Eastern Counties Railway
| Locale | East Anglia/East London |
|---|---|
| Dates of operation | 1839–1862 |
| Successor | Great Eastern Railway |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) (1844-1862) |
| Previous gauge | 5 ft (1,524 mm) (1839-44) |
The Eastern Counties Railway (ECR) was an English railway company incorporated in 1836 intended to link London with Ipswich via Colchester, and then extend to Norwich and Yarmouth.
Construction began in 1837 on the first nine miles at the London end. Construction was beset by engineering and other problems, leading to severe financial difficulties. As a result, the project was truncated at Colchester in 1843 but through a series of acquisitions (including the Eastern Union Railway who completed the link between Colchester and Norwich) and opening of other lines, the ECR became the largest of the East Anglian railways.
In 1862 ECR was merged with a number of other companies to form the Great Eastern Railway.
In 1835 a surveyor called Henry Sayer presented a plan for a new railway from London to York via Cambridge to London solicitors Dimes & Boyman. Together with John Clinton Robertson who was to become the first secretary of the ECR and engineers John Braithwaite it was concluded that this scheme was too optimistic and a scheme from London to Norwich via Colchester and Ipswich would be more viable.
A tour of the key towns on the route followed where considerable opposition from landowners, from sections of the press and members of the public was encountered. Despite this the prospectus of the Grand Eastern Counties Railway was first prepared in 1834 by John Braithwaite. The bill was introduced into the House of Commons on 19 February 1836, and after a stormy passage (two rival schemes had also surfaced in the interim as well as continuing opposition from land owners), it was authorised by an Act of Parliament on 4 July 1836.
Construction of the line began in late March 1837 and progress east of Stratford was relatively easy as the land was largely arable. Indeed, a good number of windmills had to be demolished in order to get the railway built. West of Stratford the line had to cross the unstable Bow Marshes and after that the built up nature of the area meant that the railway had to be built on expensive viaducts.
...
Wikipedia