I was 12 years old when we moved to King's Lynn in 1972 and we stayed there right through my teens until I left home for University in 1978. I have long thought about spending a little time reviewing the railway history of the town. This first post covers King's Lynn Harbour Branch which left the mainline just before that line entered the town in South Lynn
The harbour branch left the mainline South of King's Lynn. The docks branch left the mainline close to King's Lynn Station. The post below includes a very short history of the harbour and docks and then covers the length of the branch from the station to John Kennedy Road.
This post covers the area around the Alexandra Dock. A further post will follow to cover the railways around the Bentinck Dock.
Posted by Roger Farnworth (Member # 197595) on :
King's Lynn Dock and Harbour Railways - Part 4
This is the third post about the Docks Railway in King's Lynn.
The post covers the area around Bentinck Dock and has some detail about the Savage's Works on the East side of the dock. Savage's were internationally renowned for their steam-powered fairground attractions.
Posted by Roger Farnworth (Member # 197595) on :
King's Lynn Dock and Harbour Railways - Part 5
A few random bits and pieces which relate to the docks railways in King's Lynn ....
The Forest of Dean Tramway was a major innovation in its day. Haie Hill Tunnel which was built for it in the very early 19th Century was for a short while the longest tunnel in the world. It was also one of the earliest tunnels built.
The tramway linked significant industrial concerns in the Forest of Dean with the Severn Estuary at Bullo Pill. The owners of the tramway were also behind the first serious attempt to tunnel under the Estuary.
quote:Bullo Pill, on the Severn near Newnham, originally a small tidal creek off the main river used for boat building, was developed by building a dock basin with lock gates, and wharfs for loading goods for shipment. Coal and stone from the Forest could be loaded at the dock and exported on the Severn trows up or down the river. In addition, there was a flow of barges carrying coal across the river to Framilode and then along the Stroudwater Canal to Brimscombe, Stroud and Chalford. The name ‘Bullo Pill’ is unusual....
Posted by Roger Farnworth (Member # 197595) on :
King's Lynn again. ............
One of the directors of the Docks and Harbour Railways in King's Lynn was William Burkitt, a self-made local business man who had the means to order his own locomotive from Alfred Dodman & Company of Kings Lynn. The loco was named 'Gazelle'. This is the story of that locomotive. It pulls, Colonel Stephens, King's Lynn and the Shropshire and Montgomery Light Railway into one story!
There is a significant length of the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway, the branch to Hunstanton, the original length of the line from Gaywood towards Bawsey and a number of quarry and other short lines, without even considering the main line towards Ely.