The Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway (M&GNJR) was a railway network in England, in the area connecting southern Lincolnshire, the Isle of Ely and north Norfolk. It developed from several local independent concerns and was incorporated in 1893. It was jointly owned by the Midland Railway and the Great Northern Railway, and those companies had long sponsored and operated the predecessor companies.

The area directly served was agricultural and sparsely populated, but seaside holidays had developed and the M&GNJR ran many long-distance express trains to and from the territory of the parent companies, as well as summer local trains for holidaymakers. It had the longest mileage of any joint railway in the United Kingdom.^{[2][page needed]}

In the grouping of 1923, the two joint owners of the M&GNJR were absorbed into two separate companies (the Midland into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway and the Great Northern into the London and North Eastern Railway). The M&GNJR maintained a distinct identity which only formally ended with nationalisation in 1948. After 1945 the profitability of the network declined steeply, worsened by the seasonality of the business. It was duplicated by other lines and the decision was taken to close it. Most of the network closed in 1959, although some limited sections continued in use. Only a short section near Sheringham is in commercial use today, but the North Norfolk Railway is active as a heritage line.^{[3][page needed][4][page needed][5][page needed]}

The area eventually served by the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway, taken as south Lincolnshire and north Norfolk, was late to be supplied with railway connections due to being sparsely-populated fenland. The Great Northern Railway (GNR), running north through Huntingdon, Peterborough and on to Grantham, so forming the western edge of the area, was not authorised until 1846 and not opened until 1848 between Peterborough and Lincoln. The Eastern Counties Railway (ECR), authorised in 1836, aspired to reach Norwich and Yarmouth, but ran out of money and stopped short.

In frustration local people obtained Parliamentary authority for the Yarmouth and Norwich Railway in 1842. Running via Reedham it opened to the public on 1 May 1844. In 1845 railway mania was underway, and a myriad of railway schemes was put before Parliament. Many of these foundered there, or were authorised but failed to generate investors' commitment.

By 1850 the ECR had recovered from its financial difficulties of 1836 and had connected practically every town of importance in East Anglia into its system. For some years the ECR had successfully resisted the promotion of independent railways in its area but this could not continue indefinitely, and some local lines began to obtain authorisation.

The East Anglian Railways company was an amalgamation of three earlier companies, the Lynn and Dereham Railway, the Lynn and Ely Railway and the Ely and Huntingdon Railway. The company became bankrupt early in 1851 and the GNR, operating the East Coast Main Line at Peterborough, leased the line. Using running powers between its line at Peterborough and March over the ECR, it intended to connect to King's Lynn via the Wisbech line of the East Anglian Railway. However the powers acquired from Parliament did not include a short section between the two companies' stations at Wisbech, and the scheme foundered. The GNR sold the line on to the ECR in 1852.^{[5][page needed][6][page needed][7][page needed]}

The financial performance of the ECR declined over the years and in 1862 it was absorbed into the new Great Eastern Railway (GER).

The ultimate formation of the M&GNJR resulted from the fusion of numerous local schemes, though they did not at first aspire to form a connected railway.

The Great Eastern Railway (GER) was formed on 7 August 1862, from the Eastern Counties Railway and other concerns. The GER made it clear, not least by bitter parliamentary struggles, to get authorisation for its own line or for running powers to get to Doncaster. Considerable quantities of coal were being brought south from the South Yorkshire Coalfield by the GNR, and the GER sought to take a share of the traffic. Fearing that this might happen, suddenly giving the GER a monopoly of the coal traffic to East Anglia, the GNR started to sponsor friendly railways in the area itself.^{[3][page needed]}

The Lynn and Sutton Bridge Railway and the Spalding and Bourn Railway amalgamated to form the Midland and Eastern Railway in 1866; the intention was to push westward to Saxby and join the Midland Railway there. This plan was opposed by the Great Northern Railway and the compromise was that the scheme was dropped, but that the Midland Railway was given running powers from over two GNR-sponsored lines: from Bourne to Essendine, and (by reversing there) from Essendine to Stamford; this was not a direct or fast route. The arrangement was agreed, and ratified by the Midland and Eastern Railway Act of 23 July 1866.^{[4][page needed]} The Midland and Eastern Railway was operated by the GNR and the Midland jointly, authorised by an Act of 1867.^{[3][page needed][5][page needed]}

