KING’S LYNN DOCKS BRANCH

Welcome to my page about the long-lost Docks railway, the second railway line in King’s Lynn to serve the River Ouse.

In 1865, the King’s Lynn Dock Company was established, and by 1869, construction of the Alexandra Dock was complete. By June 1870, the docks railway branch was open, helping the new dock quickly become popular, with over 500 ships using it annually by 1876.

By 1883, the railway was extended with the opening of the second dock at King’s Lynn, the Bentinck Dock, which spans 800 meters in length. During the 1960s, Dow Chemicals established a presence in King's Lynn, and an extension to the existing rail line was constructed to serve the new Dow Chemicals facility.

Trains entering the Docks branch left the main line at King’s Lynn Junction and headed north towards the River Ouse, passing an extensive goods yard and engine shed. The route then passed a minor freight siding serving Dodman’s Iron Works. It shortly passed beneath Dodmans Bridge and veered west, reaching the site of the current Austin Fields industrial estate. Finally, it crossed what was then called Pilot Street, now John Kennedy Road, and entered Alexandra Docks.

Whilst to the south of King's Lynn, at Harbour Junction, there was once a junction with two lines spurring off the main Lynn to Ely line. One led to the River Ouse via the harbour branch (1849-1968), and another could have linked the Docks branch to South Lynn and the M&GN network, including South Lynn's vast freight yard. South Lynn closed in 1959, and Harbour Junction was kept open for freight services to the sugar beet factory, which closed in the mid-1990s. A small freight siding serving the Campbell's Soup factory was also close to Harbour Junction.

Road traffic was increasingly used for freight, and the A1078 bypass was constructed after the closure of the Hunstanton branch to divert more road traffic from the port. With tonnage slowing at the railway, the last trains ran in May 1993, except for a few instances of clearance stock.

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At one time, the Dock line was also intended to be part of an incomplete railway that would connect a new station at Austin Street in King's Lynn to the M&GN via a triangular junction off the Hunstanton line near Salters Road. This railway would run for half a mile before briefly using the dock railway, then diverge southwest towards an unfinished station at Austin Street. However, this line never saw any traffic and remained unused for some time. By 1906, the line had been repurposed into allotments.

Today, a small portion of the Docks Branch is still in use as far as Dodmans Bridge, serving as a turnaround point for freight services serving Middleton Towers from the old Dereham Branch.

The old goods yard at King’s Lynn has been redeveloped into commercial units and a supermarket.

The old bridge that crossed the Gaywood River still stands and is easily visible.

Small parts of the track at one point from a siding were once visible on my first visit, but have now been covered over by tarmac.

The gates at the now-called John Kennedy Road, formerly Pilot Street, still exist and are primarily covered in Ivy on the dock side, just visible but not in brilliant condition.

Regrettably, as of June 14th, 2023, the gate on the opposite side of the Docks has been replaced with a steel fence by Network Rail.

There are some remnants of the railway track at both the Docks and Dow Chemicals locations. Additionally, a river-crossing bridge previously used for trains is now utilised as a swing bridge for road traffic.

The line to this day remains obstructed by any form of construction.