A ride on the Poppy Line.

What to do when holidaying in North Norfolk and the rest of the family are having afternoon tea? (Tea and cake is fine, but afternoon tea sounds rather too formal for my liking.) Simple, find a steam railway and go for a ride. This year it was the turn of the North Norfolk Railway (last year I rode on the Wells & Walsingham), so last Thursday I hopped in the Landy, drove to Holt, and caught the 14.45 to Sheringham. £12 got me an all day rover ticket, plus an extra £2 to take Big Dog and Small Dog with me.

I rode behind 76084, a smart lined black 4MT, one of three steamers on duty today. I did see the Y14 as well in passing, which looked rather splendid in pre-grouping livery.
The service was well attended, hardly suprising as its the school holidays, but there was still plenty of room in the coach, just as well as Big Dog likes to spread himself out in the gangway (thankfully he's not that big, in fact quite small for a Springer, and most folk seem to like him).

First stop was Kelling Heath, a request stop for a holiday park, and then on to Weybourne. Here can be found the main sheds, a busy place with plenty to see. As we went past I was seated, so I decided to make sure that I stood by the door on the way back with camera poised poking out the window (I tend to alternate between sitting and leaning out of windows). Black Prince stood in the open recieving attention, a 31 sat idling and someone was busy steam cleaning a large important looking casting.

Heading towards Sheringham there are grand views of the sea, and of the off-shore wind farms. The line passes a golf course before entering the town. Looking at the folk playing I wondered how many balls ended up in the four-foot. I disembarked (I refuse to use the term 'de-train') so that I could watch the 4MT run round and photograph the vintage train sitting in the yard, which included a Wisbech & Upwell coach. Getting back on the train proved troublesome, Big Dog somehow managed to mis-judge the step and fell down the gap between coach and the platform. I had to drag him out by his collar (at least until I could get my other hand under his belly), luckily he was unscathed and quickly recovered from the shock, probably helped by the others passengers making a fuss of him. He's quite stoic really...

Heading back to Holt I failed to photograph the yard at Weybourne as a young girl stood at the door where I wanted to stand, but she seemed to be enjoying the ride which can only be a good thing. Some railway enthusiasts would probably have been rather peeved, but we should remember that having a bit of knowledge about railways doesn't make us any more important than anyone else on the train.
Back in Holt I shut both dogs in Back'o'Landy (windows open and water bowl full) so I could mooch about unencumbered with the camera for a while before heading back to the cottage.
Anyway, enough waffle, here are some pics. First up a couple of those 'leaning out the window' shots;

Lineside hut;

Sheringham;

Vintage stock;

4MT;

Back to Holt, running round;

The last two services of the day were run by DMU, seen here pulling in to Holt;

Its a 'mix&match' two car;

Finally a couple of wagons. First an interesting tool van;

And finally, a full size Wonderfull Wagon;

A good day out. Apart from the ticket all I bought was tea and a sandwhich and a couple of old Railroad Model Craftsman magazines (more about them later perhaps).

Paul.