Norfolk and Suffolk Joint Railway - The Coastal Section

The Coastal Section

The route of most of the coastal section can still be identified by geographical line features readily seen on aerial photographs. Lowestoft Central remains in use, and, although partially redeveloped, the majority of the section of former railway between Lowestoft Central and Lowestoft North station is now a metalled non-vehicular right of way known as "The Great Eastern Linear Park"

On this section, all of the overbridges are intact, some of which still contain relics from their railway heritage

To the north of the town, a large amount of the formation has been redeveloped as a housing estate and, although a section beside the golf course remains clear, the section through the Pleasurewood Hills theme park has been totally removed.

The site of the former station at Lowestoft North is known as "Beeching Drive" with a small pedestrianised area known as "Stephenson's Walk".

Corton station is now a private house, however its canopy and other features are in decay. For several years Corton had a static Camping coach in a siding. It was used as accommodation for holiday makers. The line near Corton can be traced fairly easily, including the original embankments.

The line through Hopton has been redeveloped for housing. While the line was open, this station was also used as a location for a camping coach.

The next station, Gorleston Links was opened in July 1914 to serve the adjacent golf course. The station was closed four years later as a post-war economy measure, but was reopened in 1919, this time as a result of the increasing number of holiday makers visiting the area. Initially named "Gorleston Links Halt", the station was renamed just "Gorleston Links" in 1968, two years before its eventual closure.

The area where the station was situated has changed greatly in the years since 1970; residential redevelopment has led to the removal of the bridge and embankment, leaving no trace of the former halt.

The route of the railway line south of Gorleston Links ran almost parallel with the A12 (Lowestoft Road) to Station Road in Hopton, which was the location of Hopton railway station.

A small section from the line of Gorleston railway station is in use as a walkway, running about half a mile before ending by a road overbridge. The rest of the line is mostly now housing and roads.

The route of the coastal section from Gorleston-on-Sea northwards to the junction for the line to London is now used by the A12. The original terminus, Yarmouth South Town was also the terminus of the Great Eastern Railway line to Beccles and beyond. After closure. the station was used as the headquarters of an oil company before being demolished in the 1980s to make way for the A12 link road. On the site of the old yards are Homebase, Matalan and Lidl stores.

Details of the coastal section of the N&SJR as part of the a larger network can be found on the page for the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway.