Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway

The Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway, (M&GN) was a joint railway

Joint railway

A joint railway is a railway operating under the control of more than one railway company: those companies very often supplying the traction over the railway.-United Kingdom:There are many examples of joint railway working in the United Kingdom...

owned by the Midland Railway

Midland Railway

The Midland Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 to 1922, when it became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway....

(MR) and the Great Northern Railway

Great Northern Railway (Great Britain)

The Great Northern Railway was a British railway company established by the Great Northern Railway Act of 1846. On 1 January 1923 the company lost its identity as a constituent of the newly formed London and North Eastern Railway....

(GNR) in eastern England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, affectionately known as the 'Muddle and Get Nowhere' to generations of passengers, enthusiasts, and other users.

The main line ran from Peterborough

Peterborough

Peterborough is a cathedral city and unitary authority area in the East of England, with an estimated population of in June 2007. For ceremonial purposes it is in the county of Cambridgeshire. Situated north of London, the city stands on the River Nene which flows into the North Sea...

to Great Yarmouth

Great Yarmouth

Great Yarmouth, often known to locals as Yarmouth, is a coastal town in Norfolk, England. It is at the mouth of the River Yare, east of Norwich.It has been a seaside resort since 1760, and is the gateway from the Norfolk Broads to the sea...

via South Lynn and Melton Constable

Melton Constable

Melton Constable is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk.It covers an area of and had a population of 518 in 225 households as of the 2001 census.For the purposes of local government, it falls within the district of North Norfolk...

. Branches ran from Sutton Bridge

Sutton Bridge

Sutton Bridge is a village and civil parish in southeastern Lincolnshire, England on the west bank of the River Nene in the district of South Holland.-Geography:...

to an end on junction with the Midland Railway

Midland Railway

The Midland Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 to 1922, when it became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway....

branch from Saxby, at Little Bytham near Bourne, Lincolnshire

Bourne, Lincolnshire

Bourne is a market town and civil parish on the western edge of the Fens, in the District of South Kesteven in southern Lincolnshire, England.-The town:...

; from Melton Constable

Melton Constable

to Cromer

Cromer

Cromer is a coastal town and civil parish in north Norfolk, England. The local government authority is North Norfolk District Council, whose headquarters is in Holt Road in the town. The town is situated 23 miles north of the county town, Norwich, and is 4 miles east of Sheringham...

; and from Melton Constable to Norwich

Norwich

Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...

. There was also a short spur connecting South Lynn to King's Lynn

King's Lynn

King's Lynn is a sea port and market town in the ceremonial county of Norfolk in the East of England. It is situated north of London and west of Norwich. The population of the town is 42,800....

and the docks.

The section of line between Cromer

Cromer railway station

The fishing port and holiday resort of Cromer in the English county of Norfolk has had a rail service since 1877. It was served by three railway stations for many years, and is now served by two...

and Sheringham

Sheringham railway station

Sheringham railway station is a timber halt in the town of Sheringham in the English county of Norfolk. The station is the terminus of the Bittern Line, operated by National Express East Anglia, and is 49 km north of...

is still in use today, whilst the track beyond Sheringham is in use as a preserved railway - the North Norfolk Railway

North Norfolk Railway

The North Norfolk Railway – also known as the "Poppy Line" – is a heritage steam railway in Norfolk, England, running between the coastal town of Sheringham and Holt, It cuts through the countryside to the east of Weybourne with views of its windmill and passes through the well preserved country...

. The station at Whitwell & Reepham is preserved by the nascent Whitwell & Reepham Railway. Other than that many of the former routes have disappeared - ploughed back into the fields or reverting to woodland, though some trackbeds survive (especially in the country) along with disused architecture (stations, bridges, signal-boxes etc.). The Turntable from Bourne engine shed has also survived, this turntable was built in Ipswich in 1933 and installed at Bourne. When the shed closed along with the line in 1959 it was transferred to Peterborough East railway station. When that shed closed the turntable was rebuilt at Wansford station on the Nene Valley railway

Nene Valley Railway

The Nene Valley Railway is a preserved railway in Cambridgeshire, England, running between Peterborough Nene Valley and Yarwell Junction. The line is currently seven and a half miles in length...

