The branch line that ran from Maldon to Witham (and on to Braintree) is still lamented by many. It was closed to passenger services in 1964, but it may be a surprise to learn that this single-track line was originally a double-track route, and that the second line was removed over a century before.

Beryl Claydon's fascinating book, 'In and around Heybridge in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries' has a fascinating reference to 'The Crimean Connection'.

Essentially, the story is that the missing second line was shipped to the Crimea during the Crimean War, and used in the construction of the world's first purpose-built military railway.

By 1850, questions were already being raised about the volume of traffic on the Maldon-Braintree line, and whether two tracks were necessary. The track was lifted, and some used on repairs to the line to Colchester.

In 1854, Britain and France declared war on Russia in support of the Turks. An expeditionary force landed in the Crimea and set up a base at Balaclava. They started the siege of the major Russian naval base of Sevastopol, eight miles away.

The story of the Charge of the Light Brigade, and the exploits of Florence Nightingale have ensured that many know of the horrors of the campaign – the incompetent leadership, the ill-clad troops suffering from frostbite, cholera and malnutrition, and the appalling medical facilities.

All this was exacerbated by the dreadful narrow track which served as a road from Balaclava to Sevastopol. The conditions were killing off the Russian oxen and Turkish ponies used on the road, and supplies were simply not getting through. Samuel Morton Peto, MP and railway entrepreneur, offered to build a railway linking the two towns, at his own expense, and in three weeks flat.

The offer was eagerly accepted. Peto's business partner (and brother-in-law) Edward Ladd Betts had worked on the Eastern Counties Railway to Colchester and on the Maldon-Witham branch, and knew about the redundant second track, most of which was still lying unused.

It was this track that was transported to the small fleet that Betts had organised – two sailing ships and seven steamships. 1,800 tons of rails and 6,000 sleepers were loaded. So were 500 men, including 250 experienced railway navvies, 100 carpenters, a dozen engine drivers, three doctors and three 'scripture readers' (the latter to civilise the rowdy navvies – very much a lost cause!).

The line was constructed in seven weeks, not quite the target originally set, but an astonishing achievement in the midst of a harsh winter and with basic equipment of spades, forks and wheelbarrows.

Parts of the line were initially horse-drawn, with stationery steam engines hauling waggons up steep slopes. Steam locomotives were eventually brought in, and the line eventually carried 112 tones of food and ample stores of shot and shell every day.

The 'Grand Crimean Central Railway' as the line became known also arguably inaugurated the first hospital trains, as waggons were used to carry the wounded to hospitals, a much better alternative to the agonising journeys they faced in carts or on mules.

The line was instrumental in ensuring the success of the siege, with Sevastopol falling on 10th September 1855.

When peace was concluded and the troops left, the line was left behind. The Russians sold it on to Turkey. Here the scent goes cold – it would be nice to think that there are trains in Turkey running on lines that originally went between Maldon and Witham, but that is highly unlikely!