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The Mid-Norfolk Railway is today announcing that there will not be any public running for the remainder of the Summer 2020 operating season. “The railway recognises that our passengers will be disappointed by this decision, but the railway has come to the conclusion that the reduced service we could provide taking into account our rolling stock and the current social distancing measures make such a service unviable for the railway. This year despite the public closure the railway’s volunteers have been working hard to prepare the railway for our winter operations and our 2021 season and we have therefore decided it is better for the long term future of the railway to continue this work during September.” Charlie Robinson, MNR Chairman Since volunteers have been able to return to work on the railway following the initial lifting of Covid-19 restrictions, the railway has benefited from a concentrated effort to improve the track, signalling and also the rolling stock, it is this work that will continue. “Sadly, Covid-19 resulted in the MNR’s 25th Anniversary events having to be cancelled, but our volunteer teams have instead of running the railway been working hard to improve and develop the line. This will mean that as we enter our next 25 years, we as a railway will be in the best situation we can be.” George Saville, MNR General Manager During the public closure the railway has renewed the track in several places including the major upgrade of the Yaxham Road level crossing at Dereham. Signalling work has continued at Dereham Station, which is part of the long-term aim of returning public passenger service to County School Station. Several of the railway’s Mk1 and Mk 2 coaches have been refurbished. This includes being painted into British Railways’ maroon livery from the 1960s in the railway’s new maintenance shed that was built in 2019. Work on the recently acquired ex Greater Anglia Mk 3 coaches is continuing, as they are returned to their original seat configuration, ready for their use in MNR service. “We at the railway are looking forward to our running season next year, which will include the first visit of the Flying Scotsman to an East Anglian heritage railway. We are therefore confident that when we welcome our passengers back, they will see a number of improvements as we continue to restore and develop the railway.” Charlie Robinson, MNR Chairman

World-famous steam engine Flying Scotsman will visit Mid-Norfolk Railway (MNR) for the first time in October 2021. The visit was originally due to take place this October, but Flying Scotsman’s 2020 programme was cancelled as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. National Railway Museum-owned locomotive, No.60103 Flying Scotsman, will appear at the heritage railway for ten days with a mix of static display and Flying Scotsman-hauled trips, along the railway’s eleven-mile line. “All of us at the railway are looking forward to welcoming this famous engine to the railway and being joined by the many enthusiasts who will travel here to experience a ride on a train hauled by Flying Scotsman. This year has seen the coaching stock refurbished and significantly added to, which means that our passengers will be travelling in greater comfort behind Flying Scotsman along our beautiful line.” George Saville, MNR General Manager Flying Scotsman’s visit to the Mid-Norfolk Railway will take place from 2 to 18 October 2021. A further announcement will be made in the New Year when tickets go on sale for what is expected to be a very popular event. Flying Scotsman  was built in Doncaster, the first locomotive of the newly formed London and North Eastern Railway  (LNER). It left the works on 24 February 1923 with the number 1472. It was designed by Sir Nigel Gresley  as part of the A1 class - the most powerful locomotives used by the LNER at that time. By 1924, when it appeared at the British Empire Exhibition  in London, the locomotive had been renumbered 4472 and given the name 'Flying Scotsman'  after the daily 10.00am London to Edinburgh rail service which started in 1862. Since returning to the tracks in 2016, Flying Scotsman has been hauling special passenger tours and making appearances across the UK at heritage railways and the National Railway Museum  in York. “We, at the railway, look forward to the visit of the Flying Scotsman and are planning to make sure our visitors will be able to get up close and personal to this famous steam engine here at the Mid-Norfolk Railway.” Charlie Robinson, MNR Chairman “Flying Scotsman’s plans for 2020 had to be postponed following the coronavirus pandemic and I am very pleased to announce the visit to Mid-Norfolk Railway which is the first date to be confirmed from Flying Scotsman’s draft 2021 touring schedule.” Sarah Price, Head of Rail Operations at National Railway Museum “I am very pleased that Flying Scotsman will be visiting the MNR after all in 2021 and I am looking forward to seeing the famous engine back in action.” Colin Green, Director at Riley & Son (E) Ltd. The Mid-Norfolk Railway is owned and operated by the volunteers of the Mid-Norfolk Railway Preservation Trust. From a base in Dereham, Norfolk, the railway operates along a preserved railway line to the market town of Wymondham, outside Norwich. For more more about Flying Scotsman’s visit to the Mid-Norfolk Railway, this will be available at: www.mnrflyingscotsman.co.uk

