How Norfolk’s railway stations used to look

Beach Station at Cromer which closed in 1966. Photo: EDP Library

1) An atmospheric shot of Cromer's historic Beach Station shows a steam train standing on the platform as passengers arrive and leave, sometime in the mid to late 1950s. Cromer's High station closed in 1954 and more trains then used the Beach Station – until the station buildings were closed and put up for sale in 1966. The Beach Station had contributed greatly to Cromer's popularity during its Victorian heyday.

The Halesworth terminus of the Southwold Light Railway showing the waiting room and derelict carriages in the late 1950s. Photo: EDP Library

2) The Halesworth terminus of the Southwold Light Railway showing the waiting room and derelict carriages. The picture may have been taken in the late 1950s when the company which operated the line (which had closed in 1929) was finally wound up.

Thetford station in 1961. Photo: EDP Library (Image: Archant)

3) Passengers board a train at Oulton Broad South station on the Ipswich-Lowestoft line in late March 1963. In summer the station was used by holidaymakers joining their craft at Oulton Broad. In the Beeching cuts announced that month the station was threatened with closure but it remained open.

Mundesley station in 1963 before closure. Photo: EDP Library (Image: Archant)

4) Wet sleepers and gleaming railway lines reflect the last light of day at Thetford station in late October 1961. A solitary lamp glows as a ball centred in the dusk.

Oulton Broad South station in 1963. Photo: EDP Library (Image: Archant)

5) Mundesley station was a victim of the Beeching cuts in early 1963 with the closure of the Cromer line spur from North Walsham. Although townspeople were disappointed they were not surprised at the closure as Mundesley had already lost its line to Cromer 10 years previously.

Mildenhall Station in 1973. Photo: EDP Library (Image: Archant)

6) Eight years after Mildenhall station was sold by British Rail in 1965, the well-preserved Victorian building was set to come back to life as the HQ of the Park Stanton group of property development and plant hire companies. In the refurbished building the receptionist dealt with enquiries from behind the original ticket window, the waiting room was now an elegant board room and the station master's house was the home of the group's owner, Bill Prince.

Melton Constable station in 1969. Photo: EDP Library (Image: Archant)

7) A makeover for the railway station at Melton Constable, scaled down as part of the M&GN closure of 1959, was part of a grand plan to revitalise the village in September 1969, particularly the area of Melton Street, deemed 'the ugliest street in Norfolk'.

Railway Stations. Pictured: Len Aldridge Downham Market railway station award. Date: mar 2 1981 (Image: Archant)

8) Senior Railwayman Len Aldridge is seen keeping things spick and span at Downham Market railway station in March 1981. His efforts helped the station to gain a certificate of merit from British Rail, when it was awarded equal second prize with Saxmundham.

A busy scene at North Norfolk Railway Station at Sheringham as passengers board the 10.45 a.m. steam train to Weybourne. Dated: July 7th, 1982. Photo: EDP Library

9) A busy scene shown here at Sheringham's North Norfolk Railway station as passengers prepare to board the 10.45 am steam train to Weybourne in July 1982.

Yaxham railway in 1984. Photo: EDP Library (Image: Archant)

10) Colin Newman drives one of the narrow-gauge diesel engines at Yaxham Light Railway's second open day in August 1984. Among the early enthusiasts was John Hull who helped to set up the two-foot tracks for the railway either side of the goods-only BR line at Yaxham old station.