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Infrastructure - Railways and Tramways
 
Aby, Railway Shed
Aby, Railway Shed
Aby, Railway Shed

The GNR East Lincolnshire line from Peterborough to Grimsby via Spalding and Boston provided a good passenger service for the eastern part of Lincolnshire to and from London until it closed post-Beeching in 1970.

As with other rural stations on the route, Aby had a short siding with a goods shed designed to provide shelter for loaded railway wagons.

This substantial red brick building now provides good storage for the local landowner.

Ken Redmore, 2004 

Aby, railway, goods shed, GNR
Alford, Tramway
Alford, Tramway
Alford, Tramway

A busy scene on the opening day for the tramway between Alford and Sutton on Sea, 2 April 1884.

The tramway ran along the current A1111 but was closed in 1889 in the face of competition from the Willoughby to Sutton railway line.

Alford, tramway, sutton on sea, Willoughby
Althorpe, Railway Station
Althorpe, Railway Station
Althorpe, Railway Station

A station for Keadby & Althorpe first opened in 1866. A realignment of the line saw the present site opening in 1916.

Undated postcard by Raphael Tuck. 

Althorpe,
Ancaster, Railway Station
Ancaster, Railway Station
Ancaster, Railway Station

Station with signal box on left and former engine shed on right.

"Opened by the Boston, Sleaford and Midland Counties Railway, then run by the Great Northern Railway, it became part of the London and North Eastern Railway during the Grouping of 1923.

The station then passed on to the Eastern Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948.

When Sectorisation was introduced in the 1980s, the station was served by Regional Railways until the Privatisation of British Railways"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancaster_railway_station 

DB 9 July 2018

Ancaster, Station, Boston, Sleaford and Midland Counties Railway, Great Northern Railway
Ancaster, Railway Station
Ancaster, Railway Station
Ancaster, Railway Station

Looking east from Ancaster Station.

The line to the right is no longer connected to the network and has an abandonded brake van (?) in position.

DB 29 October 2019

Ancaster, Railway Station
Authorpe, Railway Station
Authorpe, Railway Station
Authorpe, Railway Station

The railway stationmaster's house at Authorpe has been much extended but is easily recognised by the arched window heads.
The station had a busy goods yard with two sidings.
 
It was on the East Lincolnshire line from Grimsby to Boston, and operated from 1848 until 1964.
 
http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/a/authorpe/
 

Jean Howard, 2 May 2021

Authorpe, Railway Station
Bardney, Railway Bridge
Bardney, Railway Bridge
Bardney, Railway Bridge

The railway line across the Wolds from Louth through Wragby to Bardney was opened in 1876 and closed in 1960.

On the stretch between Bardney and Wragby there are very few surviving features of the line.

The station at Kingthorpe has been completely demolished; a crossing keeper's house on Abbey Lane, Bardney is much altered.

However, this fine bridge over a drain close to the B1202 one mile north of Bardney (TF 123 712) remains in good original condition.

Ken Redmore, 2009

Bardney, bridge, railway,
Bardney, Railway Station
Bardney, Railway Station
Bardney, Railway Station

The Lincoln to Boston line was opened in 1848 as part of the Great Northern Railway's Lincolnshire Loop Line.

It followed the route of the River Witham for much of its 37 mile length. It became the junction for the Bardney to Louth line in 1874.

The distinctive Italianate style of these buildings was inspired by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert who used it for their palace at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, built 1845-51.

The line closed for passenger trains in 1970 but trains continued to visit the adjacent sugar beet factory until 1981.

Peter Grey Archive, 1970

Bardney, railway station, Lincolnshire Loop Line, Italianate
Barton upon Humber, Railway Station (1)
Barton upon Humber, Railway Station (1)
Barton upon Humber, Railway Station (1)

There was only one platform for passengers at Barton Station, on the south side of the line.

The old station buildings were demolished in the 1980s and the modern minimal structure completed in 1998.

Peesps postcard, published in Barton upon Humber, undated

 

Barton Upon Humber, Railway station
Barton upon Humber, Railway Station (2)
Barton upon Humber, Railway Station (2)
Barton upon Humber, Railway Station (2)

The spartan station at Barton seen here in 1981.

Opened in 1846, the station had, on the goods platform seen to the left, a rare open sided goods shed. On the passenger platform was a traditional set of brick buildings.

What is shown here comprises a series of improvements implemented as part of the opening of the Humber Bridge in June 1981 at which time the station became an important part of the public transport link between Grimsby and Hull via the bridge.

Peter Grey Archive, 1981

Barton Upon Humber, railway station,
Belton House, Army Camp
Belton House, Army Camp
Belton House, Army Camp

Over 170,000 men of the Machine Gun Corps trained in the grounds of Belton House during the First World War, an area which had been used by local volunteer forces since the 1880s.

Accommodation for the troops was initially in bell tents but they were replaced in 1915 by prefabricated wooden huts (shown here).

Supplies to the camp were carried on a standard gauge branch line from the main line at Peascliffe north of Grantham.

Belton Kesteven, Belton House, army machine gun corps, railway
Benniworth, High Street Tunnel
Benniworth, High Street Tunnel
Benniworth, High Street Tunnel

High Street Tunnel, 510m (560 yds) long, is the shorter of the two tunnels on the Louth to Bardney line.

It passes under Caistor High Street (B1225) about 1 mile north of Benniworth village and lies between the former stations at Donington on Bain and South Willingham.

It was opened in September 1875.  (The far end of the tunnel can just be seen in this photograph.)

May 2013

Benniworth, High Street Tunnel, South Willingham
Billingborough, Billingborough and Horbling railway station
Billingborough, Billingborough and Horbling railway station
Billingborough, Billingborough and Horbling railway station

The site of Billingborough and Horbling railway station now occupied by Grimers Transport Ltd.

"Billingborough and Horbling railway station was a station serving the villages of Billingborough, Horbling and Threekingham, Lincolnshire on the Great Northern Railway Bourne and Sleaford railway.

It opened in 1872 and closed to passengers in 1930. The section from Bourne to Billingborough remained open for goods until 1964"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billingboro_and_Horbling_railway_station 

Platform edge just visible at the bottom of this image. 

DB 6 July 2014

Billingborough and Horbling railway station
Boston, Railway Station
Boston, Railway Station
Boston, Railway Station

Opened in 1848, Boston was an important station at the junction of the line from Grimsby to Peterborough with the line from Boston to Grantham and Nottingham.

Seen here in 1970, it was about to lose the through services with the closure of the former route.