The future of Mid-Norfolk Railway resident class 31 locomotive, 31255 has been secured for the railway following its purchase by several MNR members for use on the railway. The purchase of 31255 has been agreed with the previous owner, Harry Needle of the Harry Needle Railroad Company  and means the locomotive will, once restored be used on the railway. Restoration work has immediately begun on the locomotive following its arrival at Dereham from long term storage on sidings at Hardingham station on the MNR. The first step of the process is a thorough examination and assessment. A plan of works will then be drawn up which will see the mechanical and electrical systems restored first, followed by the bodywork, before ultimately the restoration will be completed by deciding on a which livery the engine will carry. The immediate aim is to have the engine restored to a standard that it can be used in service safely for the 2021 running season at the MNR. The full restoration will however be a more long term project. The group of members have bought the locomotive as the class 31s were synonymous with the railway’s history for over 60 years. As such the MNR will once again see class 31 hauled passenger trains in the future on a regular basis. “This is yet another important and exciting development for the railway in this our 25th Anniversary. The railway trust council and the membership are extremely pleased that some members have secured this locomotive for long term use on the railway and it will make an important addition to our mission of celebrating the railway heritage of East Anglia.” Charlie Robinson, MNR Chairman

It is full steam ahead at the Mid Norfolk Railway as the volunteers have returned to work on several projects at the railway following the relaxation of Covid-19 restrictions. Currently the railway remains closed to the public with no passenger trains running because of CV-19. The railway itself however has never closed to traffic, with regular movements by Greater Anglia  amongst others, as they have used the MNR to stable part of their new fleet of trains and also as an initial storage location for old stock as it is withdrawn. As the Government has relaxed the Covid-19 restrictions, in addition to the essential workers needed to operate the railway, volunteers have now been able to return to work. First on the agenda was a bridge refurbishment and the commissioning of another signalling box by the Permanent Way and Signalling teams respectively. The carriage and wagon team have also restated work on restoring and refurbishing railway coaches. During routine inspection last year, the railway identified that refurbishment work was needed on bridge number 1683 just north of Hardingham station. The work was planned for this summer and has now been completed. The issue that had been identified was that, what are known as the “Waybeams” needed replacing. These large wooden beams sit in metal toughs and are used to carry the rails across the bridge and the inspection had revealed that the beams were approaching the end of their working life. To replace the beams is therefore a significant task, as they weigh 2.5 Tonnes each, and this would require careful planning. Starting on the 10 July the railway’s Permanent Way team plus volunteers from the railway’s other teams, first removed the rails and ballast before then removing the old beams. Once the beams were out, the exposed metal work of the bridge was inspected and the ironwork treated. The new beams were then installed set in a special preservative resin, and new rails re-laid. The second part of the project required specialist plant and was carried out by Sonic Rail Services , a regular contractor for heavy infrastructure work on the railway. “This has been a very important project for the railway, our volunteers and Sonic Rail Services have made an excellent job of the refurbishment work. On behalf of the railway I would also like to thank Sonic Rail Services for their support in making this project happen.” George Saville, MNR General Manager As the work was progressing on the bridge, a small team of volunteers from the Signalling team has been working on the railway’s Dereham North signal box. The structure of the box has stood at the end of Platform 1 at Dereham station since 2007, where it was erected following its recovery from Lowestoft Now the Signalling team have installed the signalling frame and associated infrastructure ready to commission the signal box as a working box. "This is another important step along the road to our eventual aim of reopening the line to County School Station.” Charlie Robinson, MNR Chairman The MNR’s main running line currently reaches the level crossing at North Elmham, and this work will allow the railway to begin the process of restoring the signalling on the line north from Dereham.

The Mid-Norfolk Railway has today announced that all of the special events trains for the summer 2020 running season have now been cancelled due to Covid-19 restrictions. The special trains that the railway was planning to run this summer that are affected are the Cream & High Tea, Fish & Chip, Rock ‘n’ Rail and the Jazz Trains. In addition, the 1940s Weekend, the Beer Festival that were due to be held in August and the Railcar Association event in October are also now cancelled. “The railway is continuing to monitor the evolving situation and is following the Government's instructions regarding the Coronavirus pandemic. After investigation and consideration, the railway has decided that we are unable to host any of our special train services or events which include the serving of food and drink this summer. This has been a very difficult decision to make and has not been taken lightly, however the safety of our customers, staff and volunteers must always come first.” Charlie Robinson, MNR Chairman The railway will therefore offer all of our passengers, who have already booked the opportunity to carry over their existing booking to 2021 at 2020 prices or receive a refund of the ticket price. All passengers will be contacted directly by the railway via email and those who decide to opt to rebook in 2021 will be given priority once the 2021 timetable is established. Developments at the railway this year mean that it is expected that a full and expanded range of special trains will be run during the 2021 running season. Our website will be updated with information as soon as possible.

