Felixstowe railway station
Encyclopedia
Felixstowe is a railway station serving the town of Felixstowe
in Suffolk
, England. The station is the terminus of the Felixstowe Branch Line
15.75 miles (25.3 km) east of .
It was opened by the Great Eastern Railway
(GER) in 1898. Today the station is served by National Express East Anglia.
) whom Tomline detested. In 1879 the Great Eastern Railway had taken over the line and in 1891 the German empress and her children spent some time at Felixstowe and the town used this to promote its status as a fashionable resort. The Beach station was poorly sited for the more fashionable end of town and pressure grew on the GER to provide a station to serve this area. Construction powers were awarded in 1893 and work began soon after, with the station opening on July 1, 1898.
The station building was built by the GER's architect W.N. Ashbee in the domestic revival style in 1898, and is a Grade II listed building. Described by the local newspaper as having been "built in a style which harmonises with its architectural surroundings" the station building consisted of a 92x82 foot circulating area with booking office, refreshment and waiting rooms situated either side. The remaining side was partially open at the head of a wide carriage drive from High Road West. The edifice was topped off with a glass pagoda-like structure and nicknamed 'the lighthouse' by residents.
The platform faces were 785 feet and 650 feet long and the station awning extended for 500 feet.
, and after interviewing all the staff involved (station staff, signallers, the driver and fireman) concluded that the fault lay with the driver (which he readily admitted) who had passed the signal at danger. The locomotives involved were Great Eastern Railway
numbers 474 (a Great Eastern Railway T26 class 2-4-0
) on the goods train, and 791 (GER class M15 2-4-2T) on the passenger train.
The GER amalgamated with several other railways to form the London and North Eastern Railway
(LNER) at the start of 1923.
On 19 July 1933 a locomotive ran into a rake of carriages injuring 13 people.
During World War 2 around 8,000 troops were based at Felixstowe and many of these arrived by train. One noteworthy visitor to the line was a set of Great Western Railway
coaching stock. Bombs fell near the station, damaging the signal box.
In the 1940s up to 25,000 people might be seen passing through the station, and trains ran straight through from London Liverpool Street. The LNER became part of British Railways in 1948. During the 1950s the number of day tripper
s declined as they took to using motor cars. DMUs
worked the line from 1959 although the first one was trialled as early as 1955.
In the 1960s Felixstowe Docks expanded and the passenger trains competed for use of the line with Freightliner services from 1967. Local goods traffic was withdrawn on 5 December 1966. In the 1970s the direct line to the docks was re-opened and all the sidings were removed, leaving a single line running into the station using platform 2.
In the 1980s the station was converted into a shopping centre, large parts of the site were converted into a car park and the station moved to the east. The current station is the other side of the car park from the original station, originally called 'Felixstowe Town' and now 'Great Eastern Square', a shopping centre.
) located on the north side. This closed in January 1959 with the introduction of the DMU service. Carriages were stabled on the north side of the station.
When the station opened the direct link between Trimley and Beach station was cut, so all through trains to the Beach station had to reverse direction in Felixstowe Town, although in some years a shuttle service was run. The junction for the line to the docks was just the other side of Garrison Lane bridge at the west end of the station. This arrangement continued until 13 May 1970 when the original curve was restored and freight trains were able to directly access the docks (which are situated beyond Felixstowe Beach station). As a result the line into the station was reduced to a single stub serving a largely derelict site. This was further cut back in length in the 1980s but the station building was developed into a shopping centre called Great Eastern Square and car parking now occupies much of the site of the goods yard and engine shed.
Abbreviations
BR - British Rail
BTH - British Thompson Houston
EE - English Electric
GC - Great Central
GN - Great Northern
LNE - London North Eastern Railway
MS & L - Manchester, Sheffield and Lincoln Railway
(DMU) types are known to have worked the line. Generally local DMUs have been allocated to Norwich depot although in the 1970s it was likely the occasional Cambridge set worked the branch.
Felixstowe
Felixstowe is a seaside town on the North Sea coast of Suffolk, England. The town gives its name to the nearby Port of Felixstowe, which is the largest container port in the United Kingdom and is owned by Hutchinson Ports UK...
in Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
, England. The station is the terminus of the Felixstowe Branch Line
Felixstowe Branch Line
The Felixstowe Branch Line is a railway line from Ipswich to Felixstowe in Suffolk. The line follows the East Suffolk Line from Ipswich to Westerfield, and then diverges to the south. Passenger services are operated by National Express East Anglia...
