branch railway had been constructed to serve it. The day after the opening it was observed that the lock gates were not watertight, and in fact a general failure of the wall of the dock took place. Ships that had entered the dock were got away, but repairs to the dock were said to be impracticable, and the dock was not used again; the GNR had by then expended £55,000 on an unusable dock system. In the east Great Yarmouth and Stalham Light Railway Further east, it was not until 1876 that the first railway section of the future M&GNJR was approved: the Great Yarmouth and Stalham Light Railway was authorised on 27 June 1876; capital was £98,000. The line would run northwest for ; the Great Yarmouth terminal, later to be known as , was well situated for holidaymakers, but at this stage there was no connection to other railways. The first section, to , was opened on 7 August 1877. From Ormesby to Hemsby opened on 16 May 1878, but there was a legal argument about a level crossing at Hemsby, and the next section to Martham opened from a temporary station north of the level crossing, on 15 July 1878. A temporary station south of the crossing was used from October. The legal position was resolved in Parliament in July 1879 and the permanent opened, and the two temporary stations closed. Meanwhile, on 27 May 1878 the company got powers to extend to North Walsham, and to change its name to the Yarmouth and North Norfolk Light Railway, with additional capital of £60,000. Its status as a light railway was designed to prevent the Great Eastern Railway from acquiring running powers over the line. Successive openings took place: to Catfield on 17 January 1880 and on to Stalham on 3 July 1880. Lynn and Fakenham Railway On 13 July 1876 the Lynn and Fakenham Railway was authorised by Parliament, in the face of bitter opposition by GER interests. With capital of £150,000 it was to run from GER-influenced connections near King's Lynn to near Fakenham. Surprisingly, the GER made no attempt to take control of this line, in fact making obstructions to the construction process. It was opened to Massingham on 16 August 1879, extending to Fakenham on 16 August 1880. On 12 August 1880 the Lynn and Fakenham got approval to extend to Norwich, creating a