I'm a local boy so nothing here was new to me! All I can add was that I remember talking to an old engine driver about how before the loop was put in, they used to spend at least half a day driving their big old WD 2-10-0's from Norwich Thorp to Norwich City. They thought it was a gods send when the loop was put in! Of course by that point they were driving mostly diesels
That was a fascinating bit of railway history. I do like reading and listening to items like this. The largely abandoned line on the isle of Anglesea amazes me as most of the track is still in place and it would make a great preserved railway.
Cycled most of Marriotts Way in September. A lovely route but alas most of the scenery is now obscured by the trees that have almost taken over the old railway. Great spots to watch Badgers in the evening light though as there are several very large sets along the route. Excellent cafes at both Whitwell and Reepham stations and another halfway between! There's also a superb cafe and deli in the centre of Cawston which is less than half a mile from the site of the old station there with Cawston signal box preserved as a garden shed just behind it. Great for a days cycling at a leisurely pace with frequent stops for sustenance! With Norwich at one end and Aylsham at the other it's ideal for a day or two out.
These stations are architectural gems that looked gorgeous in their own little way!! It’s similar to Mundesley and Cromer!! The only difference is that both are still in use.
You want to talk about ridiculous track layouts...I know of one instance like this in US Narrow Gauge. The Denver, South Park and Pacific Ry and the Denver and Rio Grande both were within such a close distance at a place called Climax, Colorado (on the line from Breckenridge to Leadville, CO on the DSP&P, and the Leadville-Silverthorne branch for the D&RG), that it was possible to reach out from a train on one line and touch on the other....but the two had done such a good job of pissing each other off that neither interchanged there. a passenger wanting to go to Breckenridge (which was something of a major town back in those days) coming from Silverthorne, had to go all the way down to Either Leadville or Buena Vista...the latter 37 miles distant as the crow flies, but by rail nearly 50 miles distant...then swap trains and turn back. And when I say "they'd pissed each other off," I mean the DSP&P and D&RG were so at each other's throats that as the South Park track layers reached Leadville, they found a cold D&RG engine parked parked perfectly on D&RG track, where they'd have to cross. Oh, and any attempt to move the D&RG engine would have lead to a court case at best.
Used to be worse at Evesham..... .......two stations faced each other across a forecourt.......but by train Evesham-Ashchurch-Worcester-Evesham. Oh.....and the GE/M&GN curve was put in more to transport heavy concrete structures from Lenwade rather than to serve Norwch City...
Nice video, although it's not quite the most absurd double line, double station case I've heard of. There's the two stations in Canterbury, Canterbury East on the Chatham Mainline and Canterbury West on the Ashford-Ramsgate Line. They're both two track lines in relatively frequent use and literally cross over each other, but have no connection even though historically there were two more railways, one of which had to have crossed both lines. Even the station names are misnomers, both stations are within a couple feet of each other in terms of an east-west line, just half a mile separated north-south.
Absolutely logical layout of tracks. On second thought: was it really? Maybe there would have been an easier solution. But that would have been boring (and not worthwhile making a video about it).
Hi Lawrie - can I suggest a follow up video? There's quite a network of old trackbeds at the Pensthorpe nature reserve at Fakenham - now miles from the rail network. Perhaps one on East Anglia's lost major railway junction?
It wasn't a junction as such, it was that the M&GN line crossed the GE line, much like here. Fakenham had 2 stations serving both networks much like many of the other major population centres in North Norfolk
I'm a local boy so nothing here was new to me! All I can add was that I remember talking to an old engine driver about how before the loop was put in, they used to spend at least half a day driving their big old WD 2-10-0's from Norwich Thorp to Norwich City. They thought it was a gods send when the loop was put in! Of course by that point they were driving mostly diesels
That was a fascinating bit of railway history. I do like reading and listening to items like this. The largely abandoned line on the isle of Anglesea amazes me as most of the track is still in place and it would make a great preserved railway.
YES, way to start my Sunday...Thanks You so much..
Cycled most of Marriotts Way in September. A lovely route but alas most of the scenery is now obscured by the trees that have almost taken over the old railway. Great spots to watch Badgers in the evening light though as there are several very large sets along the route. Excellent cafes at both Whitwell and Reepham stations and another halfway between! There's also a superb cafe and deli in the centre of Cawston which is less than half a mile from the site of the old station there with Cawston signal box preserved as a garden shed just behind it. Great for a days cycling at a leisurely pace with frequent stops for sustenance! With Norwich at one end and Aylsham at the other it's ideal for a day or two out.
These stations are architectural gems that looked gorgeous in their own little way!! It’s similar to Mundesley and Cromer!! The only difference is that both are still in use.
Two stations unnaturally close together, connected through an industrial radius tight curve detour… Sounds like the average HO or OO scale layout…? 😊
You want to talk about ridiculous track layouts...I know of one instance like this in US Narrow Gauge. The Denver, South Park and Pacific Ry and the Denver and Rio Grande both were within such a close distance at a place called Climax, Colorado (on the line from Breckenridge to Leadville, CO on the DSP&P, and the Leadville-Silverthorne branch for the D&RG), that it was possible to reach out from a train on one line and touch on the other....but the two had done such a good job of pissing each other off that neither interchanged there. a passenger wanting to go to Breckenridge (which was something of a major town back in those days) coming from Silverthorne, had to go all the way down to Either Leadville or Buena Vista...the latter 37 miles distant as the crow flies, but by rail nearly 50 miles distant...then swap trains and turn back.
And when I say "they'd pissed each other off," I mean the DSP&P and D&RG were so at each other's throats that as the South Park track layers reached Leadville, they found a cold D&RG engine parked parked perfectly on D&RG track, where they'd have to cross. Oh, and any attempt to move the D&RG engine would have lead to a court case at best.
Used to be worse at Evesham.....
.......two stations faced each other across a forecourt.......but by train Evesham-Ashchurch-Worcester-Evesham.
Oh.....and the GE/M&GN curve was put in more to transport heavy concrete structures from Lenwade rather than to serve Norwch City...
I love this rpund about little tale. But for some reason going six miles to go 1.5 miles sounds so much like a business decision!!
great vid
A map would have helped
Have you thought about raising money for the whitwell and reepham railway to extend the line towards Norwich or Melton constable?
Never going to happen
Nice video, although it's not quite the most absurd double line, double station case I've heard of. There's the two stations in Canterbury, Canterbury East on the Chatham Mainline and Canterbury West on the Ashford-Ramsgate Line. They're both two track lines in relatively frequent use and literally cross over each other, but have no connection even though historically there were two more railways, one of which had to have crossed both lines. Even the station names are misnomers, both stations are within a couple feet of each other in terms of an east-west line, just half a mile separated north-south.
Absolutely logical layout of tracks. On second thought: was it really? Maybe there would have been an easier solution. But that would have been boring (and not worthwhile making a video about it).
Hi Lawrie - can I suggest a follow up video? There's quite a network of old trackbeds at the Pensthorpe nature reserve at Fakenham - now miles from the rail network. Perhaps one on East Anglia's lost major railway junction?
It wasn't a junction as such, it was that the M&GN line crossed the GE line, much like here. Fakenham had 2 stations serving both networks much like many of the other major population centres in North Norfolk
hello from Malta :)
first comment!