Crossing other railways

In 1894, the M&GN's line between Bourne and Saxby broke through the abandoned trackbed of the Earl of Ancaster's disused Edenham & Little Bytham Railway. At Murrow the M&GN Joint crossed the GN & GE Joint on the level, one of few such crossings in the UK and the only one where two joint lines crossed.

History

The Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway was formed in 1893 by the amalgamation of many smaller local lines, rather than being conceived from the start as a single trunk route. However, it offered its two parents - the MR and the GNR - access to the ports of East Anglia

East Anglia

East Anglia is a traditional name for a region of eastern England, named after an ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom, the Kingdom of the East Angles. The Angles took their name from their homeland Angeln, in northern Germany. East Anglia initially consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk, but upon the marriage of...

, and also enabled them to develop what became a lucrative source of revenue from holiday traffic from the industrial Midlands to the east coast resorts. It was easily the longest joint railway system in the UK, exceeding 180 miles (289.7 km).

Until the creation of the M&GN, the Great Eastern Railway

Great Eastern Railway

The Great Eastern Railway was a pre-grouping British railway company, whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had other lines through East Anglia...

(GER) held a near-monopoly on East Anglian traffic and had assumed that their network meant there were no population centres left to connect. However, the GER lines were mostly north to south, centred on London, leaving an opening for the smaller companies that later became the M&GN to thread their way east to west between the GER lines, and in this way connected the major towns of Norfolk (Great Yarmouth, Norwich, King's Lynn) and many other smaller centres via the MR and GNR networks to the Midlands and the North. Much of the route was single-track, and the gradient profiles were steep. Despite this, the M&GN was able to put up a spirited competition with the shorter GER route to London from Cromer, although it was never able to equal the GER's excellent timings. However, King's Cross terminus (GNR) was nearer the west end of London, and some passengers preferred to use the M&GN route. The main thrust of M&GN services was to and from the Midlands. The goods traffic was also very heavy, particularly coal inwards, and fruit, vegetables, other agricultural products and fish outwards. The single track (approximately 60% of the route mileage), although operated by the most up-to-date methods (the electric train tablet system) did make the seasonal peak loads difficult to handle - August Bank Holiday weekends were particularly difficult, with waves of special trains from and to the Midlands having to thread their way through the normal traffic of local trains and freights. Typical daily flows during the peak usually exceeded 100 trains.

As well as local traffic, the M&GN created a series of regular long-distance services, linking, e.g., London King's Cross to Cromer, and with regular daily services from Liverpool, Manchester, Nottingham, Leeds, Birmingham and Leicester to South Lynn, Cromer, Norwich and Great Yarmouth.

The M&GN's administrative headquarters was at Austin Street, King's Lynn, but its engineering centre and the heart of the system was at Melton Constable: before the railway arrived this village had a population of just over 100 people. Within a few years it had grown tenfold, with almost all the new arrivals employed by the railway and living in company-built housing, and it acquired the nickname of "the Crewe of North Norfolk".

With Grouping

Railways Act 1921

The Railways Act 1921, also known as the Grouping Act, was an enactment by the British government of David Lloyd George intended to stem the losses being made by many of the country's 120 railway companies, move the railways away from internal competition, and to retain some of the benefits which...

in 1923, the M&GN became jointly owned by the London and North Eastern Railway

London and North Eastern Railway

The London and North Eastern Railway was the second-largest of the "Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain...

(LNER) and the London, Midland and Scottish Railway

London, Midland and Scottish Railway

The London Midland and Scottish Railway was a British railway company. It was formed on 1 January 1923 under the Railways Act of 1921, which required the grouping of over 120 separate railway companies into just four...

(LMS), but it retained its own identity and operated much as it had before the Grouping.

The M&GN was formally operationally incorporated into the LNER in 1936, although it remained heavily dependent on the LMS to provide the bulk of its longer-distance traffic. Most of Melton Constable Railway Works

Melton Constable Railway Works

Melton Constable railway works was a railway maintenance and production facility on the Midland and Great Northern Railway. The buildings and operations in the village of Melton Constable from 1883 to 1964 were vital to the village economy and indeed it is known that the village itself was created...

was closed at this time, as was the Austin Street (King's Lynn) administrative headquarters. The system remained jointly owned by the LNER and LMS.

