this type of thing fascinating.
That we can do!
Staffordshire railway walk would be a good one
Oh would it?
More please very interesting 👍
That we can do!
Yes please, more vids like this 👍
That we can do
This was great, please continue.
Glad you enjoyed it!
That was lovely!
There's no abandoned railway, as far as I know, near my tiny little town in North Carolina, USA -- but there is a rail line that travels through the town, at the far end. There used to be a furniture factory there, a long, long time ago (sorry, I'm not in a galaxy far, far away! although my head is, most of the time...) that made mostly wooden chairs... they were apparently well-known in their time for bentwood chairs of various sorts. I believe the factory was gutted by fire at some point. By the time I came around, at least, it was long abandoned... the town tried for many years to keep homeless people out, with varying degrees of abject failure, from what I understand, and about a decade or so ago, they brought it to ground.
But every weekday morning, at about 6am, a freight train still trundles on through. I'm halfway into town from there, and I can hear the distinctive air horn sounds from here... no idea where it comes from or where it goes to. Another one follows, about eleven or twelve hours later...whooooonk whoooooooooooooooonk rumble rumble rumble rumble rumble whooooonk whoooooooooooooooonk and it's gone.
Oh that's cool - sounds like it needs further investigating!
@@lmm Sadly, it't been a lot as empty as the hopes of the former hobo occupants, beside yet another cargo rail track, for several years now. The lot's abandoned but the railroad isn't... not much to check out.
That’s brilliant Lawrie. Myself and my sons love walking the old lines around Suffolk. It’s really exciting when you find some overgrown sleepers and buffers in the woodland.
I know that feeling well!
Very interesting episode, it's nice to also get the bigger picture of the railway, not just locomotives and rolling stock.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Really enjoyed this Lawrie!
Super, glad to hear it!
Just to correct you, the Sizewell branch is no longer used for flask transport, as 'A' station is fuel free, 'B' station has no reprocessing need, as none exists (currently) but the line remains 'serviced' ready for transportation of materials for the building of the 'C' station.
Of course, A is decommissioned isn't it.
The line is still active until they use it for c
Been interested in disused railways sine I was a kid, more of this please, great vid 👍
That we can do
Regarding Ipswich, a line used to cross the road near the station then river and ended up as some sidings, unless that's been stripped out
The sidings were lifted years ago.
I know because I did it 😂
I would be great to see some off them back especially on the dock or the preserved station
Wouldn't it just
it is so sad on how much railway has just been lost to time yes do some more of this type of railway video
Isn't it just. We shall do more!
Please do more of these. :)
That we will!
You should go and take a look at the Station House at Campsea Ashe (Wickham Market station). Only one half of a platform remains operational and the house itself was recently restored from the brink and now serves as a thriving local hub. The station used to be far larger with multiple platforms and sidings; worth a trip for anyone with an interest in historical railways.
I did a video there!
@@lmmJust watched your video, nicely done! I was the designer of the Station House refurbishment project.
@@across8339 oh super! Great work done there!
All that remains at Halwill Junction here in devon is an 8 foot bit of platform, a few bridge abutments and some embankments.
the station itself is gone toatlly bar that 8 foot bit of platform in the bushes. Very depressing.
I feel the same way looking at Thorpeness. Such a shame
Lawries marvelous misadventures...?
Oh that's a good one
i hope to see more of this video.
That we can do!
Nice to see Hadleigh station mentioned. I'm a local historian with many photos and information on the line. Its always been a very special part of the area for me.
I'm in the process of doing a video tour of the line which will be available in the coming months.
Very interesting do more please Rutland has all sorts of branch lines would be good to see them covered 😀
Glad you enjoyed it!
Very interesting you should have a look as some of the forgotten railways of North Norfolk
There's loads all over East Anglia!
Would love to see the Ruston 48 on that section at the start. There are a few places like that near me where the rails still remain, and even a short touristy railway hidden in plain sight…
Oh really?
Where's that?
I'd love to take the 48 to the docks again
Interesting! But for a foreigner such as myself not familiar with the local geography, a map showing the location of the line and highlighting your position could be of great help to get a more indept feel for the placement and scope of these railways.
I am lucky having come from the area, but like so many forget not everyone has a idea where we are
Yes indeed
Its the finding of royalties free maps that's the issue.
Super but can I make a little correction - The Hadleigh branch was never to Colchester but Ipswich although most trains only ran to Bentley a staion long since gone. There was however a short spur joining the main line to Ipswich which was removed at a very early date. Sadly if it had been a later date of clousure this line could have enjoyed the same kind of use as the now short Sudbury branch does. Hadleigh has since grown with a very different type of population from back then. However crossing the busy A12 would have been a problem even as it was in late 1960s although there was still one train of just a parcel van (stabled at Bentley ) which ran twice a week until closure. The Driver or fireman when it was steam had to open & close the crossing gates which also included the other two at Bentley Church & Raydon Wood Station.
