Holme Hale railway station

Holme Hale
Holme Hale railway station in 2006
General information
Location	Holme Hale, Norfolk England
Platforms	1
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	Watton and Swaffham Railway
Pre-grouping	Great Eastern Railway
Post-grouping	London and North Eastern Railway
Key dates
15 November 1875	Opened
15 June 1964	Closed to passengers
28 December 1964	closed for freight
Route map Legend To Swaffham Newton to South Pickenham road Platform 1 To Watton References: [1]

Holme Hale railway station was located in Holme Hale, Norfolk, near Swaffham. It was on the Great Eastern Railway line between Swaffham and Thetford, and closed in 1964. ^[2]

History

In 1869, the Watton and Swaffham Railway proposed a route as an extension to the existing Thetford to Watton line. The route would run for 9.25 miles (14.89 km) from Swaffham to Watton, with intermediate stops in North Pickenham and Holme Hale. ^[3] Construction of the line started in April 1873, with Holme Hale station being almost complete in September 1874. ^{[4] [5]} The line opened on 15 November 1875, with Holme Hale being the only intermediate station. ^[6]

A twenty-lever signal box, consisting of fourteen working and six spare levers, was constructed between 1891 and 1892 in response to the Board of Trade requiring that the Watton and Swaffham Railway interlock all points and signals along the line. They did this using powers provided by the Regulation of Railways Act 1889, which allowed them to order passenger rail lines to do so. ^{[7] [8]}

Services

On opening, the station had a service of four trains a day in each direction between Swaffham and Roudham Junction. ^[6] After the construction of the Bury St Edmunds and Thetford Railway in 1876, these services were extended from Roudham Junction to Bury St Edmunds. This changed when the Great Eastern Railway took over in 1879, with services then terminating at Thetford instead of Bury St Edmunds. Just before its closure to passengers in 1964, five trains a day in each direction called at the station. The line north of Watton remained open for another year to serve freight traffic. ^[9]

Preceding station		Disused railways		Following station
Swaffham Line and station closed		Great Eastern Railway Bury and Thetford (Swaffham Branch)		Watton Line and station closed

References

1. Paye 2020, p. 147.
2. Quick, M E (2002). Railway passenger stations in England, Scotland and Wales – a chronology. Richmond: Railway and Canal Historical Society. p. 229. OCLC   931112387.
3. "Watton and Swaffham Railway Bill". The Bury and Norwich Post. Norfolk Chronicle. 20 April 1869. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "Opening of the Watton and Swaffham Railway". The Ipswich Journal . 28 August 1875. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "Money Market and City News". The Morning Post . 10 September 1874. p. 6 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "Opening of the Watton and Swaffham and Thetford and Watton Extension Railway" . The Bury and Suffolk Standard. 23 November 1875. p. 4 – via British Newspaper Archive.
7. Paye 2020, p. 41.
8. RoRA 1889, p. 761.
9. Adderson & Kenworthy 2016, pp. iv–v.

Bibliography

• Paye, Peter (2020). Branch Lines to Thetford. Gloucestershire: Lightmoor Press. ISBN   9781911038771.
• Adderson, Richard; Kenworthy, Graham (December 2016). Branch Lines around Swaffham. Midhurst: Middleton Press. ISBN   9781908174970.
• Regulation of Railways Act 1889 (PDF)– via Railways Archive.

52°37′42″N0°46′22″E / 52.6284°N 0.7729°E / 52.6284; 0.7729