Explore the bygone Elsenham and Thaxted railway line in Essex, closed in 1953, and its impact on local transport.
Elsenham and Thaxted are quiet villages today. They lack good transport now. Seventy years ago, they had train stations. That railway line is now closed.
The Elsenham and Thaxted railway opened in 1913. It closed 40 years later, in 1953. It came late, after big railway building eras. This might explain its short life.
The railway aimed to help local farming. They planned to extend it to Great Bardfield. Local people backed the line from Elsenham. They only built it to outside Thaxted. It opened in 1913.
Thaxted station had one platform. It had an engine shed made of iron. Passengers walked to town across the valley. This saved money for the railway. Buses took passengers quicker from town.
The railway did well at first. Cars took freight after World War I. Passenger numbers stayed good longer. The line was busy in World War II. Freight and passengers fell after the war. They said it lost money in 1951.
Passenger service stopped in 1952. Freight stopped the next year. The line is unused now. Elsenham station house still stands. The old line is now part of the countryside. Landowners claimed most of the track. It is now fields or farm tracks.