Norwich Crown Point
Encyclopedia
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...
in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
The name is now more commonly associated with the Crown Point Traction Maintenance Depot
Traction maintenance depot
In the United Kingdom, a traction maintenance depot, or TMD, is a railway depot where locomotives are serviced and maintained. A traction and rolling stock maintenance depot, or T&RSMD, is a maintenance depot where locomotives, multiple units and rolling stock are serviced and maintained. Each rail...
(TMD) operated by National Express East Anglia. Intercity
Intercity
Intercity or Inter-city means "between cities". It can refer to inter-city transportation by rail, bus, truck or airline. There are many transport companies with Intercity or Inter-city as their brand.* Inter-city rail services...
and Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU)
Multiple unit
The term multiple unit or MU is used to describe a self-propelled carriages capable of coupling with other units of the same or similar type and still being controlled from one driving cab. The term is commonly used to denote passenger trainsets consisting of more than one carriage...
train
Train
A train is a connected series of vehicles for rail transport that move along a track to transport cargo or passengers from one place to another place. The track usually consists of two rails, but might also be a monorail or maglev guideway.Propulsion for the train is provided by a separate...
s are serviced and maintained here. The depot code is NC.
Class 90 locomotives, Driving Van Trailers, Mark 3 carriages, Class 153 DMUs, Class 156 DMUs and Class 170 DMUs are maintained here, as well as occasional Class 158 DMU, Class 47 locomotives and 08 Shunters.
It was previously nicknamed "Clown Point" by railway enthusiasts
Railfan
A railfan or rail buff , railway enthusiast or railway buff , or trainspotter , is a person interested in a recreational capacity in rail transport...
due to the perceived poor quality of the maintenance. This perception is out of date however, with the Class 170 DMUs maintained there being (year to October 2009) the second most reliable new-generation DMUs in the UK at some 16,000 miles per 5-minute delay, while over the same period the reliability of the depot's Class 90-hauled trains was respectable in comparison with other inter-city trains. (See also the article on National Express East Anglia.)
This nickname
Nickname
A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
, however, has its origins in truth. Many years ago, travelling circuses moved their goods by rail rather than by road. In order to avoid the chaos of unloading scenery and wild animals at the passenger station, a siding
Rail siding
A siding, in rail terminology, is a low-speed track section distinct from a running line or through route such as a main line or branch line or spur. It may connect to through track or to other sidings at either end...
was built to allow the unloading to take place away from the general public
Public
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individuals, and the public is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the Öffentlichkeit or public sphere. The concept of a public has also been defined in political science,...
. The site chosen for this "Circus Siding" is now occupied by Crown Point Depot.