Today it is served by trains running between Nottingham and Skegness.

Peter Grey Archive, 1970

Boston, railway station
Boston, Railway Station
Boston, Railway Station
Boston, Railway Station

"The station opened for service on 17 October 1848 with the opening of the Great Northern Railway East Lincolnshire line.

The station has declined in importance since the 1960s. In its heyday the station employed over 50 staff and had two through tracks and cover over the platform tracks"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_railway_station 

DB 21 May 2019

Boston, Railway, Station
Boston, Railway Station
Boston, Railway Station
Boston, Railway Station

"Boston station was once an important junction, with two lines diverging in either direction.

Today, only the eastbound line to Skegness, and the westbound line towards Sleaford remain in use.

There was previously a southbound line to Spalding (closed in October 1970) that joined the line to Peterborough (and formed part of the original GNR main line from London to York), and a north-westbound line to Woodhall Junction (closed in June 1963) and thence on towards Lincoln, Horncastle, or Louth.

Both surviving routes are single line, with a passing loop at the station"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_railway_station 

DB 21 May 2019

Boston, Railway Station
Boston, Railway Station
Boston, Railway Station
Boston, Railway Station

View across to Platform 1 - both of the original through tracks have been removed.

British Rail Class 153 Super Sprinter 153313 waiting to depart towards Wainfleet and Skegness from Platform 2.

None of the former Great Northern Railway buildings remain adjacent to Platform 2 having been replaced by plastic shelters.

DB 21 May 2019

Boston, Railway Station
Boston, Railway Station
Boston, Railway Station
Boston, Railway Station

"The railway reached Boston in 1848 and this station building replaced a temporary one in 1850.

The Great Northern Railway Company moved Its Locomotive Works from Boston to Doncaster in 1853, but the company still became the largest employer In Boston by 1900. 

It had many departments along the line, all the way from the Grand Sluice to the bridge over the South Forty Foot Drain"

DB 31 March 2022

Boston, Railway, Station
Boston, Railway Station
Boston, Railway Station
Boston, Railway Station

Modern station booking hall.

DB 14 March 2022

Boston, Railway, Station
Boston, Railway Station & West Street Junction Box
Boston, Railway Station & West Street Junction Box
Boston, Railway Station & West Street Junction Box

View from the station footbridge with West Street Junction Box visible upper right.

"Signal box. 1875 for the Great Northern Railway ...

this is the oldest GNR signal box still in use, and was built to control the northern junction of the main line with the goods line near the West Street level crossing"

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1388986 

East Midlands Train 12:19 for Wainfleet and Skegness about to arrive at Platform 2.

Semaphore signal still in use on the left and in the background.

DB 21 May 2019

Boston, Railway, Station, West Street Junction Box
Boston, Railway Bridge
Boston, Railway Bridge
Boston, Railway Bridge

This shows the railway bridge carrying the Great Northern Railway across the river Witham on the upstream side of the Grand Sluice at Boston.

The iron bridge designed by Richard Johnson, GNR's chief engineer, was opened on 28 May 1885 to replace the original wooden bridge of 1848.

Postcard, 1909

 

Boston, bridge, gnr, grand sluice,
Boston, Swing Bridge For Docks Railway
Boston, Swing Bridge For Docks Railway
Boston, Swing Bridge For Docks Railway

"Swing bridge for docks railway. 1882-4 by Handysides the Derby Ironfounders"

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1388921 

DB 5 June 2019 

Boston, Swing Bridge, docks railway, Handysides
Boston, Swing Bridge For Docks Railway
Boston, Swing Bridge For Docks Railway
Boston, Swing Bridge For Docks Railway

Bridge closed ready for a train departure. 

"It was constructed to connect the docks single track railway to the Great Northern Line, when the docks created in 1884, in order to cross the Haven.

The bridge was prefabricated in the works and arrived in Boston in a partly assembled state in November 1882.

The dock was opened on 15th December 1884. "

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1388921 

DB 5 June 2019 

Boston, Swing Bridge, Docks Railway
Boston, Swing Bridge For Docks Railway
Boston, Swing Bridge For Docks Railway
Boston, Swing Bridge For Docks Railway

British Rail Class 09 locomotive 09022 about to cross the bridge hauling coils of sheet steel destined for the motor industry.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_09

DB 5 June 2019 

Boston, Swing Bridge, 09022
Boston, Swing Bridge For Docks Railway
Boston, Swing Bridge For Docks Railway
Boston, Swing Bridge For Docks Railway

Locomotive crossing London Road.

Departures currently three times a week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. 

DB 5 June 2019 

Boston, Swing Bridge, Docks Railway
Boston, Swing Bridge For Docks Railway
Boston, Swing Bridge For Docks Railway
Boston, Swing Bridge For Docks Railway

Manual control at the center of the bridge.

DB 5 June 2019 

Boston, Swing Bridge, Docks Railway
Boston, Swing Bridge For Docks Railway, Control Cabin
Boston, Swing Bridge For Docks Railway, Control Cabin
Boston, Swing Bridge For Docks Railway, Control Cabin

Control cabin and level crossing, London Road.

DB 5 June 2019 

Boston, Swing Bridge, Docks Railway
Boston, Swing Bridge For Docks Railway, Control Cabin
Boston, Swing Bridge For Docks Railway, Control Cabin
Boston, Swing Bridge For Docks Railway, Control Cabin

Inside control cabin.

DB 5 June 2019 

Boston, Swing Bridge, Docks Railway
Bourne, Railway Station Complex
Bourne, Railway Station Complex
Bourne, Railway Station Complex

This fine brick warehouse is on the site of the former Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway line and part of the station complex at Bourne.

The M&GNJR line between Saxby (Leicestershire) in the west and Bourne was opened in 1893 to link up with the company's earlier cross-country line to Sutton Bridge and Kings Lynn.

The Great Northern Railway also ran a north-south line (Sleaford to Stamford) through the town.

Chris Lester, 2004
Bourne, railway, MGNJR, warehouse,
Bourne, Red Hall
Bourne, Red Hall
Bourne, Red Hall

Red Hall, of c1600, was used as a passenger station and station master's house from the arrival of the railway in Bourne in 1861 until it closed in 1959 (although a goods branch remained until 1965).

From the grounds a glimpse can be had of the goods warehouse.

Bourne, railway, station, Red Hall,
Brocklesby, Railway Station
Brocklesby, Railway Station
Brocklesby, Railway Station

Built about 1848 for the MS and L Railway Company, this Brocklesby Station was conveniently close to Brocklesby Hall, the seat of the Earl of Yarborough who was then the company chairman.

