Colne Valley and Halstead Railway

The Colne Valley and Halstead Railway was an English railway company formed in 1856 by local people to build a branch line between Essex and Suffolk, authorised by the Colne Valley and Halstead Railway Act of that year. Its first six-mile section, from Chappel and Wakes Colne to Halstead, opened on 16 April 1860, and a thirteen-mile extension authorised in 1859 was built in stages between 1861 and 1863 to reach Haverhill, serving stations including Castle Hedingham and Yeldham. The company remained independent for decades before being absorbed into the London and North Eastern Railway in the 1923 regrouping; passenger service ended on 30 December 1961 and freight in 1965. About one mile of the original route was later reconstructed as the Colne Valley Railway heritage line between 1973 and 1975. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/