County School railway station
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
County School railway station is a railway station in the village of North Elmham in the English county of Norfolk. The station is part of a line being restored by the Mid-Norfolk Railway from East Dereham to County School.
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[edit] History
A railway line was opened as part of the Norfolk Railway's extension from East Dereham to Fakenham in 1849, but County School railway station was not built until 1884 to serve the private school from which it took its name, and following the opening of the Wroxham branch line in 1882. In 1903 the Norfolk County School became the Watts Naval School, the station name, however, remained unchanged.
County School became a classic Great Eastern Railway rural junction station (the letters "G.E.R" are incorporated in the cast iron brackets which support the platform canopy) even though the Wroxham branch left the Wells line a mile north, at Broom Green. The station consisted of up and down platforms and an extra bay for Wroxham services.
The stationmaster's house is unusual, in that the railway did not build it. Instead it was originally the lodge house for the school - and its style reflects the school rather than the station.
County School station was equipped with three platforms, two platform buildings, a signal box and a small coal yard. This yard was essentially there to serve the needs of the large number of fires in the school buildings. The station was also blessed with a large orchard - which has been retained and restored.
During World War Two the station surroundings were used as a fuel dump for the airfield at Foulsham. The site was also briefly used as a tarmac factory for bomber command. One web site suggests that pieces of WW2 tarmac can still be found on site. These are, however, the remains of the original platform surface which was replaced in the late 1980s!
The first significant change occurred in 1952 when the County School to Wroxham line was closed to passenger traffic. Diesel trains made their first appearance in 1956, but it was not until 1964 that the Dereham to Wells line lost its passenger service.
In 1954 the complex track layout and quiet nature of the station since the closure of the branch led to its being used as a main location for the filming of the driver training films for the new diesel multiple units.
Just after closure the station saw a brief flurry of activity when it was used by Anglia Television as a location for "Weaver's Green". This was a twice weekly serial, based around a fictional vets' practice in an East Anglian Village with a post office and shop, church, pub, railway station and racing stable. Two vets, played by Grant Taylor and Eric Flynn, were the central characters, and there were also two young actresses in minor roles gaining experience of working on a soap serial that would stand them in good stead for later in their careers - Wendy Richard, of EastEnders, and Kate O'Mara, who was to join the cast of Dynasty. Soon after this filming took place the island platform buildings and signal box were demolished.
The line remained open for freight, but the track was finally removed by British Rail following the withdrawal of goods traffic from Ryburgh in 1981. The main building survived as a small factory unit making plaster ceiling roses!
By the late 1980s the station was heavily overgrown and derelict. Breckland District Council bought the station in 1987, intending to use it as a visitor centre, but felt that a station without track and trains looked wrong. The Fakenham and Dereham Railway Society were invited to move to the site from their headquarters at Yaxham and restore the railway side of the site.
[edit] Early Preservation and Closure
With the announcement of the closure of the entire branch between Wymondham, Dereham and North Elmham, a new company called the Great Eastern Railway (1989) Limited was formed to save the line. The F&DRS decided to back this scheme, and the lease of the station was signed over to the GER (1989) Ltd. Although far from certain, the future of the line, and County School station, seemed the brightest it had been for many years. During these years, the F&DRS continued to provide financial backing and manpower for the development of the site. The running line was extended over half a mile towards North Elmham, and a collection of rolling stock was built up.
Sadly, not all things go to plan. The GER(1989) announced plans to lift the railway between Dereham and Wymondham. The Fakenham and Dereham Railway Society withdrew their support for the GER and made their own bid for the line. The F&DRS bid was accepted and the Society became the Mid-Norfolk Railway Preservation Trust, based at Dereham. The GER soon ceased trading and County School was, once again, abandoned to nature.
[edit] Present Day
In 1998 the MNRPT signed a Tenancy at Will with Breckland District Council to take over the station and trackbed at County School. The track north of the platforms had, again, been lifted. The remainder was overgrown. The station was boarded up, with smashed glass, a stripped interior and broken windows. The MNR quickly returned the station to use, but as a visitor centre - not an operational railway...yet! Over the next year, the MNR spent £28,000 restoring the station to wartime LNER condition.
Recognising the financial and manpower investment that the MNRPT had but into the site over the years, Breckland District Council offered to sell the station and trackbed to the Railway for the nominal sum of £1. This offer was accepted, and County School is now a secure part of the 17 mile long branch line. In 2007 a start was made on restoring the station's signal box, using some modern components and the cabin from the former Halesworth signal box.
The station forms an important key in the future plans of the Mid-Norfolk Railway, and will serve as the northern terminus of the line while the difficult task of restoring the line to Fakenham is considered.
At present no trains operate at the station. All the staff are volunteers.
[edit] See also
[edit] County School to Wroxham Line
[edit] References
| Preceding station |  Heritage railways |
Following station
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| (Terminus) | Mid-Norfolk Railway |
(North Elmham) | ||
| Preceding station | Disused railways | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foulsham | British Rail Eastern Region County School to Wroxham |
Terminus | ||
| Ryburgh | British Rail Eastern Region Wells to Wymondham, via East Dereham |
North Elmham | ||
| Preceding station | National Rail | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryburgh | Norfolk Orbital Railway Proposed |
North Elmham | ||
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