In April 1849 Prince Albert arrived here by royal train to be the guest of the Earl before continuing to Grimsby next day, with great ceremony, to lay the foundation stone of the new dock.

The station closed in the 1990s. Photo taken from road bridge over the railway.

Frank Robinson, 2010
Brocklesby, railway, MS&L, Yarborough,
Burgh le Marsh, Railway Station
Burgh le Marsh, Railway Station
Burgh le Marsh, Railway Station

An attractive composition of station house, platform buildings and signal box, Burgh le Marsh station remains surprisingly complete today despite its closure, along with the railway here, in 1970.

Until 1923 it was known simply as Burgh.

For over 20 years, until the line to Skegness from Firsby was opened, it was the nearest station to the seaside town, six miles away to the east.

Peter Grey Archive, 1969

Burgh Le Marsh, railway station, Firsby
Claypole, Level Crossing, Stubton Road
Claypole, Level Crossing, Stubton Road
Claypole, Level Crossing, Stubton Road

Looking north along the East Coast Main Line with Claypole Signal Box on the left.

This was the site of Claypole Station opened by the Great Northern Railway on 1 August 1852.

The station was closed on 16 September 1957.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claypole_railway_station 

DB 24 September 2018

Claypole, Level Crossing, Signal Box, Station, East Coast Main Line
Cleethorpes, Alexandra Road
Cleethorpes, Alexandra Road
Cleethorpes, Alexandra Road

Alexandra Road was not named after Edward VII's queen but after Prince Albert's mother.

In 1885 Victoria's consort had attended the official opening of the re-constructed foreshore at Cleethorpes.

What once had been Itterby Road was renamed Alexandra Road in his honour (or rather his mother's).

postcard in Oliette Series, Raphael Tuck, 1907

Cleethorpes, Alexandra Road
Cleethorpes, Opening of Kingsway,1906
Cleethorpes, Opening of Kingsway,1906
Cleethorpes, Opening of Kingsway,1906

A Great Grimsby Street Tramways vehicle decorated for the opening of the Kingsway promenade on 12July 1906 by Lady Henderson, wife of the Chairman of the Great Central Railway.

A postcard by Bullen, Grimsby

Cleethorpes, Kingsway, tram
Cleethorpes, tram
Cleethorpes, tram
Cleethorpes, tram

Trams in 1892 left the Wheatsheaf in Cleethorpes for Grimsby every 15 minutes from 08.15 to 22.15.

undated postcard

Cleethorpes, tram
Coningsby, Railway Bridge
Coningsby, Railway Bridge
Coningsby, Railway Bridge

Bridge spanning the River Bain at National Grid Reference TF226585.

"The Kirkstead and Little Steeping Railway, locally known as the New Line, was a railway line in England built to shorten the route between Lincoln and Firsby in Lincolnshire, England.

Its purpose was to improve rail access from Midlands and northern population centres to the seaside resorts at Skegness, Sutton-on-Sea and Mablethorpe.

It was built by the Great Northern Railway (GNR), and opened as a double track line in 1913.

It was authorised under a Light Railway Order, which simplified the legal process ... 

When the direct line from Lincoln to Boston was closed east of Coningsby Junction in 1960, some Lincoln stopping trains ran to Coningsby to terminate their journeys.

The New Line itself was closed on 5 October 1970" 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirkstead_and_Little_Steeping_Railway

DB 23 August 2020

Coningsby, Bridge, Kirkstead and Little Steeping Railway
Coningsby, Railway Bridge
Coningsby, Railway Bridge
Coningsby, Railway Bridge

Remains of railway bridge, formerly spanning Hunters Lane, at OS Grid Ref: TF 224 585.

DB 7 January 2024 

Coningsby, Bridge, Kirkstead and Little Steeping Railway
Coningsby, Railway Station
Coningsby, Railway Station
Coningsby, Railway Station

Opened with what was known as the "New Line", between Coningsby Junction and Bellwater Junction, in 1913, the line and station closed in 1970.

The station platforms are of timber, without large buildings on them. This was to reduce the weight at this location, sited as it was on the top of an embankment.

Peter Grey Archive, 1970

Coningsby, railway station, timber platform
Cowbit, Railway Station
Cowbit, Railway Station
Cowbit, Railway Station

The Great Eastern Railway opened a line between Spalding and March in Cambridgeshire in 1867, later to be linked by the GNR to Lincoln, a total distance of 122 miles.

Cowbit, the first station south of Spalding, was closed to passengers in 1961 and to freight in 1964.

The line between Spalding and March closed in 1982.

Cowbit, Railway Station, Spalding March
Denton, Mineral Railway Line
Denton, Mineral Railway Line
Denton, Mineral Railway Line

Track bed of former mineral railway line, viewed from public footpath to Denton Reservoir, at National Grid Reference SK869330.

DB 22 June 2020

Denton, Disused Railway
Donington on Bain, Railway Building
Donington on Bain, Railway Building
Donington on Bain, Railway Building

The tiny weighbridge hut survives near the entrance to the former station yard at Donington on Bain on the Louth to Bardney railway line, closed for passenger traffic in 1951 and 9 years later for goods.

Donington, at 70 metres above sea level, was the highest station on the line.

From here there were stiff climbs to tunnels through the Wolds to both west and east.

Ken Redmore, 2008

Donington On Bain, railway, weighbridge,
Donington on Bain, Railway Station
Donington on Bain, Railway Station
Donington on Bain, Railway Station

The station house, waiting rooms and offices were built in red brick with cream brick banding to a common design.

May 2013

Donington On Bain, railway station house
Donington on Bain, Railway Station
Donington on Bain, Railway Station
Donington on Bain, Railway Station

Access to the station buildings was through the yard.

Both passengers and freight vehicles used the same entrance from the road.

May 2013

Donington On Bain, Station buildings & house
Dunston, Railhead, Nocton Estates Light Railway
Dunston, Railhead, Nocton Estates Light Railway
Dunston, Railhead, Nocton Estates Light Railway

Mill, next to the former Nocton & Dunston Station, at the railhead of Nocton Estates Light Railway.

Potatoes arrived direct from the fields, via 23 miles of narrow gauge railway, and were transshipped to the standard gauge railway for onward delivery

Nocton Estate was bought by its main customer Smith's Crisps in 1936.

Some of the rolling stock and track was acquired by the 'Lincolnshire Coast Light Railway' when the narrow gauge potato railway gave way to road transport by about 1960.

