Felixstowe branch line

About Felixstowe branch line

Pictures of trains past & present are welcome in this group.


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. The line is extensively used by freight trains to the Port of Felixstowe, operated by DB Schenker, Freightliner and FirstGBRf.

DB Schenker Class 66 from Mickoo737


DRS Class 66 from Calum Hepplewhite


GBRF Class 66 from Mickoo737


Freightliner Class 70 from Calum Hepplewhite

HISTORY

Colonel George Tomline, a Suffolk landowner, promoted the Felixstowe Railway and Pier Company in a parliamentary bill of July 1875. With impressive speed the line was built and the first train ran on 1 May 1877. A further act of parliament in July 1879 enabled the building of a dock, approach channels and additional railway lines to the dock area.

The original line ran from Westerfield railway station over Spring Road viaduct (the line's most impressive civil engineering structure) into Derby Road railway station (Ipswich) station. Heading south east from Ipswich it then called at Orwell railway station built primarily to serve the home of the line's builder Colonel George Tomline and then Trimley railway station (which only opened in 1891). After Trimley the line turned south and trains then called at Felixstowe Beach railway station and Felixstowe Pier railway station where there were also sidings serving the dock facility. Felixstowe Beach station was not well placed to serve the more fashionable part of town and was positioned by Tomline close to land he was looking to develop. The story goes it was also sited away from a hotel owned by his bitter rival J Cobbold of the brewing family. On opening the company owned three locomotives, 19 passenger carriages and 15 goods wagons.

Spring Road viaduct from MuppetSnaps (Oli Smith)




By September 1879 the GER had taken over operation of the line with through trains running to Ipswich and on 5 July 1887 the GER purchased the line in although Tomline retained control of the dock area under the guise of the Felixstowe Dock and Railway Company. On May 1, 1891 Trimley railway station was opened and an additional passing loop was created on the branch.

In 1887 a parliamentary bill for a line from Felixstowe railway station to Felixstowe Ferry some 3.5 miles away received royal assent but this scheme had been abandoned by 1892 due to lack of capital.

In the 1890s the German Empress stayed in Felixstowe which was promoting itself as a resort of some note and with considerable fashionable development taking place on the high ground towards the River Deben the Great Eastern Railway was under considerable pressure to supply a new terminus station. It applied to do this in 1895 and the new branch line to Felixstowe railway station was opened in 1898. Strangely the GER closed the direct link from Trimley to Felixstowe Beach and pier which meant all trains had to be routed via the new station. Rail usage soared in the early 1900s with through trains from Liverpool Street and other trains detaching portions at Westerfield Junction.

In World War 1 Felixstowe was a prohibited area and the local population was encouraged to leave. There were a number of hospitals and munitions dumps in the area and troops for the conflict on the continent are known to have embarked through Felixstowe.

In 1923 operation of the branch was taken over by the London North Eastern Railway.

During the 1920s and 1930s significant numbers of holiday makers and day trippers continued to visit Felixstowe. Derby Road station was a popular embarking point as it connected with the tram system and was accessible from a large densely populated area in eastern Ipswich.

In 1927 American firm Crane-Bennett opened a rail served works in the Nacton Heath area just outside Ipswich.

In World War 2 Felixstowe once again became restricted area. A lot of military traffic was carried especially to the seaplane base siding in the dock area. A rail mounted howitzer was based at Orwell station goods yard and Levington level crossing in a shed connected to the branch by a siding. A number of War Department Locomotives were based here including GWR Dean Goods engines.

In the late 1940s a private siding was added at Ransomes, Sims & Jefferies works in the Nacton Heath area of Ipswich. In 1948 operation of the line passed to British Railways.

The branch stayed in this form for a number of years until the 1950s when with the increase in car ownership use of the branch declined and services to Felixstowe Pier were withdrawn in July 1951 and from Felixstowe Beach were withdrawn in 1959 although summer services ran until permanent withdrawal of passenger services in 1967.

In the 1960s the docks at Felixstowe were expanding and had started dealing with container traffic. It was decided that a direct link to the docks was desirable and in 1970 the Trimley - Felixstowe Beach link was restored and the Town branch was reduced to a single tracked stub with all the former goods yard (closed 1966) and platform tracks removed. The goods yards at Westerfield Junction and Trimley closed but that at Derby Road continued into the 1980s serving a domestic coal depot and a scrap yard. Rail traffic to Cranes finished in mid-1970s and to Ransome, Sims and Jefferies in 1980.