15.75 miles (25.3 km) east of .
It was opened by 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) in 1898. Today the station is served by National Express East Anglia.
Construction
Felixstowe Town station was not built when the Felixstowe branch line was opened by Colonel George Tomline in 1877. There were two reasons for this; firstly Tomline had sited the original station called on land he owned, and secondly he wanted to site it away from the Ordnance Hotel owned by Mr J C Cobbold (of the brewing familyTolly Cobbold
Tolly Cobbold is a former brewing company, with strong roots in Suffolk, England.The original Cobbold brewery was founded in Harwich, Essex in 1723. The name Tolly Cobbold is an amalgamation of the two family run brewers the Tollemache Brewery owned by the Tollemache family and Cobbold Brewery...
) whom Tomline detested. In 1879 the Great Eastern Railway had taken over the line and in 1891 the German empress and her children spent some time at Felixstowe and the town used this to promote its status as a fashionable resort. The Beach station was poorly sited for the more fashionable end of town and pressure grew on the GER to provide a station to serve this area. Construction powers were awarded in 1893 and work began soon after, with the station opening on July 1, 1898.
The station building was built by the GER's architect W.N. Ashbee in the domestic revival style in 1898, and is a Grade II listed building. Described by the local newspaper as having been "built in a style which harmonises with its architectural surroundings" the station building consisted of a 92x82 foot circulating area with booking office, refreshment and waiting rooms situated either side. The remaining side was partially open at the head of a wide carriage drive from High Road West. The edifice was topped off with a glass pagoda-like structure and nicknamed 'the lighthouse' by residents.
The platform faces were 785 feet and 650 feet long and the station awning extended for 500 feet.
Later history
On 1 September 1900 there was a collision at the station. An up passenger train (from Felixstowe to Ipswich) departed the station despite the signal not being set to permit this move. Unfortunately there was a freight train arriving at the time and the two trains collided at relatively low speed. There were 12 injuries. The investigation was undertaken by Lt Col P. G. von Donop for the Board of TradeBoard of Trade
The Board of Trade is a committee of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom, originating as a committee of inquiry in the 17th century and evolving gradually into a government department with a diverse range of functions...
, and after interviewing all the staff involved (station staff, signallers, the driver and fireman) concluded that the fault lay with the driver (which he readily admitted) who had passed the signal at danger. The locomotives involved were 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...
numbers 474 (a Great Eastern Railway T26 class 2-4-0
GER Class T26
The GER Class T26 was a class of 2-4-0 steam tender locomotives designed by James Holden for the Great Eastern Railway. At the 1923 grouping they passed to the London and North Eastern Railway, who classified them E4. Eighteen survived into British Railways ownership in 1948, and the last was...
) on the goods train, and 791 (GER class M15 2-4-2T) on the passenger train.
The GER amalgamated with several other railways to form 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) at the start of 1923.
On 19 July 1933 a locomotive ran into a rake of carriages injuring 13 people.
During World War 2 around 8,000 troops were based at Felixstowe and many of these arrived by train. One noteworthy visitor to the line was a set of Great Western Railway
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
coaching stock. Bombs fell near the station, damaging the signal box.
In the 1940s up to 25,000 people might be seen passing through the station, and trains ran straight through from London Liverpool Street. The LNER became part of British Railways in 1948. During the 1950s the number of day tripper
Day Tripper
"Day Tripper" is a song by The Beatles, released as a double A-side single with "We Can Work It Out". Both songs were recorded during the sessions for the Rubber Soul album...
s declined as they took to using motor cars. DMUs
Diesel multiple unit
A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple unit train consisting of multiple carriages powered by one or more on-board diesel engines. They may also be referred to as a railcar or railmotor, depending on country.-Design:...
worked the line from 1959 although the first one was trialled as early as 1955.
In the 1960s Felixstowe Docks expanded and the passenger trains competed for use of the line with Freightliner services from 1967. Local goods traffic was withdrawn on 5 December 1966. In the 1970s the direct line to the docks was re-opened and all the sidings were removed, leaving a single line running into the station using platform 2.
In the 1980s the station was converted into a shopping centre, large parts of the site were converted into a car park and the station moved to the east. The current station is the other side of the car park from the original station, originally called 'Felixstowe Town' and now 'Great Eastern Square', a shopping centre.
