DMU E51274 1960s Fordham
E51274, a Class 105 Cravens two car unit in its original green livery with cream speed whiskers, at Fordham Cambridgeshire in the early 1960s. The station served the Bury St Edmunds - Ely main line, and the Cambridge - Mildenhall branch. Following closure in September 1965, the yard and buildings were used in turn by a roofing/scaffolding contractor and as a waste management depot although they are currently unoccupied, awaiting redevelopment. This will be the afternoon train from Cambridge to, obviously, Mildenhall which was usually a DMU turn. It departed Cambridge around half-past-four (exact times varied over the years) and ran via Burwell. The author of this comment recollects that the return service from Mildenhall ran via Newmarket (using the long-abandoned Snailwell - Warren Hill chord) during the last months of the branch. It's possible to date this image with a fair degree of confidence. The DMU has been rather untidily adorned with warning flashes; the time will be around 5PM yet it's still daylight; trees and bushes in the background have yet to grow their full summer greenery. All this suggests the picture was taken during the early spring of 1962 - just a couple of months before the branch closed. The very fact that the train is being photographed also suggests it was not long before closure. The photographer is facing southeast, standing just in front of the station footbridge and with the sun behind him but to his right. Thus the location of the footbridge and the position of its shadow cast by the setting sun confirm this is indeed the afternoon train from Cambridge. This was the final train of the day and when closure came on June 16th 1962 (effective on and from the 18th) this service formed the last train to Mildenhall. Cravens didn't do the honours though; this fell to a Wickham DMU - the very same unit which later became the General Manager's Saloon and has survived to be preserved.