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Colchester, Stour Valley, Sudbury And Halstead Railway
All photographs of this railway in date order.
![DMU at Sudbury, Suffolk. <br><br>[Ian Dinmore //]](/images/11000/11876.jpg "Sudbury")
![Sudbury goods yard SB. <br><br>[Ian Dinmore //]](/images/11000/11877.jpg "Sudbury")
![End of the line. Sudbury, Suffolk. <br><br>[Ian Dinmore //]](/images/13000/13086.jpg "Sudbury")
![The photographer's brother and mother await the train for Marks Tey at Sudbury in June 1975. A few months later, while undertaking a post-graduate transport degree at the Polytechnic of Central London (PCL), the photographer found himself part of a team looking at a proposal to convert the Sudbury branch to a roadway. The team's report did not support such a conversion.<br><br>[David Spaven /06/1975]](/images/42000/42009.jpg "Sudbury")
![Nine years after closure, a discarded luggage trolley is still to be seen between the platforms at Long Melford in April 1976. Formerly a junction for the Stour Valley and Bury St Edmunds lines, this was the view towards Sudbury until new houses were built across the trackbed.<br><br>[Mark Dufton 11/04/1976]](/images/40000/40875.jpg "Long Melford")
![On Thursday 23rd April 1953 two workmen were busy at Sudbury station updating the running in boards. Their job was to replace the pre-nationalisation signs with the blue enamel versions that identified the station as being BR Eastern Region. Just as they were fixing one of the new boards in place (the one in this photo, pictured 23 years later), they decided to leave their names and the date penciled on a piece of adhesive tape behind the enamel nameplate for posterity. Their note saw the light of day again at the next resigning of the station in 1980. No doubt the workmen, Mr R. Pleasance and Mr P.J.Pullard, would have been pleased to know that their “message in a bottle” was still afloat well into the 21st century.<br><br>[Mark Dufton 11/04/1976]](/images/57000/57544.jpg "Sudbury")
![A Class 308/1 EMU is recorded between Wivenhoe and Hythe while working a Clacton/Walton to Colchester local service on 17th May 1976. These 1961 vintage units were replaced on this line by Class 313 EMUs in the early 1980s, but made a comeback after refurbishment and soldiered on for a few more years.<br><br>[Mark Dufton 17/05/1976]](/images/54000/54886.jpg "Hythe")
![A rare sight away from the Thorpe-le-Soken to Walton line by February 1977, a two car Class 309 unit photographed shortly after passing through Hythe, running ecs from Ilford carriage sidings towards Clacton.<br><br>[Mark Dufton 22/02/1977]](/images/42000/42636.jpg "Hythe")
![A permanent way gang at work at Hythe, Colchester on the morning of Sunday March 13th 1977. Apart from the track, platform and cantenary, every major structure in this view has vanished. The crossing is now worked by automatic barriers and the background buildings have been replaced by a Tesco store. Also long gone is the informal way of working. Such gangs supplied their own working clothes, had steel-capped boots as their only protection, and were quite comfortable with members of the public coming to watch their efforts at close quarters.<br><br>[Mark Dufton 13/03/1977]](/images/31000/31293.jpg "Hythe")
![Two almost new Class 312 EMU sets seen just after passing Colchester Hythe station in August 1977 on a Liverpool Street to Walton (front unit) and Clacton (rear unit) working. While the line remains, virtually every other part of this scene has been transformed. The Colchester Lathe company on the right is long gone (inevitably replaced by a Tesco car park and Superstore), a road bridge has been built across the foreground to bypass the level crossing seen in the distance, and huge blocks of commuter flats have arisen on the left.<br><br>[Mark Dufton 27/08/1977]](/images/24000/24931.jpg "Hythe")
![A special seaside excursion to Clacton is seen approaching Hythe station in Colchester on its evening return journey behind 31 145. Whether it was an Adex or Mystex is not known, but those on board had been very lucky with the weather that day, 1st September 1977.<br><br>[Mark Dufton 01/09/1977]](/images/34000/34151.jpg "Hythe")
![A Tuesday afternoon service to Marks Tey draws out of Sudbury station on 6th September 1977. The tall starting signal was later replaced by a shorter version nearer the signal box.<br><br>[Mark Dufton 06/09/1977]](/images/32000/32717.jpg "Sudbury")
![The Marks Tey to Sudbury line has done very well to survive for over 40 years since closure of the Sudbury-Cambridge section in March 1967. Shown here in April 1978 is the station at Bures with a Cravens/Gloucester hybrid DMU about to depart for Sudbury. To guarantee survival, the branch really needs a London facing junction at Marks Tey instead of the present one that faces Colchester. If built, electrification and through London services would surely follow.<br><br>[Mark Dufton 11/03/1978]](/images/24000/24050.jpg "Bures")