DB 2020 

Dunston, Railhead, Nocton Estates Light Railway, Smith's Crisps
East Barkwith, Railway Station
East Barkwith, Railway Station
East Barkwith, Railway Station

The Louth to Bardney line had seven intermediate stations.

Five of these (Hallington, Donington on Bain, Hainton & South Willingham, East Barkwith and Wragby) had near identical station buildings, built in red and cream brick.

The station at East Barkwith (TF 172 811) was on the Panton Road, a few hundred yards south-east of the village centre.

Ken Redmore, 2009


 

East Barkwith, Panton, Louth to Bardney,
Eastville, Railway Station
Eastville, Railway Station
Eastville, Railway Station

This station, on the East Lincolnshire Railway line across the East Fen was opened in 1848.

Although the railway is still in use (Boston to Skegness line), Eastville Station was closed to passengers in 1961 and to goods traffic in 1964.

Postcard, 1930s

Eastville, railway station
Eastville, Railway Station
Eastville, Railway Station
Eastville, Railway Station

East Ville station, between Firsby and Boston, opened in 1848.

Originally named East Ville & New Leake, it changed its name to East Ville in 1952. This is one of those occasional stations that the railway companies insisted on a slightly different name from that of the village it served.  The two words can be seen on the signal box in this 1971 view. The village was always Eastville locally.

On 11 September 1961 it was one of 25 rural stations in the County that lost its passenger trains, but goods trains continued to call until 1964.

Trains between Boston and Skegness still pass the site but the signal box and traditional crossing gates have gone.

Peter Grey Archive, 1971

Eastville, railway station, New Leake
Edenham, Railway Weighhouse
Edenham, Railway Weighhouse
Edenham, Railway Weighhouse

The former Little Bytham to Edenham railway was laid down at his own personal expense by Lord Willoughby to bring passengers and goods - especially coal - to the centre of his estate at Grimsthorpe and to nearby Bourne.

It opened in 1856 and ran for a relatively short time.

Three stone buildings of the terminus survive at Edenham: the station building, engine shed and tiny weighhouse (shown here), all now subsumed within an extensive farmstead.

Ken Redmore, 2011

 

Edenham, Willoughby, Grimsthorpe, weighouse,
Epworth, Railway Station, Lamp
Epworth, Railway Station, Lamp
Epworth, Railway Station, Lamp

Station lamp preserved in the Doncaster Grammar School collection of railwayana.

The collection was started by pupils and teachers at Doncaster Grammar School in the 1930s and is now housed, at the top of a clock tower, in what was intended to be a water tank.

The station closed in 1933.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axholme_Joint_Railway 

DB 25 September 2019 

Epworth, Railway Station, Lamp
Firsby, Railway Station
Firsby, Railway Station
Firsby, Railway Station

The village of Firsby was rather small to have such a large and imposing station as this to serve it.

Opened in 1848 it became the junction station for trains to Spilsby in 1868 and Skegness, the first section of which opened to Wainfleet in 1871.

Closed with the line in 1970, the photograph shows the almost complete remains of its overall roof which it retained to the end.

Trains to Skegness now bypass the site to the south and little remains today of this once impressive collection of buildings.

Peter Grey Archive, 1969

Firsby, railway station
Firsby-Louth, GNR Railway Boundary Marker Post
Firsby-Louth, GNR Railway Boundary Marker Post
Firsby-Louth, GNR Railway Boundary Marker Post

This GNR boundary marker post stands alongside the former East Lincolnshire line on the stretch between Firsby and Louth.

It probably indicated the boundary of the line for the benefit of the contractor during construction.

Jean Howard, 2021

Gunby, GNR post
Fotherby, Railway Bridge
Fotherby, Railway Bridge
Fotherby, Railway Bridge

Little Grimsby Lane railway bridge on the former East Lincolnshire Railway. (This is the track bed running under the bridge.)

"On 28 September 1991, the Lincolnshire Wolds Railway obtained a Light Railway Order authorising the reinstatement of the East Lincolnshire Railway between Waltham and the former Keddington Road level crossing near Louth, which would include the line through Fotherby"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fotherby_Halt_railway_station  

National Grid Reference TF 322 910

DB 7 August 2022

Fotherby, East Lincolnshire Railway Bridge
Fotherby, Railway Crossing at Peppin Lane
Fotherby, Railway Crossing at Peppin Lane
Fotherby, Railway Crossing at Peppin Lane

The East Lincolnshire Railway line from Grimsby to Boston crossed Peppin Lane in Fotherby. Two tracks are visible still in the tarmac.

The Lincolnshire Wolds Railway hope to be able to extend their heritage line to this point and beyond towards Louth.

To the right of the tallest gate pier access can be obtained to a footpath leading along the course of the trackbed to the Fairfield Industrial Estate in Louth.

Jean Howard, March 2024

Fotherby, East Lincolnshire Railway
Fotherby, Railway Crossing at Peppin Lane
Fotherby, Railway Crossing at Peppin Lane
Fotherby, Railway Crossing at Peppin Lane

The East Lincolnshire Railway line from Grimsby to Boston crossed Peppin Lane in Fotherby. Two tracks are visible still in the tarmac.

The Lincolnshire Wolds Railway hope to be able to extend their heritage line to this point and beyond towards Louth.

The building to the west of the crossing was the crossing keeper’s home.

Jean Howard, March 2024

Fotherby, East Lincolnshire Railway
Gainsborough, Central Station
Gainsborough, Central Station
Gainsborough, Central Station

British Rail Class 144 Pacer diesel multiple unit 144004 waiting at platform 2 ready for departure to Sheffield.

"Built by British Rail Engineering Limited's, Derby Litchurch Lane Works from 1986 to 1987.

A total of 23 units were built, replacing many of the earlier first-generation "Heritage" DMUs.

Class 144 units are in service with Northern, but all units are due to be withdrawn by the end of 2019 as they do not meet new disability regulations"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_144

DB 18 June 2019

Gainsborough, Central Station
Gainsborough, Central Station
Gainsborough, Central Station
Gainsborough, Central Station

"The station was opened by the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (MS&LR) on 2 April 1849. The opening day was a gala occasion, shops were closed and the town was full of visitors"

"The station buildings were designed by architects Weightman and Hadfield. A substantial stone frontage with full-height portico with 4 attached Roman Ionic columns and triple arcade with moulded round arches.

The MS&LR became the Great Central Railway (GCR) on 1 August 1897, which in turn amalgamated with other railways to form the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) at the end of 1922.

The LNER inherited two stations in Gainsborough, and to distinguish them, the ex-GCR station was renamed Gainsborough Central in September 1923.

