KING’S LYNN TO DEREHAM RAILWAY

The Lynn Dereham Railway

The Lynn and Dereham railway ran from the West to the East through the rural heart of Norfolk, connecting the towns of King's Lynn, Swaffham, and Dereham, as well as smaller villages such as East Winch, Pentney, Narborough, Fransham, and Wendling. Some services continued towards Norwich, reversing at Dereham, using the Wymondham, Fakenham, Wells line, and proceeding to Norwich Thorpe station.

Initially, there were plans to extend the Lynn & Dereham railway from King's Lynn to Great Yarmouth. However, this never materialised. Parliament announced that the Norfolk railway company would construct a railway from Dereham to Wymondham and onwards to Norwich, thereby removing the requirement for the extension to Yarmouth.

By 1862, the Lynn & Dereham railway company and the Wymondham railway line companies had both been acquired by the newly established Great Eastern Railway. With control of both lines, the Great Eastern Railway was able to extend services from Dereham to Norwich during peak times and offer an alternative freight route, helping to reduce congestion on the busy Norwich-to-Ely line.

At Swaffham, a junction facilitated services branching off onto the Bury and Thetford (Swaffham Branch) line, at 18¼ miles long.

calling at
Holme Hale
Watton
Stow Bedon
Wretham and Hockham
Roudham Junction railway station

Work starts.

Work started from King's Lynn to Narborough, roughly 9 miles away, supervised by civil engineer John Sutherland Valentine, who was already constructing the Lynn Ely railway and would later build the King's Lynn to Hunstanton railway.
The Dereham branch was expected to be a simpler railway than the Lynn Ely railway, with the land between here and Swaffham being level and with few river crossings compared to the Lynn Ely line. Both lines were built simultaneously, with a yard holding the sleeper's rails and ballast said to have been made at King's Lynn.
The first section of the Lynn Dereham railway was opened from King's Lynn to Narborough in October 1846, with part of the Lynn-Ely railway opened as far as Downham Market at the same time.
By June 1847, the line was expected to be extended as far as Swaffham, since it had already been completed one mile beyond Narborough when it opened.

The line between Narborough and Swaffham was more challenging to build than expected, with Cuttings 40 feet deep and considerable levelling at Swaffham, but on the 10th of August 1847, the line opened as far as Swaffham with a temporary railhead at Sporle in 1847

On 25th October 1847, the Lynn Ely railway was completed, linking Kings Lynn at Ely junction to Cambridge and London.

In 1848, the Line from King's Lynn reached its destination
Dereham
1862 -1923
The Great Eastern Railway Company took over the line, including the Hunstanton Branch, which started from King's Lynn.

In 1866, there were said to be only four trains in each direction.
In 1911, there were said to have been seven up-and-down services.

Down services

King’s Lynn-Dep AM  8.06, 8.51, PM 12.30, 3.11, 4.53, 5.43, 8.18
Dereham-Arr AM 8.55, 9.52, PM 1.33, 4.07, 5.46, 6.40, 9.13

Up services

Dereham-Dep AM 7.08, 9.03, 10.14, 11.30, PM 1.52, 4.21, 4.41, 7.47
King's Lynn-Arr AM 8.03, 9.52, 11.15, 12.30, 2.48, 5.17, 5.30, 8.45

1923-1947

The London & North Eastern Railway took over the running of the line.
With the end of the war, a new Labour government pledging to nationalise the railway network, took over the four leading companies, LNER, LMS, GWR, and SR, which all became

British Railways.

British Railways continued to use the identical steam locomotives as LNER until 1955
Before diesel, most services were hauled by D16S and Freight by J17S units in the steam days.
During the steam days, there were 5 to 6 services a day.
With services taking 65-70 minutes.
 In 1955, diesel units took over from steam units. These diesel units were to be based at Dereham, and one stabled overnight at King's Lynn for the first-morning service. Comprising two-car Derby Units and Metro Cammell units, later to be class 101s
These units also served the Wells-to-Wymondham line and the Swaffham-to-Thetford route.
In June 1956, British Railways changed the timetable to make use of the new diesel units.
Diesel units increased services to 12 daily and reduced journey times to between 50 and 60 minutes along the 26 1/2-mile trip between King's Lynn and Dereham.
One train ran from King's Lynn to Norwich, and two ran from Norwich Thorpe to King's Lynn.
These services averaged 1-1/2 hours apart from the morning service that missed several stops after Dereham and reached Norwich in 85 minutes.
This service left King's Lynn at 9.03 am.
Ten daily Diesel services also served the Dereham-to-Wells route.
The first-morning diesel service left King's Lynn at 6.48 and Dereham at
6.47 and passed at the passing loop at Swaffham.
On Sundays, though there were no King's Lynn to Dereham services even in the summer months, Dereham to Wells had a railway service through.
Sadly, though, in the 1950s, the Government seemed to see the railway network as a drain on the state's resources and injected more and more government funds into the road network than the cash-starved railway network.
Other lines, like the West Norfolk branch between Heacham and Wells, closed in 1952. Also, the M&GN network closed in 1959, giving the King's Lynn Norwich line all the Holiday traffic to Norwich and onto Great Yarmouth, boosting the Lynn Dereham line. Sadly, railway closures were common at this time.

This line was thought to have been under the British railway's knife.

Not just yet.

