The Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway to Poppyland
The Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway to Poppyland

Author: Rob Shorland-Ball

Publisher: Pen and Sword Transport

Published: 2023-04-20

Total Pages: 199

ISBN-13: 1526790106

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M&GNJR was a Midlands to East Anglia railway linking towns and villages like a patchwork knitted together by clever business entrepreneurs. It started in the 1850s when there was intense rivalry between railway companies and two rich and powerful companies – MR and GNR – were behind the project. ‘Joint,’ added by a Special Act of Parliament in 1893, confirms this patchwork was the amalgamation of several small independent railway companies plus the MR and GNR. The company was especially interested in stealing a march on the Great Eastern Railway (GER) which believed it was the principal railway serving East Anglia. Poppyland was the nickname created for the Cromer area of the Norfolk coast by Clement Scott, an influential poet, author and drama critic of The Daily Telegraph who first visited in 1883. He claimed that ‘...clean air laced with perfume of wild flowers was opiate to his tired mind.’ Scott publicized his delight and many rich families, and their servants, visited too; the railway business entrepreneurs saw a growing market for their patchwork. The M&GNJR grew eastwards to Norwich, Great Yarmouth, Lowestoft and attracted passengers from the Midlands and London. The M&GNJR grew – then withered as cars, buses, overseas travel offered new holiday options. Closure came on 28 February 1959 but North Norfolk Railway – the Poppy Line – has survived as a heritage line so the Joint is not forgotten!

Railways of East Anglia
Railways of East Anglia

Author: Oliver Densham

Publisher: The Crowood Press

Published: 2022-05-23

Total Pages: 425

ISBN-13: 0719840341

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The railways of East Anglia have a long and complex history, and this book provides a broad overview of the subject. Beginning with the earliest horse tramroads of Essex and continuing up to the privatized railway of the present day, it includes the tribulations of the early pioneer companies and the ongoing narrative of consolidation and rationalization to which the railways were subjected. Some of the more curious byways of the region's railway history are also covered. With over 140 illustrations, including archive photographs and original drawings by the author, this book includes: the Norfolk and Suffolk Rail-Road Company's fraudulent promotion of 1824; how the East Anglian railway network developed amongst bitter rivalries and uneasy truces, including the florid figure of George Hudson and the surprising history of two separate monorails in Essex. Potted narratives of some of the smaller branch lines and independent concerns are given along with information on the East Anglian railway companies and their roles in both World Wars. Finally, the sometimes-painful processes of nationalization is covered and their effect on the network as we know it today.

Right Away: The Railways of East Anglia
Right Away: The Railways of East Anglia

Author: Douglas Bourn

Publisher: Bridge Publishing

Published: 2020-09-20

Total Pages: 166

ISBN-13: 9781869831332

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Railway histories are always popular and the continued regard for heritage railways around the UK highlights the nostalgia the industry evokes. Inevitably many concentrate on the locomotives, lost stations and lines that crisscrossed the region. What has often been missing have been the stories of the individual railway workers and the conditions under which they worked, despite some valuable autobiographies and memoirs of railwaymen who worked in the area. This volume aims to address this gap, bringing to life stories of railway workers within a context of the changing nature of the industry from the mid-nineteenth century to the present day.Heavily influenced by his personal and family memories, Douglas Bourn draws on available memoirs, alongside other evidence from railway magazines and local and regional newspapers, to provide the reader with an introduction to the fascinating story of railways in the region. The book takes readers on a historical journey starting with the creation of the first railways in East Anglia, via the growth of a network that promoted and served the agricultural, industrial and tourist development of the towns throughout the three eastern counties, and ending with their almost inevitable decline, as transport needs changed in the post Second World War period.

Shadows in the Steam
Shadows in the Steam

Author: David Brandon

Publisher: The History Press

Published: 2010-12-26

Total Pages: 258

ISBN-13: 075246230X

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Ghosts traditionally make their presence felt in many ways, from unexplained footfalls and chills to odours and apparitions. This fascinating volume takes a look at some of the strange and unexplained hauntings across the length and breadth of Britain’s railway network: signals and messages sent from empty boxes; trains that went into tunnels and never left; ghostly passengers and spectral crew; the wires whizzing to signal the arrival of trains on lines that have been closed for years... Based on hundreds of first-person and historical accounts, Shadows in the Steam is a unique collection of mysterious happenings, inexplicable events and spine-chilling tales, all related to the railways. Compiled by David Brandon and Alan Brooke, acknowledged experts on railways and the supernatural, and including sections on the London Underground and railway ghosts in literature and film, this book will delight lovers of railways and spooky stories alike.