Southwold Railway

Southwold Railway
Locale	England
Dates of operation	1879–1929
Successor	abandoned
Track gauge	3 ft  (914 mm)
Length	8+1⁄2 miles (13.7 km)
Headquarters	Southwold

The Southwold Railway was a narrow gauge railway line between Halesworth and Southwold in the English county of Suffolk. 8+³⁄₄ miles (14.1 km) long, it was built to 3 ft  (914 mm) gauge. It opened in 1879 and closed in 1929.

Intermediate stations were at Wenhaston, Blythburgh and Walberswick.

Route

Southwold Railway
Legend (East Suffolk Line) Halesworth Wenhaston Blythburgh Walberswick Harbour branch Southwold

The route closely followed the River Blyth, with Halesworth and Southwold both on the north side, but the longest section including the intermediate stations on the south side. Although the line closed in 1929, its track was still marked and identified on a 1933 Ordnance Survey map, a navigable version of which is accessible in the external links section. The line was lifted & the equipment was scrapped in 1941 to help with war efforts. Some track can still be found on the harbour branch and a surviving van is at the East Anglian transport museum (Carlton Colville). There is also a surviving (but derelict) coal shed at Blythburgh.

Parts of the route from Southwold to Blythburgh are walkable in particularly through woodland known as the Heronry on the south shore of the Blyth estuary. The original footbridge at Southwold was blown up during the war but its pillars now support a footbridge.

Proposed re-establishment of the line

The Southwold Railway Society, formed in 1994, continues to investigate the possibility of re-instating all or part of the line. An initial proposal to reopen the line along the original route was abandoned after a public consultation process. A planning application for a new line, that followed the original route from Halesworth to Blythburgh and then ran north of the River Blyth to Southwold, was rejected by Suffolk Coastal and Waveney District Councils in 2007. Subsequently the society considered a smaller restoration project.

The latest plan is to create Southwold Railway Steam Park at Wenhaston station, featuring a track loop with an engine shed and café, the planning application for which was approved in February 2009.

Locomotives

Number	Name	Builder	Type	Works Number	Built	Notes
(1)	Southwold	Sharp Stewart	2-4-0 T	2848	1879	Returned to makers, 1883
1	Southwold	Sharp Stewart	2-4-2 T	3913	1893	Scrapped, 1941
2	Halesworth	Sharp Stewart	2-4-0 T	2849	1879	Scrapped, 1941
3	Blyth	Sharp Stewart	2-4-0 T	2850	1879	Scrapped, 1941. A replica is being produced by the SR society[citation needed]
4	Wenhaston	Manning Wardle	0-6-2 T	1845	1914	Scrapped, 1941

Gallery

Track bed and another rail   More rails can be seen sinking in the mud   Site of old bridge. Rails can be seen sinking in the mud

See also

• British narrow gauge railways

References

• Kidner, R.W. (1947). English Narrow Gauge Railways (3rd edition ed.). The Oakwood Press. ISBN 0-85361-037-1. 
• Mitchell, V. and Smith, K. (1984). Branch Line to Southwold. Middleton Press. ISBN 0-90652-015-0. 

External links

• Southwold Railway Society
• A Short History of the Southwold Railway
• Route of Southwold Railway (centred on Blythburgh) on navigable 1933 O. S. map
• Soutwold Railway Map