Eastern and Midlands Railway

The Eastern and Midlands Railway was formed in 1881 by the amalgamation of several small railways in the Isle of Ely, Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire and Norfolk, England, including the Yarmouth and North Norfolk Railway, the Lynn and Fakenham Railway and the Yarmouth Union Railway. Many of these lines were built by contractors Wilkinson and Jarvis. In 1893 the Eastern and Midlands Railway became part of the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway.^[1]

Eastern and Midlands Railway
Overview
Locale	East of England
Service
Depot(s)	Melton Constable Railway Works
History
Opened	1881; 144 years ago (1881)
Closed	1893; 132 years ago (1893), became part of the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)

Constituents

The constituents of the Eastern and Midlands Railway were:^[2]

• Peterborough, Wisbech and Sutton Bridge Railway, opened 1866^[3]
• Midland & Eastern Railway (incorporating Lynn and Sutton Bridge Railway,^[4] Norwich & Spalding Railway and Spalding & Bourne Railway)^[5]
• Lynn & Fakenham Railway^[6]
• Yarmouth & North Norfolk (Light) Railway (incorporating Great Yarmouth & Stalham Light Railway)^[7]
• Yarmouth Union Railway^[8]

Spelling variations

The spellings of some place names have changed since the 19th century (e.g. Wisbeach/Wisbech and Bourn/Bourne).^[9]

Routes

Westbound from Kings Lynn

• Sutton Bridge - Wisbech North - Peterborough
• Sutton Bridge - Spalding - Bourne

Eastbound from Kings Lynn

• Fakenham West - Melton Constable - Norwich City
• Fakenham West - Melton Constable - Yarmouth Beach

Locomotives

In 1884, William Marriott became the locomotive superintendent^[10] at the company's Melton Constable Railway Works. The railway's stock included:

• Two Fox, Walker 0-6-0ST locomotives (works numbers 338 and 339) which had been built for the Great Yarmouth and Stalham Light Railway in 1877.
• Seven 4-4-0T locomotives built by Hudswell Clarke for the Lynn and Fakenham Railway between 1878 and 1881.^[11]
• Fifteen Beyer Peacock 4-4-0 locomotives built 1882-1888^[12]
  • Four built for the Lynn & Fakenham Railway
  • Eleven built for the Eastern and Midlands Railway
• Eight Sharp Stewart 0-6-0T (Later 0-6-0T+T and 0-6-0) locomotives (ex-Cornwall Minerals Railway)^[13]

Three Black, Hawthorn 0-6-0ST locomotives named 'Ida', 'Holt' (number 6) & 'Aylsham' built for the GY&SLR.^[14]

To the M&GN

The Eastern and Midlands Railway became a part of the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway in 1893.