As promised, here are some follow-up pictures to the ones posted here .

North of the town of Hoveton the branch line becomes single-track:




Here's the small station serving the village of Worstead. This is the
view looking north:




As you might guess from that photo, there was once a passing-loop here
with trains in one direction (most likely northbound as left-running is
the norm) using the now-abandoned second platform:




In place of the old loop track is now just a sign to remind passengers
which way is which :



[This message has been edited by pauluk (edited 06-22-2004).]

And here's the view from the platform looking south:




There's a modern two-aspect starting signal at the south end of the
platform, and a grade crossing with the road immediately beyond:




This is a modern crossing with automatic barriers and lights, which, as luck
would have it, were called into operation while I was there. I heard the
"beeper" come on just in time to run back to the road and get these shots:





Got to get a closer picture of the lights, just to have an excuse that there's
at least something electrical in nature here:

And here's the little two-car shuttle train disappearing south toward Norwich:




The station is now unmanned, with no operational ticket office and the buildings
sitting all locked up most of the time. People just buy a ticket after boarding if needed.

The station has a somewhat melancholy, forgotten atmosphere about it, as shown by the abandoned signalbox, now falling slightly into ruin, just beyond the north end of the platforms:




Yet the new lights and crossing, and the other modern touches like up-to-date safety signs still let you know that this is a working station. The modern intercom reinforces the unmanned-but-still-in-use status (not too clear I'm afraid, but the two call buttons are labeled "Information" and "Emergency"):




A few more images to follow.......


[This message has been edited by pauluk (edited 06-22-2004).]

Here's the last batch....

Although unmanned crossings have become common as signalboxes have been closed and control passed to more centralized operations centers, most crossings are now automated with barriers and lights like the one pictured above.

But out here in the tiny rural backlanes, you'll find one or two like this:



This is on the branch line between Hoveton and Worstead, pictured above. You have to call the signalman to check it's clear and open the gates yourself:



The phone is one of the few modern items at this crossing:

This is line looking south back toward Hoveton:



And when they say to close the gates behind you, they mean it!



Pedestrians can cross by just using the small gates to the side of the main ones:


Last summer I took some visitors down a tiny backlane and over one of these crossings. They had no idea that such things still existed, and thoroughly enjoyed the epxerience!