This film is part of Free

Camwell Personal Film No. 59: Diesel brake-van Tour

From Ipswich depot to Hadleigh station in a brake van: there's standing room only on this Ramblers special.

Amateur film 1962 2 mins Silent

Overview

This amateur film joins the last leg of a Ramblers Railtour, organised by the well-known tour organiser Mr GR Lockie, on 20 April 1962. The journey takes us from Ipswich motive power depot along the single track line from Bentley Junction to Hadleigh station. The line to Hadleigh had been built in 1847 and directly joined the town with the Great Eastern main line. By 1932 the line had closed to passengers and the intermediate stations of Capel and Raydon had fallen into disrepair.

The thoroughly modern Brush Type 2 crawls along through gated level crossings that were to see very few trains after 1962, and by 1965 the line had closed. Today, part of the route is a nature walk severed by the new A12 dual carriageway. This film was taken by renowned railway enthusiast William Arthur 'Cam' Camwell. Several other of his films are also available on BFI Player.