The Mid-Norfolk Railway (MNR) can confirm that together with a number of partner organisations, is part of a consortium that has applied for Government funding to conduct a feasibility study into the restoration of a regular passenger service on the line. The Consortium, of which the MNR is a member, submitted one of the 50 applications that has recently been announced by the Department for Transport  that will now be reviewed. The Mid-Norfolk Railway Consortium , in addition to the MNR, also includes Greater Anglia , Norfolk County Council , Breckland Council , and the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership . “This bid is for Government money to conduct a feasibility study into the practicality of reopening the line from Dereham to Wymondham to restore a regular passenger service on the line and then onward to Norwich.” Let me be clear however as the Chairman of the Trust Council, we are not seeking to handover our railway to Network Rail, so that a Train Operating Company such as Greater Anglia can run a daily passenger service, rather we want to explore how the MNR can develop in the future for the good of the local community. We fully intend to maintain our heritage roots”. Charlie Robinson, MNR Chairman The Mid-Norfolk Railway has restored a significant part of the former line that was originally built between 1847 and 1857 by several railway companies that ran from Wymondham to Wells next the Sea. The last passenger service ran from in Dereham to Wells in 1964 and the last passenger service from King's Lynn via Dereham to Norwich ran in 1968. The line remained open till 1989 for goods traffic and was then closed to traffic. As such the closure of the line was nothing to do with the Beeching cuts and indeed, the Beeching Report  recommended that the line all the way to Kings Lynn should be retained. The MNR has now successfully refurbished the line from Wymondham to just short of North Elmham. The railway is also actively working to relay track to County School station. The MNR owns the track bed between North Elmham and County School station which has already been restored. Currently the railway is working to reopen for heritage passenger service when it safe to do so, so that Covid-19 precautions can be met. The railway has however continued to see rail operations during the Covid-19 shut down with Greater Anglia, DRS and GB Railfreight all running over MNR tracks for a variety of reasons. “The operating model for the railway has always included working with commercial partners to extend the use of our tracks, such operations are a key part of how we run the railway and as such contribute to our income that allows the heritage side of the operation to function. Joining the consortium to seek funding for a feasibility study therefore is a natural development for the railway.” George Saville, MNR General Manager

The Mid-Norfolk Railway is this week hosting a Covid-19 testing station in the car park of Dereham Station. The station car park is being used for a mobile testing station, which is being operated by a military team from The British Army's 7 Regiment, Royal Logistics Corps on behalf of the NHS. This follows a request from the NHS and partner agencies. The Covid-19 testing station started operating on Monday and will be open again as required for members of the public who have booked tests via the NHS Covid-19 testing website. “When we were approached by the NHS to use our carpark at the station for this testing facility, we were delighted to be able to assist the local community in this small way, during the Covid-19 pandemic. The railway is, we believe, an important part of the local community and we want to play our full part. This will include helping to regenerate the local economy as we all look to the future”. Charlie Robinson, MNR Chairman The Mid-Norfolk Railway is currently working with partners and external organisations towards reopening the railway to the public in a safe manner, taking into account the Government's Covid-19 guidance. The aim is for an August reopening. “We were very pleased, when the call came to be able to assist the NHS at this time. It might only be in a small way, but it is important to all of us at the railway that we can play our part. Currently as part of our reopening plans, we have had a very successful ticket sale launch for the Polar Express and this will also show the railway is playing its part in helping to revive the local economy at this difficult time for everyone.” George Saville, MNR General Manager

The Mid-Norfolk Railway is extremely sad that over the weekend of May 1st - 4th, we have suffered an extensive vandalism attack at Dereham. Extensive damage has been done to a number of vehicles, including our recently restored and painted brake coach which the railway has spent nearly £45K restoring and our Blue DMU. Everyone at the railway is shocked and devastated by this, it couldn't have come at a worse time when the current crisis means the railway has no revenue income from visitors. Norfolk Police would like to hear from anyone who may have seen anything suspicious, or holds CCTV footage from the area at the time. Anyone with information should contact PC Sophie Webster at Dereham Police Station on 101, quoting crime reference number 36/29074/20. Alternatively contact Crimestoppers 100% anonymously on 0800 555111.