![A DMU on layover at Sudbury before returning to Colchester in March 1978. Sudbury became the terminus when the line west through Haverhill to Cambridge was closed in March 1967. Survival of the through route was not helped by BR timetablers in the 1960s, who treated the small market town of Sudbury as a service terminus for trains to the east and west. Peak hours apart, if you wanted to travel through Sudbury, you were often faced with a long wait there for a connection. <br><br>[Mark Dufton 11/03/1978]](/images/43000/43635.jpg "Sudbury (Old)")
![The poster in the signal box window says 'Support local rail services. Use it, don't lose it!' The townsfolk of Sudbury, Suffolk, did and didn't. However, the box was abolished in early 1981 three years after this photo, from which time the train crews could no longer look forward to the kettle being on for them as they approached the Sudbury terminus.<br><br>[Mark Dufton 06/05/1978]](/images/30000/30826.jpg "Sudbury")
![A reminder of the days of the manual level crossing gates at Hythe station, Colchester, in 1978, when rush hour cars and buses could be substantially delayed by a succession of trains. The later provision of lifting barriers and the building of a new road bridge nearby eventually eased the problem. The crossing keeper used to get very irate with impatient drivers following nose to tail processions over the crossing preventing him from closing the gates.<br><br>[Mark Dufton 18/09/1978]](/images/37000/37736.jpg "Hythe")
![A DMU calls at Chappel and Wakes Colne on the Marks Tey - Sudbury branch in May 1979. This is also the location of the East Anglian Railway Museum, the main building of which stands on the right. <br><br>[Ian Dinmore 03/05/1979]](/images/37000/37953.jpg "Chappel and Wakes Colne")
![RSH 0-6-0ST inside cylinder No. 54 <I>'Pen Green'</I> (works no 7031 of 1941) in steam at the East Anglian Railway Museum in May 1979. The museum is located alongside Chappel and Wakes Colne on the Marks Tey - Sudbury branch.<br><br>[Ian Dinmore 03/05/1979]](/images/41000/41214.jpg "Chappel and Wakes Colne")
![The country halt atmosphere at Bures on the Suffolk/Essex border is completed by the obligatory lady with a shopping bag. She has just alighted from the Cravens DMU on the departing service to Sudbury on 22nd March 1980, having probably spent the Saturday morning exploring the stores in Colchester. In 2017, the station became a 'request stop'.<br><br>[Mark Dufton 22/03/1980]](/images/63000/63187.jpg "Bures")
![Time for a rest and a cigarette at Hythe station, Colchester, on the morning of June 19th 1980. The gang had just finished re-railing this brake van at the end of a permanent way train. Earlier, after a run around from the locomotive via the points visible, the train was required to set back, and the brake van had split the points. The incident had occurred at just at the right time to ensure rush hour chaos on the Clacton/Walton to Colchester line.<br><br>[Mark Dufton 19/06/1980]](/images/32000/32872.jpg "Hythe")
![The crew of an afternoon service from Marks Tey has plenty of time for a stroll around the overgrown station at Sudbury before needing to head back on August 10th 1980. The original building survived for a few more years before fire damage and vandalism hastened its demolition. In 1990, the track was slewed over to the right and into a new terminal platform on the site of the former loading dock. [See image 41998] <br><br>[Mark Dufton 10/08/1980]](/images/26000/26042.jpg "Sudbury")
![Scene at the terminus at Sudbury in rural Suffolk in September 1985, where mail has just arrived off the 1605 DMU from Colchester St Botolphs and is being transferred to a Royal Mail van. The old 1865 GE Sudbury station, the south end of which is seen here, was replaced by <I>something more up to date</I> in October 1990. [See image 41998]<br><br>[Ian Dinmore 21/09/1985]](/images/20000/20026.jpg "Sudbury")
![Hastings 206 units leaving Sudbury during the farewell tour in May 1986.<br><br>[Ian Dinmore /05/1986]](/images/38000/38604.jpg "Sudbury")
![Mount Bures level crossing box on the Marks Tey to Sudbury line, looking north towards Sudbury in 1991, with early morning fog drifting in off the North Sea.<br><br>[Ian Dinmore //1991]](/images/20000/20434.jpg "Mount Bures Level Crossing")
![Looking out over the buffer stops at Sudbury in December 1995. [See image 20026]<br><br>[Ian Dinmore /12/1995]](/images/41000/41998.jpg "Sudbury")
![A Class 321 EMU slows for the stop at Hythe station on 7th January 2012. It will call after at Colchester Town, reverse and terminate at Colchester. Private housing, a large DIY store and student flats have replaced the industrial sites that used to feature in this view.<br><br>[Mark Dufton 07/01/2012]](/images/54000/54903.jpg "Hythe")
![Saying it with flowers, on platform 2 (the museum side, as opposed to the national railway) at Chappel and Wakes Colne on 20 July 2013. [See image 37953]<br><br>[Ken Strachan 20/07/2013]](/images/43000/43882.jpg "Chappel and Wakes Colne")
