July 2024 - Visit to 'The Middy'

Report - July 2024 - Visit to 'The Middy'   ‘The Line to Nowhere'

Mid Suffolk Light Railway museum (MSLR)

On arrival we were greeted by the Station Master for the day, John Stark, a former chairman of the Trust which runs the railway. There was a slideshow in the museum room and John set out the history of the railway, which opened in 1902 having received permission to create the line in 1900.

John was an exceptionally knowledgeable guide and delivered key facts and anecdotes throughout the presentation. He pointed out various artefacts in the museum and drew our attention to those items we would see out on the station platform and on the track.

The railway was created in place of a ‘good road network’, intended to open up central Suffolk and serve the busy farming communities. It was built cheaply but missed the great railway age of the 1800’s and as a result, was in and out of bankruptcy - often.

The line was to run from Haughly to Halesworth with connections at Needham Market and Westerfield. The connections were later abandoned and eventually only 19 miles of the proposed 42 miles of track was laid. LNER was to later absorb the line but it held out until MSLR resolved its debt (yet again) and took over the line in 1924. 

Typically, the line brought coal in, and sent crops out from the farming communities. MSLR was advised not to open a passenger service but to concentrate on the transport of goods. That advice was ignored for the most part and passengers were regularly carried - mostly children to schools further along the line. Travelling to Haughley provided a connection to Bury St Edmunds, Ipswich and Cambridge, and onward to all parts of the nation!

The line really came into its own from 1938 and during the second world war. Work was undertaken to beef it up by way of construction to accommodate an influx of over 3000 American Service personnel. However, after the war the line went back to its former schedule of 3 trains a day and 1 on Sundays.

MSLR became part of the nationalised British Railways in 1948 but the line could not sustain itself and largely because the Americans had left and the aerodromes no longer bustling - or needed - the decision was taken to close the line in 1952. But, it stayed open until the end of the school year and the last train ran on 25th July 1953. This closure was 11 years before Dr Beeching’s, ‘The Reshaping of British Railways’ report in March 1963 which led to mass closures of unprofitable rail lines and stations, in order to stem financial losses of British Railways.

Having left the museum building we ventured outside in the cold and damp July morning to view the platform and station buildings. Facing us was a corrugated structure which had been used as a garden shed, but before that, it was the station building at Wilby. Behind this is the old Brockford ticket office, also an old hut. Further on is the old Mendlesham station building which had, since the closing of the line, been used as a chicken shed by a local farmer. All 3 structures have been lovingly restored inside and out to reflect typical station buildings from the 1940’s.

The interiors are striking for the attention to detail. Clocks, ticket machines and timetables abound and, if one tries hard, there is the faint smell of old stations (or was that the chickens?)

In 1990 enthusiasts set about forming a charitable trust with the aim of establishing a MSLR museum and restoring the line, station and engines. The Trust has gone from strength to strength, engaging volunteers from far and wide to contribute to the running of the enterprise.

For many years, the Trust has won awards for its sympathetic restoration projects and running of this exceptional museum. This was helped in no small manner by Michael Portillo (celebrity railway enthusiast and former MP) who, on visiting, could not be persuaded to stop driving one of the engines! But, like all volunteer organisations and charities, the Trust needs financial support if it is to maintain the railway, make improvements and extend it. A visit to this masterpiece will make a big contribution to running costs!

The next project is to gain permission from the Secretary of State to run the extended line with steam engines. The extension of some 500 metres will mean that there will be a kilometre of usable track. The need for permission arises as the line passes over a footpath and appropriate legislation has to be put in place, together with the provision of a level crossing. Hopefully, if all goes well, 2025 will see the project come to Fruition.

Kelvin Hastings-Smith