With the creation of the nationalised British Railways corporation in 1948, the M&GN looked vulnerable. It was one of the first major closures with the bulk of its routes shut in 1959; displaced traffic mostly transferring to the former GER routes. Throughout its years of operation under many different owners, and notwithstanding the high proportion of its route that was single-track, it was an extremely safe system - not a single passenger was killed on the M&GN.

Summary of legal ownership

Formerly the Eastern & Midlands Railway Company, which was incorporated by an Act of Parliament of 18 August 1882, and comprised the Lynn & Fakenham, Yarmouth & North Norfolk (Light), and Yarmouth Union undertakings - these were all dissolved on 31 December 1882. The company also controlled the Cromer Railway.

From 1 July 1893 the properties of the company were acquired by the Midland and Great Northern companies under the provisions of the Midland and Great Northern railway companies (Eastern and Midland Railway) Act 1893, managed by a Joint Committee of the two companies having equal rights.

From 1 January 1923 the Midland Railway became vested in the London Midland & Scottish Railway Company, and the Great Northern Railway in the London & North Eastern Railway Company.

The LMS and LNER jointly managed the line from 1923, with all operations being taken over by the LNER in 1936.

The committee passed to the British Transport Commission

British Transport Commission

The British Transport Commission was created by Clement Attlee's post-war Labour government as a part of its nationalisation programme, to oversee railways, canals and road freight transport in Great Britain...

(Railway Executive) under Schedule 3 of the Transport Act 1947, which was subsequently replaced by the British Railways Board

British Railways Board

The British Railways Board was a nationalised industry in the United Kingdom that existed from 1962 to 2001. From its foundation until 1997, it was responsible for most railway services in Great Britain, trading under the brand names British Railways and, from 1965, British Rail...

Locomotives

Because of the relatively early closure date, most workings throughout the life of the M&GN were operated by steam power. A small number of diesel multiple unit services were run in the final years, alongside the very occasional incursions of early diesel locomotives.

The M&GN mainly used designs from the MR and GNR, but included in its stock some of the older E&M engines, often much rebuilt. The famous Beyer-Peacock engines survived in this way from the early 1880s to the mid-1930s. The best contemporary designs were acquired by the Joint in the 1893 - 1901 period, but as there were no more modern engines forthcoming, the light 0-6-0

0-6-0

Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 0-6-0 represents the wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and no trailing wheels...

s and 4-4-0

4-4-0

Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-4-0 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles , four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles, and no trailing wheels...

s provided much of the motive power on the line until 1936. From then on the LNER tried various designs on the line, not necessarily bigger or even more recent than the Joint's own engines, but as the M&GN's engines were scrapped, newer engines such as the K2 2-6-0

2-6-0

Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-6-0 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and no trailing wheels. This arrangement is commonly called a Mogul...

s and B12 4-6-0

4-6-0

Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-6-0 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles in a leading truck, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and no trailing wheels. This wheel arrangement became the second-most popular...

s became common. The ex-GER "Claud Hamilton" 4-4-0s provided the locomotive backbone of this later period.

From the 1950s, Ivatt 4MTs became the dominant motive power on the system, which achieved a higher degree of standardisation than any other part of British Railways—more than 50 of these "mucky ducks" were allocated here. But there were other types still in use, and among them the line saw Ivatt 2MTs and occasional Standard 4MT

BR standard class 4 2-6-0

The BR Standard Class 4 2-6-0 is a class of steam locomotive designed by Robert Riddles for British Railways . 115 locomotives were built.- Design and construction :...

types.

British Railways' Eastern Region was an early adopter of diesel motive power and the M&GN lines were used by Brush Type 2 locomotives and several early DMU types including Class 101

British Rail Class 101

The British Rail Class 101 diesel multiple units were built by Metro-Cammell at Washwood Heath in Birmingham from 1956 to 1959, following construction of a series of prototype units. This class proved to be the most successful and longest-lived of all BR's First Generation DMUs, with the final five...

and Class 105s

British Rail Class 105

The British Rail Class 105 diesel multiple units were built by Cravens Ltd. of Sheffield from 1956 to 1959. The class were built with a side profile identical to British Railways Mark 1 carriage stock, using the same doors and windows. None were selected for refurbishment...

