[Source: Darren Kitson]  On 6 April 1957 Class J15 No. 65443 stands at Inworth on its way to Tiptree with a Railway Enthusiasts Club railtour. One would assume the open wagons had been provided with some form of seating; quite often this was done by borrowing platform bench seats from a main line station. The road at bottom left is the 'cut off' provided when construction of the railway severed Perry Road; it linked the south-west end of what is today Perry Road with Maldon Road, joining the latter just south of the level crossing. This tour was intended to go through to Tudwick Road Siding but appears to have run only as far as Tiptree, perhaps because there was no run-round facility at Tudwick Road. Despite using goods vehicles this train was classed a passenger working and there may well have been a restriction on reverse running which would have been necessary had the train visited Tudwick Road. This tour was quite complex as it also visited Maldon West station. The tour started and ended at Witham, the short Witham - Kelvedon leg being undertaken in two corridor carriages; one ex-LNER Gresley and one ex-GER Brake End vehicle. The train ran into Kelvedon Up goods yard where the two carriages were stabled and the J15 attached to the goods vehicles for the trundle to Tiptree and back. Upon returning to Kelvedon the passengers transferred back to the two carriages which then proceeded to Witham. Details hereafter are patchy. To reach Maldon a reversal at Witham would have been necessary with another at Maldon East in order to reach Maldon West. By the time the train reached Maldon West it was hauled by Class J67 0-6-0T No. 68628 but when exactly the J67 took over from the J15 remains a mystery. The tour concluded upon its return to Witham from Maldon.
Photo by D. Lawrence 
On 27 September 1958 a railtour approaches Inworth bound for Tiptree behind Class E4 2-4-0 No. 62785 with five goods brake vans in tow. This tour was for the London based 'The Railway Club', a long defunct club which harked back to 1899 and which is not to be confused with 'The Railway Enthusiasts Club' (REC). The tour started and ended at Liverpool Street although passengers likely would have travelled to and from Witham by special arrangement on a normal service train. The routing, having arrived at Witham, was Maldon East - Witham - Kelvedon - Tiptree - Kelvedon - Witham - Braintree - Witham. Which portions of the tour used the brake vans is not known but it was probably all of it except for the portions from and to Liverpool Street. One wonders why the tour, having reached Braintree, did not continue to Bishop's Stortford over the by then goods-only line via Dunmow with passengers returning to Liverpool Street from Bishop's Stortford. No. 62785 became the last 2-4-0 tender locomotive on British Railways and as such became a minor celebrity. Presumably therefore The Railway Club had requested her. Cambridge shed had spruced her up but the question remains regarding how she got from Cambridge to Witham, a journey which was by no means a lengthy one but one which had several alternatives. She could have worked via Bishop's Stortford, via Haverhill and Marks Tey or via Bury St Edmunds and Ipswich or Lavenham. The locomotive is seen here with 'tender cab', primarily for working over the Colne Valley Line (Haverhill - Chappel via Halstead). She is now preserved as GER No. 490 but without the non-original tender cab.
Photo
by Michael Portman
 The remains of Inworth looking towards Kelvedon in March 1961. Heath Siding can be seen in the mid distance. The concrete permanent way hut was, at the time of the photograph, a quite recent provision. It is something of a mystery but was probably the result of a reorganisation of labour after the line was cut back to Tudwick Road in 1951. It is the only concrete hut known to have ever been provided anywhere along this line, all others being of wooden construction. Behind and to the right of the hut the wooden fencing on Heath Siding's loading dock can be seen. The Kelvedon & Tollesbury only had two such docks, the other being at Tollesbury.
Photo from John Mann collection  This is one of several views of Drewry diesel-mechanical shunter No. D2211 working the Tudwick Road goods which are thought to be from 1960 but are otherwise undated. The Drewry is running cab first, hauling two loaded coal trucks and a goods brake van. It is climbing one of the 1:50 gradients which abounded on the line and the location is near Perry's Wood, between Feering and Inworth. Today Perrywood Garden Centre occupies the site to the left. At the top of the gradient the track briefly levels before descending at 1:70 toward and through Inworth station. It was on this 1:70 section that Heath Siding was located, although as with all sidings along the line Heath Siding was on the level.
