Dereham to Norwich Thorpe in 1968

Another of those films of doomed East Anglian branch lines by Edward "Chib" Thorp, the railway-loving undertaker of Leigh on Sea.

As ever, click on the picture above to watch the film on the BFI website.

The good news is that almost all this track is still open to passengers. Wumondham to Norwich Thorpe (plain Norwich today) never closed.

Dereham to Wymondham Abbey (a new station) is today operated by the preserved Mid Norfolk Railway, which leaves only a mile of track between Wymondham and Wymondham Abbey stations without trains.

And in 2010, as the Eastern Daily Press reported, something rather wonderful happened:

A little piece of transport history will be made when direct trains run between Norwich and Dereham this weekend. 

It will be the first time that through trains have connected city and town since the Dereham to Wymondham branch line closed to passenger trains in 1969. 

The Mid Norfolk Railway, which now runs the line as a heritage attraction, has teamed up with East Midlands Trains to run the services tomorrow and on Sunday.

And Wymondham, as any fule kno, is pronounced "Windum".