. A fleet of the latter was commissioned in the mid-1950s to take over all the long-distance locomotive-hauled passenger services, but the line's closure in 1959 saw them re-allocated (especially to the Great Northern suburban commuter workings out of King's Cross, for which they were particularly unsuitable).
One M&GN boiler from a Hudswell Clarke 4-4-0T survives, it is hoped this will be rebuilt as a static exhibit.

Badge and livery

The M&GN device consists of images derived from the Coats of Arms

Coat of arms

A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...

of the four principal cities and towns it served: (clockwise from top left) Peterborough, Norwich, Great Yarmouth and King's Lynn.

For much of the company's life the locomotives were painted a light golden brown, often referred to by paintshop staff as "autumn leaf" or "golden ochre". From 1922 the goods engines were painted dark brown, followed by the rest of the locomotives in 1929. The LNER painted the survivors black. Most of the carriages were ex-GNR and were varnished teak, but some of the older stock and rebuilds were painted and grained to look like teak. Wagon stock was generally brown oxide, the same colour as the GNR used, until 1917 when general stock under the common user agreement began to be painted grey. The number of M&GN wagons declined during the 1920s, and were eventually bought by the parent companies in 1928, leaving only service stock, which was painted red oxide. Under British Railways' control, carriages were often carmine

Carmine (color)

Carmine is the general term for a particularly deep red color. Some Rubies are colored the color shown below as rich carmine. The deep red color shown below as carmine is the color of the raw unprocessed pigment, but lighter, richer, or brighter colors are produced when the raw pigment is...

and cream, then maroon

Maroon (color)

Maroon is a dark red color.-Etymology:Maroon is derived from French marron .The first recorded use of maroon as a color name in English was in 1789.-Maroon :...

Cultural Impact

The M&GN was frequently referred to as the "Muddle and Go Nowhere", a fairly self evident title for a route that served a mostly rural region, but after closure this phrase was commonly replaced with the phrase "Missed and Greatly Needed".

Heritage

The M&GN's memory is kept alive by two heritage railway operations and railway museums. Whilst only the short section between Cromer Beach and Sheringham

Sheringham railway station

remains open to regular services, the section of branch line between Sheringham and Holt is operated as the North Norfolk Railway

North Norfolk Railway

. The station at Whitwell also operates as a heritage centre, with ambitions to restore a section of the M&GN main line. There is also a group dedicated to the study of the line.

M&GN signal boxes survive at numerous locations, with Cromer Beach 'box and Sheringham East 'box being open to the public. The 'box from Honing

Honing railway station

Honing railway station was a station in Norfolk serving the small village of Honing. It was on the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway between Melton Constable and Great Yarmouth. It closed along with the rest of the line in 1959....

also survives at the Barton House Railway

Barton House Railway

The Barton House Railway is a miniature railway in Wroxham, Norfolk open on the third Sunday of the month form April until October.-History:The initial 3 ½" gauge track was laid in 1960...

near Wroxham

Wroxham

Wroxham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The civil parish of Wroxham has an area of 6.21 square kilometres and in 2001 had a population of 1532 in 666 households. The village is situated within the Norfolk Broads on the south side of a loop in the middle reaches of...

.

Very little rolling stock from the line has been preserved. The North Norfolk Railway have rescued two passenger coaches and a brake van, while a third passenger coach has recently been preserved by the Whitwell & Reepham Railway. No locomotives survived, with the last complete locomotive being scrapped at the Longmoor Military Railway

Longmoor Military Railway

The Longmoor Military Railway was a British military railway in Hampshire, built by the Royal Engineers from 1903 in order to train soldiers on railway construction and operations.-Route:...

in 1953.

The "golden ochre" livery has been carried by two industrial locomotives on the North Norfolk Railway, and is now worn by a bus frequently operated by Norfolk Green

Norfolk Green

-About Norfolk Green:Norfolk Green is a bus operator based in King's Lynn in Norfolk, England.It operates 31 public bus services across Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire as well as numerous school and collage services with a fleet of 73 low floor easy access buses, services include the...

on routes formerly served by the company.

External links

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