The Light Railways Act of 1896 was passed at a time of great depression in the agricultural industry. Unemployment was widespread and the Act was seen as a means of opening up parts of the country that had no ready access to the markets in the big cities and towns. It allowed railways to be built at a fraction of the cost of "heavy" railways. Speeds were limited to 25 mph and the requirements for fencing, level crossings and signalling were less onerous. Hence Light Railways could be built and operated cheaply. Of the many schemes proposed, one was the Mid-Suffolk Light Railway. It was an ambitious scheme to open up central Suffolk, then largely unpopulated save for a few small towns and villages. It was to run from Haughley Junction (on the Great Eastern Railway's main London – Norwich line) to Halesworth, on the East Suffolk line from London to Great Yarmouth. A branch was intended from Kenton (about a third of the way from Haughley to Halesworth) to Westerfield on the same GER line to Yarmouth.

By September 1904 the first section of the MSLR had opened for goods traffic and, after additional engineering and safety work on the line had been carried out, it opened during September 1908 for passenger traffic as far as Laxfield, a distance of about 19 miles from Haughley. The Company was far too poor to complete the routes to Halesworth and Westerfield. Short extensions were built beyond Laxfield to Cratfield, and likewise on the Westerfield branch to a point close to Debenham, but these never carried passengers and goods traffic was sparse and ceased after a few years. The track on these short sections was lifted during the Great War .

There were ten stations  - each station had a small building made externally of corrugated iron and internally of match-boarding. Locally known as the “Middy”, the main business of the railway was the carriage of agricultural traffic - cattle, sheep, barley, potatoes, from stations on the line. Coal, agricultural items and goods came down the branch.

In 1923 the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) was formed to run the railways on the eastern side of the country and the MSLR was absorbed into the LNER in 1924. Traffic was buoyant in the inter-war years but, after WW2, road transport eroded the traffic away from the MSLR. Despite this, many pupils went daily to secondary schools in Stowmarket on the Middy - by the early 1950s, they were almost the only passengers. In 1951, closure was announced. There were the usual protests, but to no avail. The final train ran on Saturday 26th July 1952. Traces of the railway gradually vanished from sight as the track-bed was sold to farmers and ploughed up.

In 1990, a small group of local railway enthusiasts felt that there ought to be a permanent reminder of the line.  A Museum was set up in the village of Wetheringsett, almost on the site of the former Brockford station.  Now well established as a preserved railway and a Suffolk tourist attraction, the Museum has a fascinating display of artefacts, photographs and rolling stock. Steam trains are run on numerous Sundays during the year.