All aboard The Wherry Lines – join us on a journey on the much-loved trains which operated between Norwich, Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft.
This wonderful book Norfolk Rail: 25 Years of the Wherry Lines by Chris Boon is a superb read for anyone even remotely interested in our railway’s history.
And it features more than 180 photographs, many not seen before, with the added bonus of full captions telling us the story behind each one.
“I’ve had an interest in railways for more than 25 years, and being brought up in Lowestoft and then moving to Norwich in 2014, I’ve always enjoyed following the local railway scene,” says Chris.
“Luckily there’s been plenty of interesting and unusual trains on the lines from Norwich, in particular on what are now known as The Wherry Lines – the routes from Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft,” he says.
Yarmouth attracted holiday-maker trains featuring unusual engines for many years bringing crowds of people to the east coast; these were popular with photographers and enthusiasts alike, keen to experience the sight and sound of big noisy diesel engines hauling coaches through traditional Norfolk stations.
“As a teenager I loved riding on these summer Saturday services, with my camera in hand,” says Chris.
“Over the subsequent years, the holiday-maker trains reduced, but the loyal trail operators have made use of many different engines with a short set of coaches to supplement the more familiar trains on local services.
“These finally ended in September 2019 when Greater Anglia replaced the hugely popular Class 37s with brand new Stadler units,” he explained.
Chris pointed out the end of these diesel-hauled, along with the removal of the traditional signals on the Wherry Lines, felt like the end of an era, and therefore the perfect opportunity to compile a selection of pictures from the preceding 25 years to tell the story of locomotive-hauled trains in Norfolk.
“I contacted Key Publishing to pitch my idea, and was delighted to hear they were happy to work with me on the project. Compiling the pictures and writing the script became my lockdown project,” he added.
Well, he can be very proud of Norfolk Rail: 25 Years of The Wherry Lines published by Key Books at £15.99 which is in the shops now and available to buy on line.
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