Heacham railway station

Heacham
Main station building in 2010.
Location
Place	Heacham
Area	King's Lynn and West Norfolk, Norfolk
Grid reference	TF668375
Operations
Pre-grouping	Lynn & Hunstanton Railway Great Eastern Railway
Post-grouping	London and North Eastern Railway Eastern Region of British Railways
Platforms	3
History
3 October 1862	Opened
5 May 1969	Closed
Disused railway stations in the United Kingdom
Closed railway stations in Britain A B C D–F G H–J K–L M–O P–R S T–V W–Z

Heacham was a railway station which served the seaside resort of Heacham in Norfolk, England. Opened in 1862, the station became a junction where services left the King's Lynn to Hunstanton line for Wells on the West Norfolk Junction Railway, which opened in 1866. The station closed with the Hunstanton line in 1969.

Built about a mile (1.6 km) to the west of Heacham village, the station was intended to tap a thriving holiday market which had developed in the 19th century. A favourite resort of Queen Alexandra, the village attracted large numbers of caravans and chalets to its shingly foreshore. The King's Lynn to Hunstanton line proved an immediate success, and encouraged the construction of a second line, the West Norfolk Junction Railway from Heacham to Wells, which opened in 1866, thereby making Heacham a junction station.

Services to Wells started and terminated in a bay platform to the east of the station, while trains to Hunstanton and King's Lynn departed from the two through platforms. The station was rebuilt at least twice, with the Great Eastern Railway adding platform canopies, a turntable and improving the platform buildings. More substantial modifications were carried out by the London and North Eastern Railway in 1937 as Heacham had by then become a significant holiday destination, and it was necessary to extend the passing loop to accommodate 13-coach trains. A lattice girder footbridge linked the platforms, while a signal box was situated on the down side. Arriving passengers could find lodgings for the night in the nearby West Norfolk hotel. In 1960, the station was allocated a camping coach converted from a Pullman car, which was fitted with a full kitchen, two sleeping compartments and a room with two single beds.

The post-war boom experienced by the King's Lynn to Hunstanton line was not felt on the West Norfolk Junction Railway, where inconveniently sited stations contributed to the declining passenger traffic. Passenger services from Wells were withdrawn from 31 May 1952, but the line remained open to freight until the North Sea flood of 1953, when the track between Wells and Holkham was so severely damaged that British Rail considered it not worth repairing and the line was closed completely between these two places. The King's Lynn to Hunstanton line survived 17 more years before itself closing in 1969 amid falling traffic and service cutbacks.