The ''Broadsman'' was a named passenger train operating in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

History

The ''Broadsman'' was introduced by the

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Comm ...

in 1950. It provided a service between London Liverpool Street and Cromer, with through coaches for Sheringham. Initially the service was relatively leisurely, departing Cromer at 6.28am, travelling via Norwich with an arrival in London at 10.16am. The return was from London Liverpool Street at 3.40pm, arriving in Cromer at 7.15pm. In 1951, the service was improved by the introduction of Britannia class locomotives, and 26 minutes was cut from the schedule. In 1952, the service was further improved with speed increases on the section between Norwich and London, running

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...

to Norwich, , in 45 minutes. On 4 December 1957 a car crashed into the level crossing gate at

Salhouse railway station Salhouse railway station is on the Bittern Line in Norfolk, England, serving the village of Salhouse. It is the next station along the line from , from that terminus; the following station is . Train services are operated by Greater Anglia (tr ...

. The owner managed to remove the vehicle from the line, but the ''Broadsman'' hit the level crossing gate at 45 to 50 mph and uprooted a five-ton concrete post. The train was undamaged. The

Great Eastern Main Line The Great Eastern Main Line (GEML, sometimes referred to as the East Anglia Main Line) is a major railway line on the British railway system which connects Liverpool Street station in central London with destinations in east London and t ...

was upgraded in the 1960s with continuous welded rail, and diesel hauled services, and the named trains on this route lost their titles in 1962.

References

{{reflist Named passenger trains of British Rail Railway services introduced in 1950 1950 establishments in England