On the sad Middy (Mid Suffolk Light Railway )although the section to Debenham was never completed there was some unofficial passenger use on this as far as it went. There might just be one or two now very old people from Kenton area who can confirm this. In those days Suffolk people were very "Happy go Lucky " not careing much for what the regulation railway books said.
A lack of foresight?
See far too many of these abandoned railways that could have been, as population changed into today.
Would love to do that tour one day, looks great.
Go for it, Lawrie. I'm watching from the states, and I'm enjoying it.
Glad you enjoyed it!
I have spent many hours of my life tracing old railroad lines on google earth: following the clean, straight breaks in the trees is a fun little activity.
I love this, and I would definitely want to see more!
Hours can be lost following the old lines 😂
This is quite a pleasant surprise as I'm a Suffolk native and I didn't even know about half of these. Very gratifying to see Suffolk getting some love on RUclips finally as it's a glorious county. Also; do you know if that Thorpness Halt line is one of two spurs from the Leiston route? There was another line that ran into the top end of Aldeburgh way back when.
Ah, actually the internet says it's a spur from the Saxmundham line. Wasn't as difficult to find the answer as I thought 🙃
I'm pleased you enjoyed it. Suffolk's quite lovely.
Thorpeness was on the Aldeburgh branch, leaving the East Suffolk line at Saxmundham, heading through Lieston (where it once served Garrett's) on to Thorpeness, and from there to Aldeburgh.
The bramley line was fun to explore
Is it?
I liked it i found toilets they were the only remains of coldam station
I love stuff like this. I explore abandoned railroad lines and structures in my area in NJ. Yes, please more like this.
That we can do
As a suffolk resident I'd like to see more especially if locomotives or track remain.
Several ideas in the pipeline
@@lmm be great to know would love to explore them myself
Fantastic - I've visited some of those places, but didn't know about Thorpeness.
Go up the coast a bit and there is all sorts from the Southwold Railway still about, and in Beccles there are remnants of the Waveney Valley Line & I think the old Yarmouth Line.
There might be some odds and ends on the old Lowestoft to Yarmouth line (where they famously had some of the holiday coaches)
So nice to see Suffolk where I grew up
I'll add them to places to have a look at!
More lost railways please!
That we can do
Yes , please do more.
That we shall!
By far one of the best videos you have produced, both for content and vision. Great work, keep them coming.
Thank you very much!
Spent many a happy hour watching the shunting going on in the docks. A favourite site was the lock swing bridge. Would love an entire episode on the Sudbury to Bury and Sudbury to Haverhill lines.
The swing Bridge still has the railway on it!
I was thinking episodes on them certainly!
Most enjoyable video, excellent....more like this one, thank you very much! 👍🏻👌🏻👏🏻
That we can do!
Excellent video and insight. I agree with others, we deffo need more 👏🏼
That we can do!
Great video!
How about crossing the border and doing a North Essex version? CVR, Brightlingsea branch, Tiptree branch, Braintree to Bishop Stortford?
That's a good idea. It'll need some more research as I'm not as familiar with the area
That’s great please do the okehampton to Tavistock line lots of great bits of that left I think a lot of enthusiasts dream of that being re opened one day here in Devon
Oh really? I'm afraid I don't know anything about that line
@@lmm it was an alternative line between Plymouth and Exeter ran by the southern would have been very useful when the sea wall was breached at Dawlish a few years ago, lots of viaducts and epic moorland views sadly closed like many other lines in the late 60s
I'd love to see more! Love seeing this kind of stuff
That we can do!
Very interesting. More please
That we can do
Come to Abergavenny, wales as there ones was a running train track but doesn't now and the tunnels are there but closed off its along the side of a hill or mounting
Oh really?
Really liked this "off track" expedition. Thanks! :)
You're most welcome
Lawrie: out of interest, how much of the Sudbury old railway line have you walked along? I sometimes go for a stroll through Friars Meadow, and along the route all the way into Long Melford, then turn round and walk back into Sudbury. 🙂 From my home, I can quite hear the trains arriving and departing from the station: I don't know why, but for some reason, I rather like hearing that!
Out of interest, going back many years, did you ever visit Long Melford whilst Fleetwood Caravans was still in business?
Great video! Very interesting to explore abandoned railways and Clare station is definately my favourite part of this video. More videos like this would be excellent
That we can do!
the only line I know of in my area, has only two peices of track still, one has a buffer still, and the bridge built in 1903 If memory serves still has rail, but where it went I have no idea, i believe it was part of the old trolly system we had here
Oh really? That's quite cool
A great idea, I cannot wait for this series of new films. I used to go over the Stour on that Bailey bridge every time I visited my mum and dad in Bulmer. I often wondered what the railway bridge looked like as I could only ever see the side of it. I have passed this on to both of my brothers who live in Suffolk.
Oh super, thanks! It's a nice part of the world isn't it.
@@lmm Yes it is I am currently trying to buy a very old house in Suffolk, it's not easy