Bungay railway station

On 3 July 1851, the Waveney Valley Railway (WVR) was formed, with powers to build a railway line from Tivetshall on the Eastern Union Railway (EUR) to Bungay; an extension to Beccles was authorised on 4 August 1853. The line was opened in stages: the first section, between Tivetshall and Harleston was opened on 1 December 1855; and the line reached Bungay on 2 November 1860. The final part of the line opened on 2 March 1863 when the line to Beccles opened and Bungay became a through station. From opening, the WVR was worked by the Eastern Counties Railway (ECR), which had absorbed the EUR in 1854; but following a dispute, the WVR worked its own trains. The WVR was absorbed by the Great Eastern Railway (GER) in July 1863 - the GER had been formed in 1862 when the ECR amalgamated with several other railways.[2][3][4]

On 9 March 1863 the 4:50pm Bungay-Beccles train was derailed dragging its carriages for about 70 yards before running off the embankment.[5]

In August 1912 the line was temporarily closed between Bungay and Harleston as the River Waveney had flooded. The GER provided a number of its own buses to provide a replacement passenger service in the interim.[6]

On 1 January 1923, the GER amalgamated with several other railways to form the London & North Eastern Railway following the 1923 grouping.

During World War 2 the station probably saw its busiest period of operation due to the proximity of a number of airbases.

In 1948 following nationalisation of the railways the station became part of the Eastern Region of British Railways. In 1952 the line was badly affected by a number of gales in the area. A steam crane was bought in from Ipswich to assist with clearing the line.[7]

Passenger services were withdrawn in 1953 although a number of enthusiast specials traversed the line up until 1960.[8]

As it opened in stages the line closed in stages. The Bungay - Harleston section closed in late 1960 but freight between Bungay and Beccles lingered on until August 1964.[9]

The branch was mostly single track and Bungay was one of the locations where trains could cross. It had two platforms, one serving eastbound and the other westbound trains. A signal box was located at the east end of the station opposite the goods yard. A new signal box was provided by the GER in 1891.[10]

The original station buildings were timber and lasted until the 1930s when an improved brick structure was provided by the London & North Eastern Railway. Pictures from 1922 showed that the buildings were looking dilapidated [11] and this was an issue raised by the town reeve who suggested some of the buildings may have been the original contractors huts.[12]

The station had an adjoining goods yard with (eventually) four sidings, a goods shed, a 30 cwt crane and end loading dock. Inward traffic consisted of house coal, household goods and construction materials whilst outwards the traffic was largely agricultural. [4]

The line was a rural line passing through sparsely populated areas. As a result, the train service was never particularly frequent.

At opening there were four trains each way on a weekday with an additional service on Saturdays.

Between 1910 and 1915 there were seven trains per day but the advent of World War 1 saw these cut back to six by 1917. Four of these worked through from Norwich, the other two from Tivetshall (the main line junction).[9]

The line was lightly built and as a result lighter engines were employed on trains.

Early services were in the hands of a 2-2-2T locomotive called Perseverance.[13]

Photographic evidence shows the following classes of engine worked through Bungay station.[9]

• GER Class Y14 - later LNER classification J15. 0-6-0 tender locomotive built by the GER
• GER Class T26 - later LNER classification E4. 2-4-0 tender locomotive built by the GER
• GER Class M15 - later LNER classification F4 2-4-2 tank engine built by the GER

• Bungay station on navigable 1946 O. S. map