Aldeburgh branch line

The Aldeburgh branch line was a railway branch line linking the town of Saxmundham on the East Suffolk line and the seaside resort of Aldeburgh. There were intermediate stops at Leiston and Thorpeness. Part of the line remains in use for nuclear flask trains servicing Sizewell nuclear power station.

The line opened as far as Leiston on 1 June 1859 and was extended by four miles (6.4 km) to Aldeburgh on 12 April 1860.

The line was proposed by Samuel Morton Peto and supported by local agricultural machine manufacturer Richard Garrett. The Leiston Works Railway operated to link the line to Garrett's Leiston works. Operated initially by the Eastern Counties Railway, it was taken over by the Great Eastern Railway in 1862.

Most trains started their journey at Saxmundham railway station and travelled 1⁄2 mile (0.8 km) northwards along the East Suffolk line to Saxmundham Junction where the Aldeburgh branch diverged eastwards across fields towards Leiston. The line climbs sharply over a ridge of higher ground before falling gently towards the coast. The first station is Leiston — 4+1⁄2 miles (7.2 km) — which, in addition to having goods sidings, also had the branch line to the south serving the Richard Garrett & Sons works. Part of that line is still extant as Leiston Works Railway. 16 chains (322 m) east of the station was a siding on the north side of the line, to the south of Carr Avenue, east of what is now the Jehovah's Witnesses Hall. It originally served the town gasworks, but was later in service as a coal siding until the 1960s.

There was another industrial siding at Sizewell which was originally provided for cattle traffic from the local marshes, and this location (to the east of Sizewell Sports Club, south of King George's Avenue) is the present day terminus of the line. It is believed this siding was opened in 1860. Thorpeness station — 6+1⁄2 miles (10.5 km) — was a single platform affair, and in latter years its station buildings consisted of three former carriage bodies supported at the back by concrete sleepers.

The three carriages were recorded as:

There was a siding provided here from 1921 for goods traffic.

The terminus of the line at Aldeburgh consisted of a single platform with an attractive overall roof – quite an unusual feature for the Great Eastern. The station building was a two-storey affair. There was a small goods shed as well as a small engine shed at this location. A hotel (The Railway Hotel) was built at the same time next to the station; it later became The Railway Tavern and exists today as The Railway Inn.