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Location notes
Soham is a small town on the edge of the Suffolk/Cambridgeshire border only 10 minutes drive from the town of Newmarket and the A14 carriageway.The railway line is on the route from Bury St. Edmunds to Ely.
Railway type and traffic
This line is a branch line but is an important freight artery for cross country traffic to the port of Felixstowe, it often sees aggregate and engineering trains to East Anglian destinations. GM class 66s are the norm but DRS/DB Schenker often run locos of many classes throughout the year and expect to see less often than the daily 66s class 20,31,37,47,57,67 on various special workings however passenger traffic at the time of writing is 2 hourly and you need to be very patient sometimes at this location waiting for trains to pass!
Environment
The bridge over the railway is located in the middle of open fenland and is very open to the elements without any shelter. There is a private farm access track from beside the bridge with limited parking nearby on the opposite side of the road which is access to a public footpath running parallel to the railway. I encountered no problems when I walked a little way down the farm track to get some other vantage points, but make yourself known if the farmer passes by as to what you are doing there and there should not be any problems at all in this safe, quiet and relaxing place.
Road directions
From the A10 in Stretham:
At the roundabout take the A1123 east toward Wicken and continue through the village. The bridge is about 2 miles east of Wicken Village.
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Soham, Wiken Road Bridge map co-ordinates
At the roundabout take the A1123 east toward Wicken and continue through the village. The bridge is about 2 miles east of Wicken Village.
Click here to set up your location for directions to this location
Soham, Wiken Road Bridge map co-ordinates
Parking
Safe place to leave car and there is some traffic along this road so be careful on the narrow pavements on the bridge as there is not a lot of room to stand/walk there.
Public transport
Amenities
Petrol station less than a mile up the road on the roundabout junction of this road with the A142 road with usual facilities, the nearest toilets either in Soham village pub or over in Newmarket - Tescos supermarket or other direction Ely Tescos.
Accommodation
There is a Motel on A142 bypass to Ely from Soham.
Sun Compass
Sun Compass using Suncalc by brought to you by Vladimir Agafonkin:
It might be necessary to adjust the time to suit your visit, this link should open with the current day.
Soham, Wiken Road Bridge
Streetmap links
Soham, Wiken Road Bridge general view map
Soham, Wiken Road Bridge close up map
Windows Local Live Link - image quality may vary
Soham, Wiken Road Bridge
It might be necessary to adjust the time to suit your visit, this link should open with the current day.
Soham, Wiken Road Bridge
Googly map
Soham, Wiken Road Bridge general view map
Soham, Wiken Road Bridge close up map
Windows Local Live Link - image quality may vary
Soham, Wiken Road Bridge
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Photographic notes
Sun is in very good position for Bury St. Edmunds trains with front and side well it on a sunny day also good for Ely bound trains in afternoon. Various angles from bridge and better shots along farm track looking back under bridge and around bend towards Bury, excellent for video of trains coming from Bury around bend.
General views - All photographs © Geoff Tibble unless otherwise stated
Fig 1 - Looking south east
An Ely bound working.
Fig 2 - Looking south east
Fig 3 - Looking north
A Bury St. Edmunds bound working.
Fig 4 - Looking north
A Bury St. Edmunds bound working, from the farm track.
Fig 5 - Looking west
An Ely bound working, from the farm track.
Disclaimer
All information contained within this is site is © Trainspots. The images used on this site remain the property of the original photographer, as credited at the top of the page, and are used with their kind permission.
The information on these pages is supplied for the benefit of railway enthusiasts who carry out a harmless hobby, and through the medium of photography and video, actually promote the railway industry. Railway enthusiasts can also act as eyes and ears against railway vandalism, and as such should surely be encouraged to do so by the supply of adequate information such as is found on this website.
This site has been created to assist railway photographers in their travels around the country. It is based on the personal knowledge and experience. No liability can be held against the web site or its contributions for incorrect information. Trainspots will endeavour to check all information and corrections will be accepted and posted accordingly.
Advice as to the locations general environment is given as a guide on each page. This information is a GUIDE only. ALWAYS be careful with your equipment, Trainspots can not be held responsible for your personal security. Avoid leaving your property on display for all to see, be aware of your surroundings at all times. There are, sadly, people who will not think twice about trying to steal your equipment.
Trainspots DOES NOT condone trespass and none of the information on this site should be taken as a right to trespass on either railway or private land. To the best of our knowledge all locations are publicly accessible areas, where they are not contact information will be given to the appropriate authority for permission to be obtained.
The content of this site is created and intended for all age ranges but the content of sites linked from this site are not subject to the same intentions. Trainspots will attempt to check links for validity but as time passes and the site grows this will not always be possible. Broken, or indeed updates to, links should be submitted to the editor for inclusion in the updates. All links external to the Trainspots site are opened in a new browser window. Trainspots has been running now for over 10 years and there are imitation sites and guides to railfotspots. But we are a free site and we continue on the path we started out on over a decade ago to provide a useful guide to UK Railway Photographic Locations.
The information on these pages is supplied for the benefit of railway enthusiasts who carry out a harmless hobby, and through the medium of photography and video, actually promote the railway industry. Railway enthusiasts can also act as eyes and ears against railway vandalism, and as such should surely be encouraged to do so by the supply of adequate information such as is found on this website.
This site has been created to assist railway photographers in their travels around the country. It is based on the personal knowledge and experience. No liability can be held against the web site or its contributions for incorrect information. Trainspots will endeavour to check all information and corrections will be accepted and posted accordingly.
Advice as to the locations general environment is given as a guide on each page. This information is a GUIDE only. ALWAYS be careful with your equipment, Trainspots can not be held responsible for your personal security. Avoid leaving your property on display for all to see, be aware of your surroundings at all times. There are, sadly, people who will not think twice about trying to steal your equipment.
Trainspots DOES NOT condone trespass and none of the information on this site should be taken as a right to trespass on either railway or private land. To the best of our knowledge all locations are publicly accessible areas, where they are not contact information will be given to the appropriate authority for permission to be obtained.
The content of this site is created and intended for all age ranges but the content of sites linked from this site are not subject to the same intentions. Trainspots will attempt to check links for validity but as time passes and the site grows this will not always be possible. Broken, or indeed updates to, links should be submitted to the editor for inclusion in the updates. All links external to the Trainspots site are opened in a new browser window. Trainspots has been running now for over 10 years and there are imitation sites and guides to railfotspots. But we are a free site and we continue on the path we started out on over a decade ago to provide a useful guide to UK Railway Photographic Locations.
