Suffolk succeeded in capturing 5,000 tons per year of this fish traffic, around 10% of the total. The fish trade suffered from continental competition and fish migration and ever decreasing quantities were shipped by rail as lorries were used for their transport. Traffic was lost to road not only because the prices were too high but also perhaps because transport by road saw fish rise to the top of the ice-packed containers in which they were shipped, whereas this did not happen on a smooth rail ride. Services eventually ceased in September 1973 at which time two vans of fish offal to be used as pet food were dispatched nightly. Although a new trade in whitefish developed and a new fish market opened in October 1987, rail plays no role in their transport. South Side docks and Kirkley The Lowestoft and Beccles Railway Act 1856 authorised a branch from a junction to the east of to South Side docks, as well as a short branch to a coal and goods depot at Kirkley. The line was known for a curious signal with an arm fixed at danger on both sides to warn drivers to take care. At Kirkley goods station, the single line fanned out into two groups of sidings: one on each side of the yard and both extending across Belvedere Road into the South Quay where wagon turntables were used to access the sidings. Another siding, reached only by turntable, ran parallel to the quay into Morton's cannery in Belvedere Road. When a Co-op factory opened, it was connected to the harbour line by a siding just east of a level crossing over Durban Road. South Side was worked according to the one engine in steam principle and horses were sometimes used for shunting. Outward traffic included joinery from Boulton & Paul's and cannery products, as well as confectionery and preserves mostly from Mortons and the Co-op. Inward traffic comprised oil for the Co-op's factory boilers, timber for Boulton & Paul and steel for the Brooke Marine shipyard. The Kirkley branch was closed in 1966 and the South Side line beyond Durban Road followed on 6 November 1967 with tracklifting a year or so later. The rest of the line remained open until 31 December 1972 to serve the Boulton & Paul yard, by which time it had become somewhat of an anachronism. Extensive redevelopment of the area