In March 1963, the Government brought in Dr Richard Beeching to look at the railway network, and he produced the report on the reshaping of British Railways.
The report recommended the closure of 5000 miles of track and also 2,363 stations on the railway network.
Two of the first victims were the Dereham to Wells branch and the Swaffham to Thetford branch, which closed in 1964.
Freight services between Wells and Fakenham East stayed open for a short while. Although they were to be closed soon after passenger services stopped, leaving the part between Dereham and Wymondham junction for Norwich services open for passengers and the short part between Fakenham and Dereham open for freight use.
After the closures, the King's Lynn to Dereham line had its timetable revised.
In 1964, a new, less anti-railway government was elected, and it was thought that this government would be less harsh on the now nationalised railway network.
In 1967, Transport Manager Barbara Castle presented a new plan for the railway network called the 
Basic Railway.
The King's Lynn to Hunstanton railway was to have the same fate.
In 1966, all stations between King's Lynn, Dereham, and Wymondham became unstaffed.
Freight use remained between Middleton Towers and King's Lynn for sand traffic only.

Once passengers started using the more regular and cheaper bus and road services, the railways could not tempt them back, and the railways grew quieter and quieter.
Stations began to lose passing loops, sidings, and connections by 1968, leaving Wendling, Dunham, and Narborough all single-platform stations. Most of the signal boxes were taken out of use, and the sidings lifted. Some signals were removed; platforms fell victim to vandalism, became covered in weeds, and old buildings were damaged.
British Railways removed a few buildings along the line to deter vandals.
Swaffham and East Winch were the only stations to keep their passing loops and signal boxes. 
Even after these cutbacks, the line was not classed as a basic railway, as there were still signal boxes and passing loops, though this was far from the railway's former state.
In the late 1960s, British Railways announced that the line between King's Lynn and Dereham was unprofitable and would close on the 9th of September 1968.
This was a Monday, and with no Sunday services, the last train ran on Saturday, the 7th of September, after

120 years of service

The last train ran with an M&GN Railway Society special and an East Anglian special.
In September 1968, the line from King's Lynn to Wisbech and March via a junction at Magdalen Road also closed in the same month as the King's Lynn Dereham line.
In 1969, passenger services between Dereham and Wymondham stopped.
Freight services were carried on for many years from Wymondham Junction to Fakenham East.
The Hunstanton line was also closed the following year in May 1969
A Bank holiday weekend.
Most of the railway between Middleton Towers and Dereham was removed; some of the station buildings remained.
At Swaffham, the track bed has been blocked off by new building developments.  
Between Wendling and Dereham, the track bed has been completely removed and replaced by the A47, which partly follows the railway's former route.
Wendling station was also demolished during the construction of the A47 bypass; all that remains is a residential road with the name. 
Station road 
The only remaining memory of a railway was once present in this village.
King's Lynn station is still in daily use for Ely, Cambridge, and London services, and the station at Dereham is still in use as a heritage railway.

The section between King’s Lynn and Middleton Towers remains open as a freight line for silica sand trains from Sibelco, UK, to various places, mainly in the northern parts of the UK.
For use in the glass industry.

The King's Lynn to Dereham line ran before closure.
Calling at
Middleton Towers 
 East winch 
 Bilney | closed in 1866
 Narborough and Pentney
Swaffham
 Sporle | closed 1850
 Dunham 
 Fransham 
 Wendling
 Scarning | closed 1850
 East Dereham

East Dereham station is still in use as a private Heritage line.
The Mid Norfolk Railway

Time Line

1845

 The Lynn & Dereham railway company gained the power to build a railway between King's Lynn and Dereham on the 21st of July.

Norfolk railway company gained the power to construct a railway between Dereham and Wymondham on the 31st of July.

1846

The Lynn Dereham railway line between King's Lynn and Narborough opened.

26th October

1847

The Norfolk railway branch between Wymondham and Dereham opened. 

15th February 

The Lynn to Dereham line opened between Narborough and Swaffham.

10th August

The Lynn to Dereham line opened to Sporle on the 26th of October

1848

The Lynn-to-Dereham line reached Dereham. 

11th September

1862

The Great Eastern company was created.

7th August

1871

The new station opened at King's Lynn.

1943 

New sidings at Dereham were made for the Air Ministry.

1948

British Railways were nationalised.

1st January

1955

Introduction of the diesel dmu fleet.

Dereham steam sheds closed.

1959

King's Lynn steam sheds closed. 

1963

Beeching report released

1965

The Wymondham to Dereham line was reduced to a single line.

1966

Stations between King's Lynn and Wymondham were made unstaffed.

August

1968

The Lynn to Dereham line closed.

7th September

1969 

Passenger services stopped between Wymondham and Dereham.

1978

Closure of the narrow gauge railway at Middleton Towers.

1980 

A government grant was offered to British Sand to improve sand-loading facilities at Middleton Towers for freight use, which are still in use.

2020

Improvements at King's Lynn junction on the old Dereham line upgraded for new stabling points, added for 8 Car units for use on the King's Lynn to Cambridge line.

Length of the Line.

King's Lynn to Dereham 26 Miles 43 Chains

Dereham to Wymondham 11 Miles 33 Chains

Wymondham to Norwich Thorpe 10 Miles 18 Chains

King's Lynn to Norwich Thorpe 48 Miles 14 Chains