The station buildings were demolished in 1975, leaving just the two platforms and a footbridge over the two railway lines"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gainsborough_Central_railway_station 

DB 18 June 2019

Gainsborough, Central Station
Gainsborough, Central Station, Signal Box
Gainsborough, Central Station, Signal Box
Gainsborough, Central Station, Signal Box

Railway signal box located just to the south of Gainsborough Central Station.

Pedestrian underpass seen emerging immediately to the left with the footpath leading up Pingle Hill.

DB 23 April 2019 

Gainsborough, Central Railway Signal Box
Gainsborough, Lea Road Railway Station
Gainsborough, Lea Road Railway Station
Gainsborough, Lea Road Railway Station

"Gainsborough Lea Road railway station is one of two stations that serve the town of Gainsborough in Lincolnshire, England, the other station being Gainsborough Central, which is located in the town centre.

The station is managed by East Midlands Trains and is located 14.25 miles (23 km) northwest of Lincoln Central on the A156 Lea Road in the south of the town.

The station opened in 1867 on a single line of the Great Northern Railway, who ran four trains a day from Gainsborough to Lincoln"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gainsborough_Lea_Road_railway_station 

DB 5 March 2019

Gainsborough, Lea Road railway station
Gainsborough, Lea Road Railway Station
Gainsborough, Lea Road Railway Station
Gainsborough, Lea Road Railway Station

Locomotive number 66506 "Crewe Regeneration" passing through Lea Road Railway Station.

The Class 66 is a type of six-axle diesel electric freight locomotive developed in part from the Class 59, for use on the railways of the UK.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_66 

DB 5 March 2019

Gainsborough, Lea Road railway station, 66506, Crewe Regeneration
Gainsborough, Lea Road Railway Station
Gainsborough, Lea Road Railway Station
Gainsborough, Lea Road Railway Station

The main station buildings are no longer used for railway purposes and the platforms are accessed using this elaborate walkway.

DB 5 March 2019

Gainsborough, Lea Road railway station
Gainsborough, Lea Road Railway Station
Gainsborough, Lea Road Railway Station
Gainsborough, Lea Road Railway Station

Station sign adjacent to Lea Road.

Kelly's Directory of Lincolnshire 1889 states

"Railway Stations :- Great Northern & Great Eastern Joint, Frederick Jeffries, station master & goods agent,

Lea road Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway Station, Jsph.Whittle, station master & goods agent,

Spring grdns Omnibuses from the White Hart hotel meet all trains at the Great Northern & the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway stations"

DB 5 March 2019 

Gainsborough, Lea Road railway station
Gainsborough, Lea Road Railway Station, Lamp
Gainsborough, Lea Road Railway Station, Lamp
Gainsborough, Lea Road Railway Station, Lamp

A gas street lamp but presumably associated with the Railway Station.

On display in Gainsborough Old Hall. 

DB 5 November 2019

Gainsborough, Lea Road railway station
Gainsborough, Railway Bridge
Gainsborough, Railway Bridge
Gainsborough, Railway Bridge

This bridge across the Trent was built in 1848/49 by John Fowler for the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway to carry the line from Grimsby to Sheffield.  It was later shared with the GNR line from Lincoln to Doncaster.

The two main spans of this bridge are tubular wrought iron girders of rectangular section, one of the earliest examples of such a structure.

The bridge was rebuilt in the early 1990s.

Photograph 1970

Gainsborough, railway bridge, John Fowler
Goxhill, Railway Station
Goxhill, Railway Station
Goxhill, Railway Station

Goxhill station was opened by the Great Central Railway in 1848 on its line from Grimsby to New Holland.

Today the station buildings are still largely complete but these buildings, on the northbound platform, have been demolished.

The station remains open but lost its goods services in 1964.

Between 1912 and 1963 it was also the junction for passenger trains to and from Immingham Dock station.

Peter Grey Archive, 1981

Goxhill, railway station
Grantham, Railway Accident
Grantham, Railway Accident
Grantham, Railway Accident

Postcard published by W.R.C. Wheeler, Bon Marche, Grantham.

"The Grantham rail accident occurred on 19 September 1906.

An evening Sleeping-Car and Mail train from London Kings Cross to Edinburgh Waverley hauled by Ivatt 'Atlantic' No 276 derailed, killing 14.

The accident was never explained; the train ran through Grantham station, where it was scheduled to stop, and derailed on a set of points on a sharp curve at the end of the platform, which at the time had been set for a freight train.

No reason was ever established as to why the train did not stop as scheduled, or obey the Caution and Danger signals.

Rolt (1956) described it as "the railway equivalent of the mystery of the Marie [sic] Celeste""

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grantham_rail_accident 

Grantham, Railway Accident, Ivatt 'Atlantic' No 276
Grantham, Railway Station
Grantham, Railway Station
Grantham, Railway Station

"The original station at Grantham (Old Wharf) was opened when the Ambergate, Nottingham, Boston & Eastern Junction Railway opened its line from Nottingham on 15 July 1850.

This line was taken over by the Great Northern Railway in 1854.

This was replaced by the present station which opened on 1 August 1852; the Old Wharf station closed the following day"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grantham_railway_station 

DB 11 March 2019

Grantham, Railway Station
Grantham, Railway Station
Grantham, Railway Station
Grantham, Railway Station

British Rail Class 43 InterCity 125 High Speed Train No. 43290 in LNER livery arriving at Platform 1.

"The class is officially the fastest diesel locomotive in the world, with an absolute maximum speed of 148 mph (238 km/h), and a regular service speed of 125 mph (201 km/h)"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_43_(HST)

43290 seems to have been renumbered from 43090 on 31/12/2006.

http://www.railuk.info/diesel/getloco.php?item=%2043290 

Virgin Trains East Coast was rebranded as London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) in 2018.

DB 11 March 2019

Grantham, Railway Station, InterCity 125 High Speed Train, 43290
Grantham, Railway Station
Grantham, Railway Station
Grantham, Railway Station

Two Class 180 trains.

Hull Trains Locomotive No. 180111, with the blue and yellow livery, stationary at Platform No. 1.

Grand Central Locomotive No. 180102, with the black and yellow livery, travelling through Platform No. 2 at speed.