In the 1980s the dilapidated Felixstowe Town station was developed into a shopping centre known as Great Eastern Square and the station area developed into car parking and retail space. The stub of the line was relocated towards the east of the complex. A further change was the opening of a new branch from Trimley to the new Walton terminal development at Felixstowe. Most freight trains are now in fact routed this way into the docks area.

Felixstowe's truncated platform on June 29th, 2010 from Cooperail


In 1994 responsibility for the infrastructure passed to Railtrack and after privatisation trains were run by Anglia Railways.

In 1999 the passing loop at Derby Road was increased in length and signalling transferred to Colchester Power Signalling Box. This meant that two freightliner trains could now pass at this location and an hourly clock face service from Ipswich was also introduced. In this decade (2010s) doubling of some 4.5 miles will see more freightliner services run and the provision of an avoiding line in Ipswich (originally known as Bacon Factory Curve but now as the Ipswich chord) will allow through operation from Felixstowe to the Midlands without the need to reverse at Ipswich Yard.

Electrification and restoration of services to Felixstowe beach have both been long term goals for the branch but as of August 2010 both seem to be on hold. In fact the class 312 EMU units, when introduced in the 1970s, had Felixstowe on their destination blinds.

National Express East Anglia replaced the previous franchise Anglia Railways on 1 April 2004.

In September 2010 the Port of Felixstowe announced a record number of containers had passed thorugh the port area in the week ending 26th September 2010. A total of 10,764 containers were handled by rail.

OPERATIONS
Under Network Rail planning, the line is part of the Strategic Route 7 SRS 07.12 and is classified as a secondary line.

The line is double track from Ipswich to Westerfield and single track from Westerfield to Felixstowe, except for a double track section at Derby Road which is long enough to allow two freight trains to pass each other. The line is not electrified, has a loading gauge of W10 but excludes W9 between Westerfield and Felixstowe, and has a line speed of between 40-75 mph.

There are two junctions: one at Trimley station, where the diverging route to Felixstowe Docks parallels the line through a disused platform at Trimley before a sharp turn to the right towards the docks; the other at Felixstowe just under the Maidstone Road bridge, where the line diverges: the left line going a short distance to Felixstowe Station and the right line going along the old Felixstowe Beach Station branch to Felixstowe docks.

Felixstowe North link from Mickoo737


SIGNALLING
On opening the line was operated by the staff and ticket signalling system with a passing loops at Derby Road and Orwell and a third one added at Felixstowe Beach soon after.

The railway is completely track circuited with colour-light signals and is controlled from Colchester PSB. Multiple traffic can use the same section at the same time and freight trains regularly follow behind passenger services.

Locomotives
On opening, the line was worked three 2-4-0 side tank locomotives built by the Yorkshire Engine Company numbered 1 Tomline, 2 Orwell and 3 Felixstowe. These locomotives were taken over by the GER in 1887 becoming 808, 809 and 810 respectively. They were quickly replaced and had been scrapped by 1888.[3]

The GER started operating Adams and Johnson built 0-4-4Ts but later E4 2-4-0 and class J15 0-6-0 worked trains.


The following locomotives are known to have worked on the industrial sites on the branch.

CRANES

* 0-4-0ST Avonside works no 1878 built 1921 - worked 1930-1952.
* 1490 Peckett 0-4-0ST works no 2129 built 1952 - worked 1952 - 1970
* Thetis 0-4-0DM Robert Stephenson and Hawthorn works number 7815 built 1954 - worked 1954 - 1970
* 2589 0-4-0DH Andrew Barclay works no 472 built 1961 - worked 1970 - 1976

RANSOMES

* 4wDM Ruston & Hornsby 252825 built 1947 - worked 1947-1962
* Ransomes, 4wDM Ruston & Hornsby 466629 built 1962 - worked 1947-1980 (stayed on site until 1984 before sale to North Norfolk Railway).

FELIXSTOWE DOCK COMPANY

* D3489 Colonel Tomline - former BR Class 10 0-6-0DE - worked 1969 - 2001. Sold to Spa Valley Railway.
* DL12, 0-6-0DH Yorkshire Engine Co, works number 2911 - worked 1990 whilst Colonel Tomline being overhauled
* 08460 0-6-0DE - sold from Allerton in 2007 but now at the Colne Valley Railway.
* 08441 moved to the docks after having been based at the Colne Valley Railway. Locomotive owned by Traditional Traction.
* 08484 Captain Nathaniel Darell - former BR class 08 0-6-0DE - worked 2007 to present.
* 08511 - former BR class 08 0-6-0DE - believed to be currently working at Felixstowe (August 2010)
* 08785 - Freightliner Class 08 shunter.
* 08683 moved to the docks after having been based at the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway. Locomotive owned by Traditional Traction.

