13:01 to Sudbury, 2016

I love trains. There, I said it! But I do, and I had only travelled on the Gainsborough Line once before so I was looking forward to recording the journey. When the train arrived from Sudbury I had a word with the ticket inspector to inform him what I was doing, and that I had permission to record. He was happy with this, so I climbed on board and took a window seat at a table, facing forward, naturally.

At 13:01 the driver and inspector climbed aboard and we set off. There were two passengers in my carriage, sitting a safe distance away. No one got on at Chappel and Wakes Colne (CWC), nor at Bures, and we arrived safe and sound in SUY 20 minutes later. There were no announcements, nor ticket inspections. In fact the most notable event of the whole journey was two workmen replacing a platform sign at CWC, which, as the windows were closed, we couldn’t hear.

There is a lovely view from this line as you travel along the Stour Valley, but sonically it’s not so interesting, at least not on this particular journey. For fun, see if you can spot the moment the train enters Suffolk.