The Midland and Eastern Railway leased the Norwich and Spalding line, but the N&SR remained nominally independent until 1 July 1877.^{[4][page needed]} It needed to go to Parliament to plead that it had, in good faith, tried to make a Sutton to Wisbech line, but had been prevented; and that the line had in fact been pre-empted by the PB&SBR; this was accepted and the M&SR was released from the prohibition on declaring a dividend. The Midland and Eastern Railway now effectively controlled the whole of the western section of the future M&GNJR, except for the Peterborough to Sutton Bridge line, which was still controlled by the Midland Railway.^{[3][page needed]}

The Midland and Eastern was jointly owned by the GNR and the Midland Railway, but it operated more or less independently. The Joint Committee did not meet between 1867 and 1880; trains of the two owning companies ran their own trains on the lines. In this period the network was referred to as the Bourne and Lynn Joint Railway.^{[3][page needed]}

For several years the Great Eastern Railway had been trying to get access to northern districts, and had been frustrated by the Great Northern Railway's opposition. Nevertheless, the GER repeatedly presented bills for such lines, and the GNR calculated that it was only a matter of time until it was successful. This policy came to fruition in April 1878 during parliamentary hearings on a GER bill, and negotiations were set in place to establish what became the Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Line, forming a through route from Doncaster to March via Lincoln.

The GNR and the Midland Railway had hitherto dominated the southward flow of Nottinghamshire and South Yorkshire coal, and saw that the dominance was vulnerable. This led the GNR and the Midland to look favourably at further development of the Bourne and Lynn Joint Railway (Midland and Eastern Railway).^{[3][page needed]}

In 1875 parliamentary sanction was obtained by an independent shipping company to develop Sutton Dock. Wisbech had traditionally been used as an inland port, but a Sutton Bridge Dock, connected to the railway network, could be advantageous, saving part of the difficult navigation up the River Nene. The GNR subscribed £20,000, calculating that this could be an export point for coal. The dock opened on 14 May 1881, and a short branch railway had been constructed to serve it. The day after the opening it was observed that the lock gates were not watertight, and in fact a general failure of the wall of the dock took place.^[13] Ships that had entered the dock were got away, but repairs to the dock were said to be impracticable, and the dock was not used again; the GNR had by then expended £55,000 on an unusable dock system.^{[3][page needed]}

Now the many railway companies that were independent of the Great Eastern Railway saw that amalgamation with one another was desirable. On 18 August 1882 the Eastern and Midlands Railway Act was passed, which arranged that on the first day of 1883 the Eastern and Midlands Railway^{[note 5]} was created by amalgamating the Lynn and Fakenham Railway, the Yarmouth and North Norfolk, and the Yarmouth Union Railway. Shares generally were transferred to E&MR stock, but some preference shareholders retained their rights. By the same Act a second stage arranged that the E&MR took over the Midland and Eastern Railway on 1 July 1883. The MR and GNR working arrangements were to continue on those affected routes, and the E&MR could only run trains on those section with the consent of those larger railways.^{[4][page needed][16][page needed][17][page needed]}

The whole line from Bourne to Great Yarmouth was now under the control of the Eastern and Midlands Railway. The train service at this stage was "lavish",^{[3][page needed]} with six trains daily on the South Lynn to Melton Constable section and seven from Melton to Norwich City, with numerous short workings. On Sundays it was made possible to spend the day in Great Yarmouth, by running several trains throughout or connecting in to those trains.^{[5][page needed][3][page needed]}

The section from Melton Constable to Holt was opened on 1 October 1884.

King's Lynn was an important regional centre and port on the Ouse, and the E&MR access to it was inconvenient, involving (from the east) reversal at the GER station for through trains, and reliance on that company's grudging acquiescence. Thoughts had long harboured the intention of creating an independent through route and on 2 November 1885 the Lynn Loop was opened for goods traffic; passenger service followed on 1 January 1886. The line ran south of Lynn, connecting from South Lynn goods station to Bawsey. The former connection from Gaywood Road Junction, north of King's Lynn, to Bawsey was closed. The railways had referred to the main station in King's Lynn simply as "Lynn" but from this time "Lynn Town" was used instead.

