DMU Operations: Eastern Region
Audley End - Saffron Walden - Bartlow
These services ran from Audley End, a station on the Liverpool Street - Cambridge route, through Saffron Walden to Bartlow on the Stour Valley Line, a distance of 7¼ miles. Some services ran through to Haverhill.
The WM railbuses took over the services on 7 July 1958. However the increase in summer passengers proved too much for the 56 seat vehicles and they would temporarily revert to steam trains[1].
A video clip showing a railbus ride over the line can be found on YouTube.
The line was closed to passengers on 7 September 1964.
Sample Timetables
7th July to 13th September 1958
4 1/2" x 6"
15th June to 12th September 1959
4 1/2" x 6"
2nd November 1959 to 12th June 1960
4 1/2" x 6"
13th June to 11th September 1960
4 1/2" x 6"
10th September 1962 to 16th June 1963
4 1/2" x 6"
15th June to 6th September 1964
In the Passenger Services Eastern Region timetable it was Table 29 (0.4 mb pdf).
Images
July 1958
Beechy Ride, bridge over the Fulfen Slade near Saffron Walden. First week after the railcar replaced steam in July 1958 on the Audley End - Bartlow branch line. Adrian Smith.
Unknown date
One of the German railbuses ready to depart from Saffron Walden station with an Audley End service circa mid-1960s. The text in the bufferbeam reads "This vehicle must only be towed at dead end of train". Stuart Mackay Collection.
References
- ⋏ p278 September 1958 Railway Observer (Railway Correspondence and Travel Society)