The Class 180 is a British diesel-hydraulic multiple-unit train built by Alstom at Washwood Heath in Birmingham between 2000 and 2001.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_180 

DB 11 March 2019

Grantham, Railway Station, Class 180 diesel-hydraulic multiple-unit train
Grantham, Railway Station
Grantham, Railway Station
Grantham, Railway Station

British Rail Class 158 Express Sprinter No.158788 arriving at Platform 4.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_158 

DB 11 March 2019

Grantham, Railway Station, Class 158 Express Sprinter, 158788
Grantham, Railway Station, Mast
Grantham, Railway Station, Mast
Grantham, Railway Station, Mast

A blue plaque fixed to this mast states :-

"THIS MAST, THE 10,000TH ON THE EAST COAST MAIN LINE ELECTRIFICATION PROJECT, WAS "PLANTED" HERE AT GRANTHAM ON WEDNESDAY 15TH OCTOBER, 1986, BY THE RT. HON. JOHN MOORE, M.P., SECRETARY OF STATE FOR TRANSPORT"

DB 3 June 2019

Grantham, Railway Station, Mast, John Moore
Grantham, Railway Station, Mast
Grantham, Railway Station, Mast
Grantham, Railway Station, Mast

Blue plaque fixed to the 10,000th mast during the East Coast Main Line electrification project.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Coast_Main_Line 

DB 3 June 2019

Grantham, Railway Station, Mast
Grimoldby, Railway Crossing Gate, Tinkle Street
Grimoldby, Railway Crossing Gate, Tinkle Street
Grimoldby, Railway Crossing Gate, Tinkle Street

This gate serves as entrance gate for what is now a private residence but was until 1960 Grimoldby's railway station.

The position of the level crossing was about twenty yards north of this point.

Jean Howard, December 2020  

Grimoldby, railway crossing gate Tinkle Street
Grimoldby, Railway Gatehouse
Grimoldby, Railway Gatehouse
Grimoldby, Railway Gatehouse

On Eastfield Lane is the former gatehouse of a railway crossing on the Louth to Mablethorpe railway line (built as the Louth & East Coast Railway).
 
A crossing keeper would have lived here from 1877-1960.

Jean Howard, 
21 March 2021

Grimoldby, Railway Gatehouse
Grimoldby, Railway Station, Tinkle Street
Grimoldby, Railway Station, Tinkle Street
Grimoldby, Railway Station, Tinkle Street

Grimoldby station opened on 17 October 1877 on the Louth & East Coast Railway. The line closed on 5 December 1960 and the main building survives almost unchanged as a private house.

The platform stood to the north of the building (extreme right on the photograph) and the brick edging is visible from the roadside.

The enamel signs which had been a feature of the station building were removed some years ago, but the present owners have replaced like for like in the same location.

The station was the boyhood home of actor Donald Pleasence whose father was stationmaster here

http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/g/grimoldby/

Jean Howard, December 2020 

Grimoldby, Railway Station
Grimsby, Railway Signal Box
Grimsby, Railway Signal Box
Grimsby, Railway Signal Box

Reported by Grimsby Live that :-

"Opened in 1881, and fortified with a new brick base to protect it from bombs in the Second World War, the signal box guided its last train into nearby Grimsby Station in September 1993"

The box is on Garden Street. 

https://www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/news/grimsby-news/stop-rot-33-pieces-history-1718435 

DB 13 October 2018

Grimsby, Garden Street, Signal Box
Grimsby, Railway Station
Grimsby, Railway Station
Grimsby, Railway Station

This is Grimsby Town Railway Station in 1961; well staffed and with newsagent and left luggage office.

The East Coast main line was still in operation but this diesel car unit on the down platform was probably serving the line to New Holland and Barton.

Grimsby, Railway Station, diesel unit
Grimsby, Tram
Grimsby, Tram
Grimsby, Tram
One of Grimsby's more modern trams. This vehicle was acquired from Sunderland Corporation in 1933.
Grimsby, tram, Sunderland
Grimsby, Tram
Grimsby, Tram
Grimsby, Tram
In the late 1930s trams were gradually replaced by trolley buses.
Grimsby, tram
Grimsby, Tram
Grimsby, Tram
Grimsby, Tram

The Great Grimsby Street Tramways Company opened in 1881 using horse-drawn trams. Electric tramcars were introduced in 1901.

Undated postcard

Grimsby, tram
Grimsby, Trams, opening day 1901
Grimsby, Trams, opening day 1901
Grimsby, Trams, opening day 1901
On 7 December 1901 horse trams operating in Grimsby and Cleethorpes were replaced by an extended electrified system.
Grimsby, tram opening day 1902
Gunby, Rail Crossing
Gunby, Rail Crossing
Gunby, Rail Crossing

The East Lincolnshire Railway line ran through Gunby parish about two-thirds of a mile east of the Hall.

A public footpath which runs from Gunby Church to Bratoft crosses the track bed of the former railway line at TF 471658.

Fifty years after the closure of the line the substantial concrete posts of the crossing gate still stand solid and erect.

Jean Howard, May 2021 

Gunby, rail crossing
Habrough, Station
Habrough, Station
Habrough, Station

"Habrough railway station serves the village of Habrough and the town of Immingham in North East Lincolnshire, England. It was built by the Great Grimsby and Sheffield Junction Railway in 1848"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habrough_railway_station 

White's Directory 1856 notes "Habrough Station, on the rails, between Grimsby and New Holland, is about 1½ mile S.W. of the village" with "Loft Chas. Percival" listed as the Station Master.

In 1919 Kelly's Directory reports that Habrough has "a station on the Great Central (late M. S. and L.) railway, 1½ miles south from Ulceby Junction" with J. W. Berry listed as the Station Master.

DB 7 September 2023

Habrough, Railway Station, image
Halton Holegate, Railway Bridge
Halton Holegate, Railway Bridge
Halton Holegate, Railway Bridge

The bridge carries the main road north-south through the village over the route of the former railway line. This means it is the responsibility of the County Highway authority to maintain it.

The railway was a branch line from Spilsby to Firsby.

Jean Howard, August 2023

Halton Holegate, Railway Bridge
Halton Holegate, Railway Goods Shed
Halton Holegate, Railway Goods Shed
Halton Holegate, Railway Goods Shed

The goods shed is shown on the 1888 map. It is clearly in use and kept in very good order.

Jean Howard, August 2023

Halton Holegate, Railway Goods Shed
Halton Holegate, Railway Station
Halton Holegate, Railway Station
Halton Holegate, Railway Station

Now a private dwelling this view, seen from the higher elevation of the railway bridge to the north, shows the original railway station.

Jean Howard, August 2023

Halton Holegate, Railway Station
Harlaxton, Manor, Service Tramway
Harlaxton, Manor, Service Tramway
Harlaxton, Manor, Service Tramway

At the rear of the Harlaxton Manor, from the elevated ground, runs a tramway which carried goods such as coal and other heavy raw materials for the kitchen and other service rooms located underneath.