After a suspension of work, the Holt to Cromer section of line was completed by direct labour, and opened on 16 June 1887. A through London King's Cross to Cromer express started running in August 1887, and although the construction had been expensive, the boost to revenue from the new line was considerable. A second train was put on the following year, in the down direction consisting of coaches slipped at Peterborough from a GNR Manchester train. The time from King's Cross to Cromer via Peterborough was typically 4+1⁄2 hours, but the GER did London Liverpool Street to Cromer via Norwich in 3+1⁄2 hours.

At this time the decision was taken not to go ahead with the Blakeney Harbour branch from Kelling.^{[3][page needed]}

On 20 June 1888 a new branch line from North Walsham to Mundesley, a small seaside resort was authorised by Parliament.^{[4][page needed]}

For some years there had been continuing friction between the E&MR (and its predecessors) and the Midland Railway over the routing for goods traffic. The E&MR contended that the Midland was obliged to route its traffic to Norwich over the E&MR and not the GER, notwithstanding the inferior travel times. The Midland repeatedly protested at tribunals that no such obligation existed. Now at last a sudden rapprochement took place. A bill was to be submitted to the 1888 session of Parliament to build a connecting line from the Midland Railway near Ashwell (in the vicinity of Oakham) and Bourne. The E&MR was to build this with Midland financial help, and the following year the Midland would take over the entire western section. Traffic from the eastern section would be directed via the Midland.

At a stroke this would have cut the GNR out of much of the traffic, even though it had constantly been friendly and supportive of the E&MR when the Midland had treated it shabbily. This was "extraordinary conduct" by the E&MR. R. A. Read was a director, friendly to the Midland but prone to "rash and elaborate schemes", and Wrottesley attributes these schemes to him.^{[3][page needed]}

Nevertheless, the new line was sanctioned on 28 June 1888, although a junction to the GNR at Little Bytham was inserted to mollify the GNR.^{[4][page needed]}

In the months following the passage of the Act, wiser counsels prevailed, and the E&MR, Midland and GNR boards negotiated a more congenial arrangement. The Midland and GNR would become joint owners of the western section; the eastern section would be unaffected for the time being. The route of the Bourne connecting line to the Midland would be varied, to meet the Midland at Saxby; the connection to the GNR main line at Little Bytham would be retained; and the connecting line west of that point would be Midland property, not E&MR. Ordinary shareholders in the E&MR would get £47 for every £100 worth.^{[note 6]} A joint committee met at King's Cross on 5 March 1889; it was a Midland and Great Northern Joint Committee, but at this stage no such designation was applied to the railway itself.

The 1889 arrangement whereby the Midland and GNR jointly took over E&MR lines applied only to the western section. Now in 1891 the two larger companies indicated that they wished to acquire the eastern section too. This was agreed in October 1892, and a Bill was submitted to the 1893 session of Parliament. The consideration was £1,200,000 of Midland and GNR 3% rent stock, although there were complicated provisions for preference and debenture shareholders. Both eastern and western sections transferred to the M&GNJR.

With only minor interference from the GER, the new arrangement passed in Parliament on 9 June 1893: the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway would become an incorporated entity (rather than just a committee delegated by the two principals). A total of 113 miles (182 km) of railway was involved,^{[3][page needed][4][page needed][19][20]} so that the M&GNJR network was the longest joint railway in the United Kingdom, by mileage.^{[2][page needed]}

In the first years of the 20th century the M&GNJR was doing well financially. Long-distance expresses were run to the area from northern English cities as well as from London. Restaurant cars were put on, as well as workers' trains, for example bringing fish-processing women from northern Scotland for seasonal work. Fish had become an important traffic since the N&SJR connection to Lowestoft had been established.

Although some short sections of double track had been introduced, the majority of the network was single line, and this brought challenges to timekeeping at busy times. The Midland and GNR were operating trains on the line as of right, and the GER had acquired running powers over several sections and to some terminal stations. Conversely the M&GNJR needed the cooperation of the GER for some penetrating workings, at a time when competition with the GER was still intense.