Operations
The station was initially equipped with two platforms but space was left for two further platforms which were added shortly before World War 2. However with the outbreak of hostilities, the Board of Trade Inspector did not visit and approve the facility until October 1948. The station layout was quite extensive with a goods yard on the south side and a small engine shed (a sub-shed of 32B Ipswich engine shedIpswich engine shed
Ipswich engine shed was an engine shed located in Ipswich in Suffolk in the UK on the Great Eastern Main Line located just south of Stoke tunnel and the current Ipswich railway station. Locomotives accessed the site from Halifax Junction which was also the junction for the Griffin Wharf branch of...
) located on the north side. This closed in January 1959 with the introduction of the DMU service. Carriages were stabled on the north side of the station.
When the station opened the direct link between Trimley and Beach station was cut, so all through trains to the Beach station had to reverse direction in Felixstowe Town, although in some years a shuttle service was run. The junction for the line to the docks was just the other side of Garrison Lane bridge at the west end of the station. This arrangement continued until 13 May 1970 when the original curve was restored and freight trains were able to directly access the docks (which are situated beyond Felixstowe Beach station). As a result the line into the station was reduced to a single stub serving a largely derelict site. This was further cut back in length in the 1980s but the station building was developed into a shopping centre called Great Eastern Square and car parking now occupies much of the site of the goods yard and engine shed.
Train services
Locomotives
The following locomotive classes are known to have worked the branch. This is almost certainly not an extensive list and includes a number of one-off special workings. The list below is arranged by class, wheel arrangements (using the Whyte notation), Builder, Railway that built the engine and where appropriate, notes.- J15 0-6-00-6-0Under 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...
Wordsell/GER - worked line from opening - E4 2-4-02-4-0Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-4-0 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles, and no trailing wheels....
Holden/GER - worked line from opening - J66 0-6-0T Wordsell/GER - Occasional use on freight trains
- N7 0-6-2T Hill/GER - From October 1948 - branch engines included 69708, 69679, 69700,69701
- C12 4-4-2T Ivatt/GNR - 67367 and 67385 drafted in to assist heavy branch traffic in summer 1949
- C14 4-4-2T Robinson/GC - From 1936. Three of which allocated to Felixstowe shed the other two to Ipswich. Included 6123, 6128 & 6130
- F3 2-4-2T Holden/GER - worked line from opening
- F6 2-4-2T Holden/GER - Visitor in summer 1950
- B12 4-6-04-6-0Under 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...
Holden/GER - Also B12/3 Gresley rebuilds worked branch. - B17 4-6-0 Gresley/LNER
- D1 4-4-04-4-0Under 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...
Ivatt/GN - A number visited in summer 1936 - D15 4-4-0 Holden/GER - Claud Hamilton class
- D9 4-4-0 Robinson/GCR - 6015 - a rare visitor in 1937
- K3 2-6-02-6-0Under 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...
Gresley/LNER - From 1938 - N5 0-6-2T Parker/M,S & L - 5913 allocated to Ipswich in 1938
- V1 2-6-2T Gresley/LNER - Visitor in summer 1950
- V2 2-6-2 Gresley/LNER - Summer traffic 1951
- B1 4-6-0 Thompson/LNER - from late 1940s
- BR 4 2-6-0 Riddles/BR - 76045 July 1958
- 7P 4-6-2 Riddles/BR - Britannia class
- 15 Bo-BoBo-BoA Bo-Bo or Bo′Bo′ is a locomotive with two independent four-wheeled bogies with all axles powered by individual traction motors...
BTH/BR - Local goods traffic - 31 A1A-A1A Brush/BR - D5503 is believed to be the first diesel locomotive working special train on 12 April 1959.
- 37 Co-Co EE/BR - Usually on freightliner trains
- 47 Co-Co Brush/BR - On 9 May 1967 D1994 worked the first trial Freightliner train to the docks via Felixstowe Town.
Abbreviations
BR - British Rail
BTH - British Thompson Houston
EE - English Electric
GC - Great Central
GN - Great Northern
LNE - London North Eastern Railway
MS & L - Manchester, Sheffield and Lincoln Railway
DMU
The following Diesel Multiple UnitDiesel multiple unit
A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple unit train consisting of multiple carriages powered by one or more on-board diesel engines. They may also be referred to as a railcar or railmotor, depending on country.-Design:...
(DMU) types are known to have worked the line. Generally local DMUs have been allocated to Norwich depot although in the 1970s it was likely the occasional Cambridge set worked the branch.
- Derby Lightweights
- Cravens Class 105
- Gloucester RCW Class 100
- Birmingham RCW
- Metropolitan Cammel Class 101
- Class 150/2
- Class 153
- Class 156
- Class 170