Chappel & Wakes Colne railway station is on the Gainsborough Line, a branch to off the Great Eastern Main Line, in the East of England, serving the village of Wakes Colne and the neighbouring Chappel. It is down the line from and measured from London Liverpool Street. It is situated between Marks Tey and . Its three-letter station code is CWC. Platform 1 has an operational length for five-coach trains. Platforms 2 and 3 are used by the East Anglian Railway Museum.Steam trains around Essex 6 March 2019 www.essexlive.news, accessed 7 November 2020
The station is currently operated by Greater Anglia, who also operate all trains serving it, as part of the East Anglia franchise. It has one platform as the line is single-track. It is also home to the East Anglian Railway Museum which has the former London-bound platform, a running line, the original station buildings and all of the land and facilities on the east side of the line. Just to the south of the station the line runs over the Chappel viaduct.
Chappel & Wakes Colne is unstaffed but has a self-service ticket machine. The platform buildings, on the station's west side, are restored to 1950s style but are part of the museum, and entered from ground-floor level.
History The station opened with the opening of the line from to as part of the Stour Valley Railway on 2 July 1849, with the name Chappel; it was renamed Chappel and Wakes Colne on 1 October 1914.
Chappel Viaduct Sitting just to the south of the station is the outstanding feature on the line, the long viaduct consisting of 32 arches each having a 30-foot span and standing 75 feet above the valley floor. Built at a cost of £32,000 it contains seven million bricks. The 1851 census records that a foreman bricklayer and several labourers were living in huts adjacent to the viaduct. The vast majority of the bricks had been manufactured on-site using local clay.
Services The typical off-peak service is one train per hour in each direction, with frequency increased slightly during the peak. The last train of the day continues to Colchester. Operator Route Rolling stock Frequency Greater Anglia - - Chappel & Wakes Colne - Class 755 1x per hour
In popular culture This station was used as a filming location in two scenes for the 2013 film The Numbers Station, starring John Cusack.
The Britpop band Blur played their first gig in the goods sheds of the station in the summer of 1989.
References
External links
History page at Subterranea Britannica East Anglian Railway Museum website Chappel Parish Council website Website of the village and railway Chappel and Wakes Colne station on navigable 1946 O. S. map