The track still remains and at points along the tunnel are chutes for delivery of the goods to rooms below.

Mark Acton, 2008

Harlaxton, Manor, tramway,
Harmston, Railway Station
Harmston, Railway Station
Harmston, Railway Station

Harmston Station closed in 1962 but the line remained open until 1965.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmston_railway_station 

Mentioned in Kelly's Directory 1919 "Railway Station, James Day, station master".

DB 6 May 2021 

Harmston, Station
Havenhouse railway station
Havenhouse railway station
Havenhouse railway station

Havenhouse station is 3 miles south of Skegness & was originally called Croft Bank. It is one of the least used stations in Great Britain.

Undated photo

Havenhouse, Croft Bank
Haxey, Railway Station
Haxey, Railway Station
Haxey, Railway Station

Station sign from either Haxey Town or Haxey Junction preserved in the Doncaster Grammar School collection of railwayana.

The collection was started by pupils and teachers at Doncaster Grammar School in the 1930s and is now housed, at the top of a clock tower, in what was intended to be a water tank.

The stations closed in 1933.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axholme_Joint_Railway 

DB 25 September 2019 

Haxey, Railway Station
Heckington, Railway Signal Box
Heckington, Railway Signal Box
Heckington, Railway Signal Box

"The signal box was built in 1876 for the Great Northern Railway (GNR) by the engineer Joseph Locke, and has a later Saxby & Farmer lever frame of 1925.

It is an example of what the Signalling Study Group (SSG) in its definitive The Signal Box: A Pictorial History (1986) described as a Type I GNR design"

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1061808 

DB 30 September 2012 

Heckington, Railway, Signal Box, Great Northern Railway, GNR, Joseph Locke
Heckington, Railway Station
Heckington, Railway Station
Heckington, Railway Station

"Heckington railway station is located in the village of Heckington in Lincolnshire, England.

The old station building houses the Heckington Station Railway and Heritage Museum.

The station was opened by the Boston, Sleaford and Midland Counties Railway on 13 April 1859.
 
It is now owned by Network Rail and managed by East Midlands Trains (EMT) train operating company (TOC) who provide all rail services"
 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heckington_railway_station 
 
DB 4 May 2014 
Heckington, Railway Station, Boston, Sleaford and Midland Counties Railway
Heckington, Railway Station
Heckington, Railway Station
Heckington, Railway Station

Arrival of 153308 Super Sprinter at Heckington Station.

"The British Rail Class 153 Super Sprinter are single-coach diesel multiple units converted from two-coach Class 155s.

The class was intended for service on rural and branch lines where passenger numbers do not justify longer trains"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_153

DB 28 July 2018

Heckington, Railway Station, Boston, 153308, Super Sprinter
Heighington, Railway Station
Heighington, Railway Station
Heighington, Railway Station

Branston and Heighington Station looking south. The bridge carries the new road to Branston over the line, the old Chapel Lane being diverted by a sharp right-angle bend to the left at the railway sidings and station.

Chapel Lane was re-named Station Road and the Bridge is Station Hill.

There was a staircase, for the convenience of Branston passengers, up onto the Bridge from this platform.

Heighington,
Heighington, Railway Station
Heighington, Railway Station
Heighington, Railway Station

Station buildings viewed from the west, across the line.

This Station is typical of all those along this line which was built to be especially strong to carry the heavy coal trains from the Midlands and the North to London so the passenger traffic on the main line was not delayed.

Heighington, Railway Station
Heighington, Railway Station Staff
Heighington, Railway Station Staff
Heighington, Railway Station Staff

Station staff just before the station closed.

Left George Creasey, porter; centre Mr Rogers, the last station master; right Len Rasen, junior porter.

Mr Rogers moved from the Station House to the right- hand side stone cottage opposite the Flagpole.

Len Rasen continued to work for British Rail and later moved to Chesterfield.

Heighington, Railway Station, staff
Heighington, Railway Station Closure Notice
Heighington, Railway Station Closure Notice
Heighington, Railway Station Closure Notice

Notice of station closure following the Beeching Report.

The passenger service (fare, 3d to Lincoln, six minutes) had been closed earlier but the line had remained open and busy.

The Station site is now under new private housing, despite local efforts to re-open it for passengers.

Heighington, Railway Station, Beeching, closure
Honington, Railway Level Crossing
Honington, Railway Level Crossing
Honington, Railway Level Crossing

Former railway station off to the left of this image with Station Cottages visible on the right.

Signal box, which used to be immediately to the east of the level crossing has been removed.

DB 31 July 2018

Honington, Railway, Level Crossing
Honington, Railway Station, Disused Platforms
Honington, Railway Station, Disused Platforms
Honington, Railway Station, Disused Platforms

"Honington railway station was a station in the village of Honington, Lincolnshire.

It was located on the line from Grantham to Sleaford and Skegness, near the junction with the branch to Lincoln.

It was closed for regular services on 10 September 1962 but was used occasionally until 1965"

The disused platforms are still in situ"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honington_railway_station 

DB 31 July 2018

Honington, Railway Station
Hubbert's Bridge, Railway Station
Hubbert's Bridge, Railway Station
Hubbert's Bridge, Railway Station

"It is located on the Sleaford to Boston section of the Nottingham to Skegness line. Opened along with the line by the Boston, Sleaford and Midland Counties Railway in 1859.

The eastbound platform is longer than the westbound platform: it can accommodate a three-car train, whereas the westbound platform can only accommodate a two-car train"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubberts_Bridge_railway_station 

White's Directory of Lincolnshire 1872 has an entry "Read Thomas, station master, Hubbert's Bridge".

DB 21 September 2020  

Frampton, Hubberts Bridge, Railway Station, image
Hubbert's Bridge, Railway Station, Signal Box
Hubbert's Bridge, Railway Station, Signal Box
Hubbert's Bridge, Railway Station, Signal Box

"A signal box at the West end of the station supervises a level crossing and the western end of the single track section from Boston.

However, the station itself is unstaffed and offers limited facilities other than two shelters, bicycle storage, timetables and modern 'Help Points'".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubberts_Bridge_railway_station  

DB 21 September 2020  

Frampton, Hubberts Bridge, Railway Station, Signal Box, image
Keadby, Bridge
Keadby, Bridge
Keadby, Bridge

"Rail and road rolling lift bridge. 1912-16.

C A Rowlandson and J B Ball, engineers, Sir William Arrol and Company, contractors, for the Great Central Railway. Minor later alterations.

