Yaxham railway station

Yaxham
Yaxham station, 2008
Location
Place	Yaxham
Area	Breckland, Norfolk
Operations
Managed by	Norfolk Railway Great Eastern Railway
Owned by	London & North Eastern Railway Eastern Region of British Railways Great Eastern Railway (1989) Ltd. Mid-Norfolk Railway
Platforms	1
History
15 February 1847	Opened
13 July 1964	Closed to freight
6 October 1969	Closed to passengers
1994	Reopened as part of MNR
Stations on heritage railways in the United Kingdom
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Yaxham is a railway station in the village of Yaxham in the English county of Norfolk. The station is served by heritage services operated by the Mid-Norfolk Railway and is the site of the Yaxham Light Railway.

The station is the only one on the line that retains a majority of its original features, the signalbox (not owned by the MNR) still stands and the platform shelters on the up platform are still in situ, although those on the down platform used by the present service have been demolished. The original stationmaster's house survives as a private residence, as does the original railway hotel on the opposite side of the road to the station.

History

The Yaxham Light Railway

The station’s survival is mostly due to the late Mr D.C. Potter who took over the tenancy of the buildings, thereby saving them from demolition. Mr Potter opened the site's first narrow gauge line in the former goods yard in 1967. This was constructed for his Hunslet 0-4-0ST, "Cackler", and the disused tracks of this line can still be seen from passing trains on the Mid-Norfolk Railway.

In 1969 the loco was moved across the standard gauge line to the Yaxham Park Light Railway (YPLR), which ran for over ½ a mile in meadows beyond the station, eventually being replaced by today's Yaxham Light Railway.

Facilities

Yaxham station, 2009

Yaxham was a two-platform station. The main building, which included the Stationmaster's house was built by the Norfolk Railway. The Great Eastern Railway later added glass-fronted waiting rooms to the platforms.

The station was equipped with two goods yards, both on the down side of the formation. The main yard was to the south of the level crossing, equipped with a goods shed, coal wharf, cattle pen and end-loading dock A smaller set of private sidings to the north of the level crossing served a granary.

Only the down platform remains in railway use, with its waiting room having been demolished. The brick-built goods shed survives, now isolated from the railway, being used by a company restoring steam locomotives and traction engines. The up line waiting room is used by an upholsterer.

Signal box

Location	Original location	Built by	Notes	Photograph
Yaxham	-	Great Eastern Railway	The station was originally provided with a signal box to the north of the station. The signal box survives in private ownership, although missing its 26 lever McKenzie & Holland lever frame and is the only original signal box remaining on the route.. The 'box is currently used by the Mid-Norfolk Railway as a crossing cabin.

Rolling stock

Standard gauge steam

• 2525 Cockerill 0-4-0WT Tram Engine, built 1907, stored out of use

Narrow gauge steam locomotives

• YLR No.1 – “Coffee Pot” – vertical boilered locomotive built at Yaxham
• YLR No. 16 – “Elin” – Hunslet “Small Quarry” Class 0-4-0 Saddle tank built 1899
• YLR No. 20 – “Kidbrooke” – W G Bagnall Ltd 0-4-0 built 1917

Narrow gauge diesel locomotives

• YLR No. 2 – “Rusty” – Lister “Rail-Truck” built 1948
• YLR No. 3 – “Pest” – Lister “Rail-Truck” built 1954
• YLR No. 4 – “Goofy” – Orenstein & Koppel with a Single Cylinder Crude Oil Engine
• YLR No. 6 – “Colonel” – Ruston & Hornsby built 1940
• YLR No. 7 – Ruston & Hornsby 16hp class, built 1934
• YLR No. 10 – “Ousel” – Motor Rail Ltd ‘20/28hp’ plate frame type, built 1937
• YLR No. 13 – Motor Rail Ltd ‘20/28hp’ plate frame type, built 1940
• YLR No. 14 – “Coldmeece” – Ruston & Hornsby class ‘20DL’, built 1943
• YLR No. 18 – “Planet” – F.C. Hibberd & Co Ltd type 39, built 1962
• YLR No. 19 – “Penlee” – Hudson Hunslet 25hp, built 1942

Standard gauge goods wagons

• GWR 126977 MOGO Cars Wagon, grounded body and former narrow gauge locomotive shed.

References

Bibliography

• Jenkins, S. (1993). The Lynn and Dereham Railway. Middleton Press. 

External links

• Map sources for Yaxham railway station

Preceding station	Heritage railways			Following station
Dereham		Mid-Norfolk Railway		Thuxton
	Historical railways
Dereham Line and station open		British Rail Eastern Region Wymondham to Wells via East Dereham		Thuxton Line and station open
	Future services
Dereham Line and station open		Norfolk Orbital Railway Mid-Norfolk Railway		Thuxton Line and station open