In May 1906 the committee approved introduction of the Whitaker tablet exchange apparatus. On single-track sections, head-on collision due to signalman error was prevented by a token system: drivers of trains entering a single line section must be in possession of a physical token, a "tablet" specific to that section, and one only could only be released from control equipment in the one or other of the two signalboxes controlling entry to the section. When the train had passed through the section the tablet was placed in the apparatus at that end of the section, and only now another might be released either there or at the other end of the section. When non-stopping trains passed the tablet had to be passed from the signalman to the fireman of the train, and this could not be done at speed without injury. Whitaker devised a mechanical apparatus to be placed at the lineside and on locomotives to enable the exchange at a higher speed.^[21]

During World War I many of the best long-distance express passenger trains were suspended; the M&GNJR took on considerable additional goods traffic during hostilities, and many of the workforce left for the armed forces. The company maintained an armoured train, constructed by the London and North Western Railway at Crewe, continuously in steam from early in 1915 in case of enemy invasion.^[22]

After 1918, government control of the railways continued, and much traffic in demobilised servicemen tested the capacity of the network. There was a general railway strike in the latter months of 1919, and a coal strike in 1921, both of which caused considerable damage to the M&GNJR. The national general strike took place in 1926.^{[3][page needed]}

Wartime control of the railways ended on 15 August 1921, and the government passed the Railways Act 1921, which had the effect of transferring most of the railways of Great Britain into one of four new large companies, in a process referred to as the "grouping". The Midland Railway was transferred to the new London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS), and the Great Northern Railway (as well as the Great Eastern Railway) were transferred to the new London and North Eastern Railway (LNER). The M&GNJR remained unchanged, now jointly owned by the LMS and LNER. The rivalry with the GER was naturally at an end. The change took place formally on 1 January 1923.^{[3][page needed]}

The long-distance express trains were reinstated progressively, and the LNER particularly emphasised London King's Cross to Cromer traffic. Holidays at the seaside increased in popularity very considerably after the war, and as well as trains to and from the area, local services for holidaymakers staying in the area were enhanced in the season.

However road competition, both for goods and passengers, began to take a serious toll as roads were improved. at the same time a general depression in the agricultural sector harmed M&GNJR income.^{[3][page needed]}

In 1939 World War II started, and once again most long-distance expresses were suspended; staff were called up or volunteered in the services. However the focus of defence, evacuation of children, and later the D-day landings was the south coast, not the east. The war ended in 1945. The railways were run down during the war and the government passed the Transport Act 1947, so that the railways became nationalised at the beginning of 1948, forming British Railways (BR).

The long distance and holiday trains began to be restored, and holiday camp facilities became popular, and were served by the line.^{[3][page needed]}

In May 1958 a report was finalised by British Railways. It concluded that the entirety of the M&GNJR was loss-making, and was largely duplicated by routes of the former GER. Complete closure of passenger services was proposed. Widespread closure of goods services too was contemplated, with only the Spalding to Sutton Bridge, Peterborough to Wisbech, South Lynn to Gayton Road, and Melton Constable to Norwich City being kept. Only the Melton to Cromer branch was to be unaffected by the proposals. The scale of the closure aroused considerable opposition, mainly focussed on the reduction in amenity to communities, although there was also widespread apathy, reflected in poor turnouts at public meetings.

After deliberation the Transport Users Consultative Committee issued its decision in November 1958, that the majority of the proposed closures should proceed. Retained sections were Spalding to Bourne for goods, Spalding to Sutton Bridge for goods. A new spur would be built at Murrow connecting the M&GN line with the GN&GE Joint line; the Peterborough to Wisbech line would be disconnected at the Peterborough end, and served via the Murrow curve from Whitemoor, at March. Wisbech too would be retained and served from Whitemoor via Murrow. Further east the Melton Constable to Norwich line would remain open for goods trains, as would the South Lynn to Rudham line. Passenger trains would continue to operate between Melton Constable and Cromer, and between North Walsham and Mundesley. Yarmouth Vauxhall (the former GER station) would be extended to handle the additional seasonal passenger traffic.

The closures took place after the last trains on Saturday 28 February 1959. There was much greater public attention to the running of the last passenger trains than there had been to attending the public meetings, but the closure was decisive.^{[3][page needed][5][page needed]}

Notwithstanding the dire warnings of protesters, a substitute bus service operating from Melton Mowbray to Spalding following closely the route of the railway was almost completely lacking in patronage, and was soon given up.^{[5][page needed]}

The Melton Constable to Sheringham line had retained its passenger services for the time being; however that too closed to passengers after 4 April 1964. North Walsham to Mundesley closed on 5 October 1964.^{[3][page needed]}

The Spalding to Sutton Bridge goods connection closed after Friday 2 April 1965.^{[5][page needed]}