ENGINE SHEDS
The original engine shed was sited at Felixstowe Beach station but was closed once the Great Eastern Railway had taken over the line. However a need to find extra capacity for carriage painting led to the facility re-opening in 1894 and dealing with significant numbers of carriages per year. Unfortunately it burned down in the 1930s.

Most trains on the branch were work by locomotives based at Ipswich locomotive shed (code 32B). Felixstowe Town station was a small sub-shed of Ipswich with a number of drivers being based there but no permanent allocation of locomotives.

TIMETABLES
The following list provides a snapshot of timetables being run during the life of the line.

1877 Four trains each way originating Westerfield, Derby Road, Orwell, Felixstowe Beach and Felixstowe Pier supplemented by two up (from Felixstowe) and one down train between Derby Road and Felixstowe.

1879 Six trains in each direction

The GER took over operation and started running to and from Ipswich itself. They also extended the Harwich - Ipswich steam boat service to serve Felixstowe as well.

1891 Trimley station opened

1898 Felixstowe Town station opens and all trains to/from Beach and Pier diverted there and reverse for the onward journey.

1905 Through carriages from Liverpool Street detaching at Westerfield.

1906 First recorded through service to Liverpool Street departing Liverpool Street at 4.10 pm whilst the up working departed Felixstowe at 14.25 with a highly commendable 98 minutes although the following year this had ballooned out to 199 minutes.

1910 Summer services include 4 through services to Liverpool Street in each direction.

Bradshaws July 1922 Ipswich weekday departures 07:00, 08:25, 09:36, 10:22, 11:12, 12:05, 12:24, 13:28, 14:44,16:24, 17:12 (from Liverpool Street), 17:32, 18:26 (Fridays only), 18:36, 19:04, 20:28, 21:25 (Wed and Sat only) and 21:55. All trains went onto Beach with the exception of the 21:25 with a number continuing to Pier. The 12:56 from Liverpool Street did not call at Ipswich arriving Felixstowe Town at 15:02. In addition a number of shuttle services worked between Felixstowe Town and Beach or Pier. Calling patterns varied with Westerfield, Trimley and Orwell missing out on a number of services.

Ipswich Sunday departures - 09:26, 12:10, 14:20 (all stations to Pier), 18:28 (fast Ipswich to Felixstowe Town then Beach and Pier), 20:00 and 20:35 (all stations to Pier).

1939 The summer timetable consisted of 3 up services to Liverpool Street and 20 Ipswich (or Derby Road trains) and 4 down expresses and 21 local workings. On the August bank Holiday this consisted of 43 up and 41 down services - not bad for a single line branch with passing loops.

1951 19 workings in each direction. However in the meagre Pier service of 2 up trains and 1 down service only lasted three weeks into the timetable before the Pier station closed.

1955 Orwell station closed - trains run direct from Derby Road to Trimley

September 1964 British Rail Eastern Region timetable Weekday - hourly service departing Ipswich at xx.13 except 15.13. All services called Derby Road but a number skipped Westerfield Junction and Trimley. Saturday - hourly service departing Ipswich at xx.13 Sunday - 10:00, 11:00, 12:00,14:45, 16:15, 18:00,19:45,21:00. All called Derby Road and Felixstowe Town before reversal to Beach with exception of the 21:00 which terminated at Felixstowe Town.

1973/1974 13 trains each way (plus one additional on summer Saturdays) all working from Ipswich.

Network Rail April 2010 (services operated by National Express East Anglia) Ipswich weekdays departures at 05:04, 06:04, 07:13, 08:27 then hourly until 20:27 and then 22:27. All trains call Westerfield, Derby Road, Trimley and Felixstowe. 16 trains each way.

Ipswich Saturdays departures at 06:27 then hourly until 20:27 and then 22:27. All trains call Westerfield, Derby Road, Trimley and Felixstowe

Ipswich Sundays departures at 10:00 then two hourly until 22:00. All trains call Westerfield, Derby Road, Trimley and Felixstowe.

LINE DUALING TO TRINITY PARK
In July 2008 the Secretary of State for Transport approved the 'Felixstowe Branch Line and Ipswich Yard Improvement Order' which included dualing a 4 1/4 miles of line between Trimley Station and a point west of Levington Bridge by 2014 as part of the Felixstowe and Nuneaton freight capacity scheme.

Organisations linked to the branch
The East Suffolk Travellers Association has a Felixstowe Branch with its own website. There is a description of a journey along the branch on the site.

The Friends of Trimley station are fighting to prevent the demolition of the station building.

Information sourced from Wikipedia

http://google.com