Below you can discover some of the fascinating stories of the Middy, from its Victorian origins, through its Edwardian heyday and decline, right up to its ongoing revival as the MSLR Museum. Look out for more material being added regularly! For an historical overview, visit Introduction to the Middy.
Photo by George Powell, courtesy of Great Eastern Railway Society.
In 1991 after almost all traces of the line had disappeared a group of enthusiasts decided this country railway, once so important to the area, should not be forgotten. A 1Km section of the railway at Brockford has been recreated with original station buildings which capture the atmosphere of this quirky line. The ‘Middy’, a fine example of rural English history, is now resurrected as Suffolk’s only standard gauge railway museum and ironically is busier now than it ever was.
In 2012 the MSLR was awarded the Heritage Railway Association’s Interpretation Award. In October 2014 the ‘Middy’ was voted Suffolk Museum of the Year in competition with 40 other Suffolk museums and, in 2023 we won the H.R.A.’s restoration award for restoring and bringing back to traffic the delightful Shredded Wheat Company Fowler diesel.
The Museum records the history of the line and captures many of the stories from people who lived near, or were involved with the running of the railway. The railway also played a key role during WW2, and this is captured in the USAAF 34th Bomb Group displays which trace the history of the airfield that was in nearby Mendlesham.
February 21, 2023
Publication of the 1921 Census in 2022 added another major piece to the jigsaw we have been building, portraying the hundreds of people who worked for the MSLR at various times. Among the new information in this census were employer’s name and place of work, which solved several mysteries (and created some new ones!)
December 29, 2021
The record books of the National Union of Railwaymen (the NUR) for the years 1897 to 1928, recently made available online, have revealed that almost eighty MSLR employees were union members during that period. It’s particularly interesting that many of these are people we’ve never come across before in any other source.
August 3, 2021
JB Chevallier was perhaps the most conscientious director of the Mid-Suffolk, attending nearly every meeting of the Company’s Board. He is certainly the only director to have played in four FA Cup Finals! He was also more canny than most of his fellow directors, limiting his personal financial investment (and ultimately losses) in the company.
July 26, 2021
The Middy had three locomotives of its own, all supplied by Hudswell Clarke of Leeds (the builders of our very own no. 1604, currently being restored at Brockford). This account is based on the detailed questionnaire which the MSLR compiled for the Ministry of Transport in 1920.
June 3, 2021
The most impressive of the three original MSLR buildings at Brockford, and the centrepiece of the re-created station, is the structure which originally stood on the platform at Mendlesham station. It is unmistakeably a railway building, in contrast to the much smaller and simpler Wilby and Brockford huts.
May 11, 2021
The MSLR Museum is very proud to have Great Eastern Railway (GER) horsebox no. 180 as part of its collection of historic railway vehicles. It is believed to be the oldest preserved horsebox in the country and is of great historical importance.
May 4, 2021
After the London & North Eastern Railway (LNER) takeover in July 1924, the MSLR’s three Hudswell Clarke locos were quickly removed and never returned to the branch. From then until closure, motive power was provided by various locos of ex-Great Eastern Railway (GER) origin.
April 27, 2021
Three original MSLR buildings are preserved at the Brockford museum site. The first to arrive, in August 1991, was the hut which had provided facilities at the railway’s smallest and quietest station, Wilby. Amazingly, many of its original fittings had survived nearly 40 years’ service as a garden shed.
March 2, 2021
As we know, the MSLR was taken over by the London & North Eastern Railway in 1924. But when the government was planning to re-organise the railways after the Great War, they were unsure what to do about light railways. The Middy might well have been left to pursue an independent existence – with consequences we can only guess at.
February 10, 2021
For the MSLR, as for most other railways in Britain right up to the 1960s, goods traffic was more important than passengers. In the last six months of the Middy’s independent existence before it was absorbed by the LNER in 1924, goods traffic of various types accounted for 80% of total revenue.
