Colne Valley Railway
The Colne Valley Railway is a heritage railway based at Castle Hedingham in Essex, on a recreated section of the former Colne Valley & Halstead Railway, a small Victorian rural line that was eventually absorbed into the Great Eastern Railway.
The line is short, about a mile of running line, but the site is unusually well-equipped, with a fully-rebuilt country station (created using buildings rescued from elsewhere on the original line), engine shed, signal box, and a substantial collection of locomotives and rolling stock representative of the East Anglian railway scene.
History
The Colne Valley Railway Preservation Society was formed in 1973, after the original line had closed in 1962. The site was developed from greenfield using the original trackbed, with station buildings carefully rebuilt from materials rescued from closed stations elsewhere on the route. The first preserved trains ran in 1976.
Original line history
The original Colne Valley & Halstead Railway was a small independent line opened in stages from 1860, running from Chappel & Wakes Colne to Haverhill via Halstead. It was absorbed into the Great Eastern Railway in 1923 grouping (it had operated independently right up to that point), passing to the LNER. Passenger services ended in 1962, with goods following shortly.
Stations and infrastructure
Castle Hedingham station is a faithful recreation of a country GER station, with platform buildings, signal box, locomotive shed and a goods shed housing the museum. The line is bordered by water meadows of the River Colne.
Route and stations
Map: © OpenStreetMap contributors
Special events and operations
The railway is particularly noted for its frequent steam dining trains, alongside more conventional galas, 1940s weekends, beer festivals and Santa Specials.
Visitor information
The line is signposted from the A1017 between Halstead and Sudbury. Castle Hedingham village (with its famous Norman keep) is a short distance away.