For over 40 years William Marriott served the M&GN and its predecessors, joining the staff of the original contractors, Wilkinson and Jarvis in 1881, serving as Engineer from 1883, Locomotive Superintendent from 1884 and finally becoming Traffic Manager as well in 1919, before retiring in 1924. He is commemorated in the name of the Marriott's Way footpath, much of which follows the trackbed of the M&GN Norwich line, and in the work of the North Norfolk Railway

At Murrow the M&GNJR crossed the GN&GE Joint Line on the level, one of few such crossings in the UK, and the only one where two joint lines crossed.^{[2][page needed]}

Because of the relatively early closure date, most workings throughout the life of the M&GN were operated by steam power. A small number of diesel multiple unit services were run in the final years, alongside the very occasional incursions of early diesel locomotives.

The M&GN mainly used designs from the MR and GNR, but included in its stock some of the older E&M engines, often much rebuilt. The famous Beyer-Peacock engines survived in this way from the early 1880s to the mid-1930s. The best contemporary designs were acquired by the Joint in the 1893 – 1901 period, but as there were no more modern engines forthcoming, the light 0-6-0s and 4-4-0s provided much of the motive power on the line until 1936. From then on the LNER tried various designs on the line, not necessarily bigger or even more recent than the Joint's own engines, but as the M&GN's engines were scrapped, newer engines such as the K2 2-6-0s and B12 4-6-0s became common. The ex-GER D16 "Claud Hamilton" 4-4-0s provided the locomotive backbone of this later period.

From the 1950s, Ivatt 4MTs became the dominant motive power on the system, which achieved a higher degree of standardisation than any other part of British Railways—more than 50 of these "mucky ducks" were allocated here. But there were other types still in use, and among them the line saw Ivatt 2MTs and occasional Standard 4MT and LNER B1 and B17 types.^{[citation needed]}

British Railways' Eastern Region was an early adopter of diesel motive power and the M&GN lines were used by Brush Type 2 locomotives and several early DMU types including Class 101 and Class 105s. A fleet of the latter was commissioned in the mid-1950s to take over all the long-distance locomotive-hauled passenger services, but the line's closure in 1959 saw them re-allocated (especially to the Great Northern suburban commuter workings out of King's Cross, for which they were particularly unsuitable). One M&GN boiler from a Hudswell Clarke 4-4-0T survives, it is hoped this will be rebuilt as a static exhibit.

The M&GN was frequently referred to as the "Muddle and Go Nowhere",^[25] a fairly self-evident title for a route that served a mostly rural region, but after closure this phrase was commonly replaced with "Missed and Greatly Needed".^[26]

The M&GN's memory is kept alive by two heritage railway operations and railway museums. Whilst only the short section between Cromer Beach and Sheringham remains open to regular services,^[27] the section of branch line between Sheringham and Holt is operated as the North Norfolk Railway.^[28] The station at Whitwell also operates as a heritage centre, with ambitions to restore a section of the M&GN main line.^[29] There is also a group dedicated to the study of the line: the M&GN Circle.^[30]

M&GN signal boxes survive at numerous locations,^[31] with Cromer Beach box^[32] being open to the public.^[33] The box from Honing also survives at the Barton House Railway near Wroxham.^[34]

The turntable from Bourne engine shed has also survived. This turntable was built in Ipswich in 1933 and installed at Bourne. When the shed closed along with the line in 1959 it was transferred to Peterborough East railway station. After that shed closed the turntable was rebuilt at Wansford station on the Nene Valley railway^[35]

Very little rolling stock from the line has been preserved. The North Norfolk Railway have rescued two passenger coaches and a brake van, while a third passenger coach has recently been preserved by the Whitwell & Reepham Railway. Another M&GN brake van survives, No. 23 which was built in 1899, was rescued from Melton Constable in 2000.^[36] Two more M&GN coaches survive, No. 40 and 41 (originally GNR), No. 40 is preserved in Alysham ^[37] and No. 41 survives at the former Raynham Station platform and building.^[38] No locomotives survived, with the last complete locomotive being scrapped at the Longmoor Military Railway in 1953.^[39]

The "golden ochre" livery has been carried by two industrial locomotives on the North Norfolk Railway,^[40] and was later worn by a bus operated by Norfolk Green^[41] on routes formerly served by the company.