Norfolk and Suffolk Joint Railway - The North Walsham To Cromer Section

The North Walsham To Cromer Section

The section between Cromer and North Walsham is easy to follow on aerial photographs, and some sections remain open as unofficial footpaths.

Leaving Cromer Beach, a short section of formation remains in use as part of the Bittern Line. Although the portals of the Cromer Tunnel, the only remaining original railway tunnel in Norfolk, remain open access is difficult due to a housing development on the former trackbed.

The first station on this section of the NSJR was Cromer Links Halt (TG232409) which primarily served golfers at the nearby Royal Cromer Golf Club. The station facilities were very basic, consisting of no more than a single wooden platform, which cost £170 to build, two wooden benches and running in board together with the obligatory oil lamps. No shelter was provided for passengers and the platform was constructed of sleepers and supported by wooden trestles.

This was followed by Overstrand railway station, which was provided with an island platform, pedestrian underpass, signal box and passing loop. The station building and underpass remain as a private residence. A section of the embankment towards Cromer was removed to make way for a housing development.

Sidestrand Halt consisted of a simple wooden platform capable of accommodating one coach. Hidden away at the end of a public footpath, the station did not have any ticket-issuing facilities, and these could only be purchased on the trains. The halt had been opened in an attempt to increase revenues on the line by further exploiting the tourist potential of "Poppyland".

Trimingham railway station was a similar design to Overstrand, although access to the platforms was provided by steps from a gateway on a nearby road overbridge. Although the station site has been redeveloped, the bridge and the closed station access remain.

Mundesley railway station was provided with wide platforms and substantial buildings and a yard for the anticipated holiday traffic. Today nothing remains of the station site, which has been redeveloped as a housing estate.

Paston & Knapton railway station, the final station on this section of the NSJR before reaching North Walsham remains in good order as a private house. The trackbed continues to the outskirts of North Walsham, having been used as the route for a gas feeder pipe from the Bacton Gas Terminal. Once reaching North Walsham the formation has been used to build a bypass, although the trackbed linking the NSJR to the former GER Bittern Line can be still be clearly seen.

North Walsham Town railway station, the original M&GNJR terminus for the services, closed to passengers in 1959 and the site is now a gas condensate rail terminal.

• Cromer Beach station (2004)

• Cromer tunnel (2008)

• Mundesley station (1929)