By the time diesel shunters operated the Tiptree goods, as noted elsewhere the locomotive was the Witham pilot. It left Witham at 1.10pm and ran light engine to Kelvedon where it would shunt the yard. At 3.30pm it would then work the Tiptree goods, calling if required at Heath Siding and continuing beyond Tiptree again only if required. The train would arrive back at Kelvedon at around 4.50pm depending upon the amount of traffic it had to deal with. After dropping off any wagons at Kelvedon the locomotive then returned light engine to Witham. Latterly most of the traffic was coal and during winter the train ran daily Monday - Friday but at other times of the year it ran only on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Not infrequently it was cancelled as 'Not Required' and at short notice, this practice being common on branch lines and causing many a disappointment for enthusiasts waiting with their cameras. However, if one knew the right people within BR one could find out whether or not a train was due to run. When the train did not run the locomotive still performed its shunting duties at Kelvedon, then returned to Witham. Photo by Mick Smith  The Drewry shunter has arrived at Heath Siding and it would appear one of the coal trucks is being dropped off. The shunter and remaining wagon will then collect the brake van and continue towards Tiptree. On the right the end of Inworth's platform can be seen, by now quite overgrown as indeed is the track; this would suggest late in the line's life and perhaps during 1961. The sign visible in the left background will have warned of Factory Lane (now part of Vine Road) level crossing. The locomotive is from the early batch of what became Class 04 with 3' 3" wheels and there were a number of differences to the superstructure as the design evolved, including cab windows, exhaust stacks, buffers and radiator grilles. In addition some were fitted with skirts for quayside and tramway working. Mechanically the Drewrys were identical to the British Railways version which became Class 03. The batch of so-called "3' 3" engines" was originally numbered 11100 - 3 and 11105 - 15. The missing number, 11104, had been given to a Hibberd departmental locomotive which eventually became Departmental No. 52. The batch of Drewry shunters in due course became D2200 - D2214, subsequent batches having larger diameter wheels and other, cosmetic, refinements.
Photo by Mick Smith 
Sometime towards the end of the line's existence a Drewry 204hp diesel shunter is at Maldon Road level crossing, approaching the end of its journey to Tiptree and Tudwick Road. What appears to be the guard is dealing with the level crossing gate which would mean no fireman/secondman was present on the locomotive. It can be seen that only a short gate was present by this time on the north side of the crossing. Reputedly the original full length gate was demolished by a permanent way trolley, the problem being that if we take 'trolley' literally it is hard to see how such a small, lightweight vehicle could demolish the gate. The short gate which replaced it would not have been too much of a problem because at this time Maldon Road was narrower north of the crossing. The guard may also have held a red flag against road traffic although there is no obvious sign of such a flag being present. The bracket near the top of the tall post once held the guy wire from which the original gate hung while on the right the latching post for the original gate now stands redundant. Unfortunately the identity of the Drewry (later to become Class 04) was not recorded, which is a pity for both modellers and people who are interested in diesels. The early batches of BR Drewry shunters differed in detail and specifically around the cab, radiator and exhaust outlet. The shunter seen here has the style of forward cab lookouts fitted from D2205 onwards but the camera angle makes it impossible to see any other details which would, alongside checking shed allocations, make it possible to identify the locomotive without seeing its number. However the most likely contenders, given shed allocations at this time, would be D2208 or D2209. Despite Inworth having long since closed the poster board, headed BRITISH RAILWAYS, is still present. This scenario was not uncommon and posters promoting excursions were often pasted up. In this case intending excursion passengers would have to make their way the short distance to Kelvedon. The poster on the right of the board looks suspiciously official and could be advising of the pending withdrawal of the Tiptree/Tudwick Road goods train.withdrawal of the Tiptree/Tudwick Road goods train.
Photo by Mick Smith  Drewry diesel D2211 and brake van share Inworth with nature towards the end of the line's life. The crew pose for the camera and there is no sense of urgency to open the level crossing gates. This scene makes an interesting comparison with that showing No. 8636 arriving in 1949. The Drewry Car Co. Ltd. only manufactured very early in its life and for the remainder it acted only as a procurement agent. The Drewry shunters which eventually became Class 04 were actually built by Vulcan Foundry and Robert Stephenson & Hawthorns. A quirk of this arrangement was locomotives being given both Drewry and builder works numbers. D2211 was a Vulcan example and she would survive with British Rail until 1970, thereafter serving in industry until being scrapped in 1980.
Photo by Mick Smith 
A poor quality but nevertheless interesting view of Inworth looking towards Tollesbury. In the earlier photograph showing the Drewry diesel shunter the locomotive hides most of the track although it is fairly evident that weeds had taken hold. This photograph likely dates from around the same time because the two railtour photographs from 1957 and 1958 show the track was then quite clear of weeds. On the left the platform edge is still just about discernible while to the left of the level crossing the poster board still stands.
Photo by Dr Mark Lee  Inworth station was awkwardly position diagonally across the junction of Perry Road and Maldon Road. Perry Road has now been realigned to the south. The original and new alignments are seen here. The yellow shading is the site of the station. 
Looking south east towards Maldon Road (seen on the left) showing the site of Inworth station
in July 2024. Photo
by Nick Catford
 A version of this photograph has been used elsewhere in these pages but is worth repetition as this version shows fully the nameplates from the running-in boards at Inworth and Tiptree. They are now on display at the East Anglian Railway Museum, Chappel & Wakes Colne station.
Wisdom Art Prints is a Tiptree based studio, illustrating and producing the highest quality greeting cards and art prints. Artist Robert Wisdom has been illustrating professionally for over 45 years. Robert has a particular interest in his local railway, the Kelvedon & Tollesbury Light Railway, and has illustrated all the stations.
Print by Robert Wisdom
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