![<I>The Railway Tavern</I> was situated but a short stagger from the original station building at Chappel and Wakes Colne (seen to the right), and now makes a handsome house - highly suitable for commuters to Marks Tey. Someone seems to have left their organ pipes on the roof.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 20/07/2013]](/images/43000/43898.jpg "Chappel and Wakes Colne")
![How it might have been: the 17.07 to Sudbury heads north by north-east, surrounded by a pleasant clutter of preserved items. Despite appearances, the signal box is out of use. [see image 37953]<br><br>[Ken Strachan 20/07/2013]](/images/44000/44933.jpg "Chappel and Wakes Colne")
![All is not as it seems in this picture. The 14-lever Chappel South box was formerly located at Fotherby Halt, Lincs. Notice the miniature railway coach to the left.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 20/07/2013]](/images/44000/44971.jpg "Chappel and Wakes Colne")
![A bird cage and a dog box: the former being the glassy upper section allowing the guard to see over the train, the latter being quite literally a place to store pasengers' dogs (the hinged doors can be seen below the cage). 1912 North London Railway grounded coach body.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 20/07/2013]](/images/44000/44984.jpg "Chappel and Wakes Colne")
![I am not familiar with the class 306, but apparently it invokes considerable nostalgia among former commuters in South East England. Unit number 017 pauses at platform 3 (built by preservationists) at the East Anglian Railway Museum at Chappel and Wakes Colne on 20 July 2013.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 20/07/2013]](/images/45000/45256.jpg "Chappel and Wakes Colne")
![A distinctly compact pump trolley on display at the East Anglian Railway Museum at Chappel and Wakes Colne on 20th July 2013.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 20/07/2013]](/images/45000/45327.jpg "Chappel and Wakes Colne")
![The station master's house (right) and original station (left) keep the signal box (extreme left) company at the East Anglian Railway Museum on 20th July. [See image 44933]<br><br>[Ken Strachan 20/07/2013]](/images/45000/45342.jpg "Chappel and Wakes Colne")
![Good job they left the handbrake on. This 0-4-0 saddle tank, with a few bits missing, seems to be content to be a 'gate guardian' at the East Anglian Railway Museum on 20th July.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 20/07/2013]](/images/45000/45354.jpg "Chappel and Wakes Colne")
![Looking up past the gate guardian [see image 45354], the footbridge to the East Anglian Railway Museum looks like it's always been there; whereas in fact, it was recently transplanted (pun entirely intended) from Sudbury.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 20/07/2013]](/images/45000/45384.jpg "Chappel and Wakes Colne")
![The replacement station at Chappel and Wakes Colne is definitely grander than the original [see image 45342]. Notice the 'gate guardian' on the right.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 20/07/2013]](/images/45000/45426.jpg "Chappel and Wakes Colne")
![<I>Toby</I> the Tram Engine hitched to <I>Henrietta</I> at Chappel and Wakes Colne in July 2013 [see image 45318]. Alternatively, this is something similar to a Wisbech and Upwell tramway locomotive. I suspect the original would not have been a diesel; and would have had a more thoroughly concealed motion.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 20/07/2013]](/images/45000/45444.jpg "Chappel and Wakes Colne")
![The train staff and passenger at Chappel and Wakes Colne (old branch line economics) seem to have lost something. They didnt find it before the 14.39 left for Marks Tey. The location of the viaduct is indicated by the slewed track in the background.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 20/07/2013]](/images/45000/45486.jpg "Chappel and Wakes Colne")
![A wet and miserable 16 November at the East Anglian Railway Museum, with a 2-car DMU set standing alongside on the Museum's tracks. On the right is the platform serving the Sudbury branch looking south towards Marks Tey. <br><br>[Peter Todd 16/11/2014]](/images/49000/49473.jpg "Chappel and Wakes Colne")
![Platform scene at Chappel and Wakes Colne on 16 November showing Greater Anglia unit 153322 calling with the 10.26 Sudbury - Marks Tey service. <br><br>[Peter Todd 16/11/2014]](/images/49000/49477.jpg "Chappel and Wakes Colne")
![Visitors to Sudbury station in the 1970s rarely bothered about its minimal and decaying passenger facilities. It was miracle enough that there was still a train service. Forty years later, all had changed. The intending traveller was by then greeted with clean premises, floral displays, cycle racks, plenty of information and free newspapers. Temptation was in the form of fresh ground coffee and bacon “sarnies” for £2.50. Very possibly, the table and chairs constitute the first class lounge.<br><br>[Mark Dufton 14/07/2016]](/images/57000/57223.jpg "Sudbury")
