The Mid-Norfolk Railway or MNR is a heritage railway in the English county of Norfolk. Re-opening as a tourist line in the mid-1990s, it is often referred to as a "New Generation" heritage railway, especially since the start of preservation in 1974.
The 11.5-mile (18.5 km) line runs through the centre of Norfolk between the market towns of Wymondham and Dereham via Yaxham, Thuxton and Kimberley Park, operating steam and diesel services. The line is periodically used for commercial freight operations and staff instruction for mainline railway companies.
It is the southern section of the former Wymondham, Dereham, Fakenham and Wells-next-the-Sea line, opened by the Norfolk Railway in 1847 and closed to passengers in stages from 1964 to 1969 as part of the Beeching cuts. The final section of the line closed to goods traffic in 1989. The northern section of this line has been operated by the Wells and Walsingham Light Railway since 1982.
The MNR is owned and operated by the Mid-Norfolk Railway Preservation Trust (a charitable trust), and is mostly operated and staffed by volunteers. The company owns a further 6 miles (9.7 km) of line, as far as County School railway station, which will make it the third largest heritage railway in England once restoration is complete. The Mid-Norfolk Railway has long-term aims to restore the railway as far as Fakenham.
The line is the Fifth longest preserved standard gauge railway in Great Britain.
Read more about Mid-Norfolk Railway: Present Day, Route Details, Engineering Projects, Rolling Stock, Funding and Associated Bodies
Famous quotes containing the word railway:
“Her personality had an architectonic quality; I think of her when I see some of the great London railway termini, especially St. Pancras, with its soot and turrets, and she overshadowed her own daughters, whom she did not understand—my mother, who liked things to be nice; my dotty aunt. But my mother had not the strength to put even some physical distance between them, let alone keep the old monster at emotional arm’s length.”
—Angela Carter (1940–1992)