Saffron Walden Railway

The Saffron Walden Railway was a branch of the Great Eastern Railway between Audley End and Bartlow on the Stour Valley Railway between Shelford to Haverhill, a distance of convert|7.25|mi|km. [ [http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/stations/s/saffron_walden/index.shtml Saffron Walden Railway notes] ] [cite book|author=R.S. Joby|title=Forgotten Railways East Anglia|year=1977|id=ISBN 0715373129|publisher=David & Charles]

Overview

The line was opened between Audley End and Saffron Walden on 21 November 1865 and to Bartlow in 1866. The line was the initiative of the local Gibson family whose bank helped to finance the railway. It remained independent until 1 January 1877 when the Great Eastern Railway purchased the line. [cite book|author=Leslie Oppitz|title=Lost Railways of East Anglia|id= ISBN 1853065951|year=1999|publisher=Countryside Books]

At Audley End services served a separate platform, of which the building still remains in the current car park (coord|52.0043|N|0.2077|E|type:landmark_region:GB).

Services

Initially there were six return trains a day, while between 1877 and 1894 trains operated between Saffron Walden and London. Coaches dating from the 1890s operated on the line until the 1950s. [cite book|author=Richard Spendlove|year=1992|title=Branch lines around Cambridge|publisher=HEGA publications]

From July 1958 the line was operated by railbuses until closure to passengers on 7 September 1964 and freight three months later.

References

External links

* A film of the line