LONDON TO GREAT YARMOUTH VIA NORWICH JULY 2016

Allowed myself a long weekend away in Great Yarmouth for some rest, plenty of beach walks and enjoying an old family holiday destination from my youth. Yarmouth has many memories for me, but in the thirty years that have passed since last family holiday at Caister-on-Sea (Haven Holiday Park) can't say much has changed in this seaside town. 

What I did remember however was that the summer timetable had special holiday services "Direct" via Norwich from Liverpool Street. Under modern privatisation no such luxury and the days of 10 coaches filling up the platforms beind a couple of 47's are long gone. 

As you'll see from the images of Yarmouth, once known as Yarmouth Vauxhall and the only survivor of one of three stations in the town, there was plenty of room for services to and from Norwich and all points from there, and now it's reduced to a half hourly service by a 2 car DMU. 

At least some of the heritage survives, the signal box and semaphore signals are present, the platforms and track are generally in good order even though there are few services and the one thing I remember was the resident Class 03 shunter and the rails going over the bridge across the River Yare. 





Now the shunter is long retired and the carriage sidings are overgrown however the arch bridge is still present albeit it's a foot / cycle path now. 





Nice touch to see the platform pay tribute to the services during the wartime evacuation, a time where rail service where in their heyday and a time we hope never to see again for the right reasons. 




Anyway here comes my train right on time.