A smaller station . . .

After looking yesterday at the magnificent York railway station, still going strong after more than 130 years, I am thinking about how different is the scene at my local station here in Suffolk.

The quiet riverside town of Woodbridge is on the line connecting the county town, Ipswich, with the port of Lowestoft on the East Coast which has long been the lifeline of this important agricultural region as well as handling import and export traffic, but somewhat neglected in recent years since the opening of the massive container port at Felixstowe on the same coast, and now runs only a slow commuter service, mostly with ageing stock, although now including some more modern units like the one in my first extra today .

The station buildings now house a café which also offers bed and breakfast accommodation, a taxi company, and a flower shop but there are no railway staff or facilities here, except for a ticket machine for the convenience of passengers - or customers as they are now called - which sometimes works.

But it's a pretty little station nestling beside the tidal River Deben (seen in my second extra) which was also once a busy commercial artery although now used only for leisure sailing and recreation.