to operate passenger trains over this section was granted from Saturday 23 December 1995. 63 trains, each composed of the five Mk2 coaches topped and tailed by the Class 20s, were operated between this date and 14 January 1996. In October 1995 Breckland District Council established a rail working party to consider purchasing the line from British Rail, then leasing it out to a rail group – of which the Mid-Norfolk Railway was the preferred lessee. On 11 April 1998 the Mid-Norfolk Railway Preservation Trust bought the route between Wymondham and Dereham for £100,000. This included the Dereham station buildings and the goods yard. The British Rail Property Board also sold the of track between Dereham and North Elmham for £25,000. On 17 March 1998 the MNRPT had signed a Tenancy at Will agreement with Breckland District Council to take over the station and trackbed at County School. This agreement was to allow the railway to take control of the station until it could afford to buy it outright, and followed on from the removal of the remaining rolling stock associated with the defunct Great Eastern Railway (1989) Ltd from the site. The original Dereham station was re-opened to passengers on Saturday 26 July 1997, with the first services being operated by 1890-built Manning Wardle 0-6-0T 'Sir Berkeley', hired from the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway. British Railways Board (Residuary) Limited transferred the line between Wymondham and Dereham to the MNRPT on 23 September 1997. The first preservation-era train to operate between Dereham and Wymondham ran on 8 February 1998, when a works train hauled by 20069 and Ruston & Hornsby 0-4-0 'County School ran as part of preparations for a March freight test train. The first commercial freight train operated on 8 July 1998. Passenger services between Dereham and Wymondham commenced in 1999, with the opening of Wymondham Abbey railway station. The first passenger train to use the new station, on 2 May 1999, was operated by a Class 108 DMU. Thuxton station opened as a daylight hours only request halt at the same time, although Kimberley Park and Hardingham remained closed. Following the completion of infrastructure work, such as the replacement of the water tower at Dereham and the provision of an inspection pit, steam passenger services returned to the Dereham to Wymondham Abbey section on Sunday 30 April 2006. These were operated by Great Western Railway pannier