the time it foundered and died a natural death. During the 1880s the station served a factory belonging to the Westerfield Steam Brewery (which also dealt in coal and corn). Coal merchant Thomas Moy was listed as operating in 1896 and 1900. On 25 September 1900, at 8:45 am, GER Class Y14 0-6-0 locomotive No. 522 which was then just a year old, stopped at a signal on the Ipswich side of the level crossing awaiting a route to the Felixstowe branch. Shortly afterwards the boiler exploded, killing driver John Barnard and his fireman William MacDonald, both based at Ipswich engine shed. The boiler was thrown 40 yards forwards over the level crossing and landed on the down platform. Apparently the locomotive had a history of boiler problems although in the official report the boiler foreman at Ipswich engine shed was blamed. The victims were buried in Ipswich cemetery and both their gravestones have a likeness of a Y14 0-6-0 carved onto them. On 3 May 1902 Westerfield almost became a four-way junction when a sod cutting ceremony for the Mid-Suffolk Light Railway was held adjacent to the north side of the goods yard. The original plan was to link up with the Mid-Suffolk Railway at Debenham and a short section of this line was built at the Debenham end. It was never completed. Around the early 20th century, excursion trains travelled from such places as the Framlingham Branch to and it is possible the locomotives would have run round the carriages in the station (rather than run to Ipswich) in order to access the branch. No scheduled services did this. In 1923 the Great Eastern Railway was merged into the London and North Eastern Railway. During World War II a number of engines were stored in the bay platforms but returned to use later in the war. These included three of the regular Felixstowe branch engines Nos. 6123, 6128 and 6130 (C14 4-4-2T). It was also where Polish armoured train C was based. In 1948 the railways were nationalised and Westerfield Junction became part of the Eastern Region of British Railways. During the winter months in the 1950s a pair of camping coaches were stored in the goods yard. These were based at during the summer. In the 1960s, as part of the Beeching cuts, the East Suffolk Line was marked for closure but a vigorous local campaign saw