Carries a double track railway on the wider southern section, with a double carriageway road on the north side ...

At the time of construction Keadby was one of the first Scherzer bridges in Britain, the heaviest and longest in Europe, and the first anywhere with 3 girders.

A plaque formerly on the eastern approach parapet recorded the opening on May 21 1916 by the chairmen of the railway company and Lindsey County Council who contributed towards the cost of providing for a road section.

Not lifted since 1956"

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1067725 

Geoff Swain Collection 17 August 1993 

Keadby, Scherzer Bridge
Keadby, Bridge
Keadby, Bridge
Keadby, Bridge

"Keadby Bridge, more formally known as the King George V Bridge, crosses the River Trent near Althorpe and Keadby in Lincolnshire, England. It was designed by Alfred Charles Gardner FRSE MIME"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keadby_Bridge 

Geoff Swain Collection 17 August 1993 

Keadby, Bridge
Kirkstead, Woodhall Junction, Railway Station
Kirkstead, Woodhall Junction, Railway Station
Kirkstead, Woodhall Junction, Railway Station

The Lincoln to Boston line was opened in 1848 as part of the Great Northern Railway's Lincolnshire Loop Line. What was then called Kirkstead station was renamed Woodhall Junction in 1922.

The station buildings had been extended in 1855 when it became the junction for the branch line to Horncastle.

A busy ferry here, over the River Witham, was replaced by a swing bridge in 1891 and reached by the level crossing which the Lincoln bound train in this view is about to cross. It was replaced in turn in 1968 by the bridge from which this photograph is taken.

The passenger service to Horncastle ceased in 1954 and to Lincoln in 1970. Goods trains continued to run serving the goods yards here and at Horncastle until April 1971.

The cast iron gent's urinal from this station can be seen in the Museum of Lincolnshire Life in Lincoln.

Peter Grey Archive, 1969

Kirkstead, Woodhall junction railway station
Kirkstead, Woodhall Junction, Railway Station
Kirkstead, Woodhall Junction, Railway Station
Kirkstead, Woodhall Junction, Railway Station

Former railway station viewed from the east.

DB 26 March 2022 

Kirkstead, Woodhall junction railway station
Kirkstead, Woodhall Junction, Railway Station
Kirkstead, Woodhall Junction, Railway Station
Kirkstead, Woodhall Junction, Railway Station

Former station viewed from Kirkstead Bridge. 

White's Directory 1872 for Kirkstead reads " It has a railway station at the junction of the branch from Horncastle with the Great Northern line between Lincoln and Boston" also "White Chas. Money, station master".

DB 16 April 2022

Kirkstead, Woodhall junction railway station
Kirton in Lindsey, Railway Tunnel Entrance
Kirton in Lindsey, Railway Tunnel Entrance
Kirton in Lindsey, Railway Tunnel Entrance

"Railway tunnel entrance.

1849 for Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway.

Engineer, Sir John Hawkshaw"

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1083019 

DB 27 March 2019

Kirton Lindsey, Railway Tunnel Entrance
Kirton, Railway Station
Kirton, Railway Station
Kirton, Railway Station

Between Boston and Spalding, Kirton station opened in 1848 and is shown here in 1970, on the last weekend before the line closed.

On 11 September 1961 it was one of 25 rural stations in the County that lost its passenger trains, but goods trains continued to call until 1964.

The large building, centre right, was the potato warehouse built by the "Potato King", William Dennis. By 1918 Dennis was farming some 12,000 acres in the County, including 2000 acres at Kirton. Potatoes were at one time a major traffic for the railway.

Everything in this view has now gone. A roundabout now occupies the site, the railway now the route of the A16 with all the land to the right of the railway redeveloped for housing.

Peter Grey Archive, 1970

Kirton in Holland, William Dennis, potato railway
Langworth, Railway Signal Box
Langworth, Railway Signal Box
Langworth, Railway Signal Box

Signal box on the opposite side of the road from the former station.

Still in active use. 

DB 18 July 2019

Langworth, Railway Signal Box
Langworth, Railway Station
Langworth, Railway Station
Langworth, Railway Station

"Langworth railway station was a railway station in Langworth, Lincolnshire, opened in 1848 and closed in 1965.

On 30 June 2015, a freight train was derailed near the site of the station.

On 3 March 2017 The station building was damaged when a car drove through the railway barriers"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langworth_railway_station 

Now a private house. 

DB 18 July 2019

Langworth, Railway Station
Legbourne, Legbourne Road Railway Station
Legbourne, Legbourne Road Railway Station
Legbourne, Legbourne Road Railway Station

"Legbourne Road was a railway station on the East Lincolnshire Railway which served the village of Legbourne in Lincolnshire between 1848 and 1964.

The station was closed to passengers in 1953, and withdrawal of goods facilities took place in 1964.

The line through the station closed in 1970.

The station once housed a museum containing railway memorabilia; this closed in 1998 and the building is once again a private residence"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legbourne_Road_railway_station 

29 June 2019 

Legbourne Road railway station
Lincoln, Avoiding Line
Lincoln, Avoiding Line
Lincoln, Avoiding Line

This bridge, carrying the Lincoln Avoiding Line over the River Witham in the foreground and the drain beyond, behind the garages, was the City's longest railway bridge. It was 96 metres, (315 feet), long.

The Firth Road premises of what is now Siemens can be seen through and beyond the bridge.

The Avoiding Line opened in 1882 as a railway bypass around the City, part of the route of the Great Eastern and Great Northern Joint Railway carrying trains between East Anglia, to south Yorkshire and beyond.

This part of that route was closed in 1983 and dismantled the following year, at which time this bridge was demolished.

Peter Grey Archive, 1984

IA and Bridges, avoiding line
Lincoln, Avoiding Line
Lincoln, Avoiding Line
Lincoln, Avoiding Line

The Lincoln Avoiding Line opened in 1882 as a railway bypass around the City centre to carry, principally, goods trains.

Using this through trains did not require the closure of the level crossings and trains from most directions could also access the Lincoln Holmes Yard, again avoiding level crossings.

It was closed in 1983 and the route dismantled the following year. Much of the track bed has disappeared under housing and commercial redevelopments.

Peter Grey Archive, 1984

IA and Bridges, avoiding line
Lincoln, Avoiding Line, Greetwell Junction
Lincoln, Avoiding Line, Greetwell Junction
Lincoln, Avoiding Line, Greetwell Junction

The Lincoln Avoiding Line opened in 1882 as a railway bypass around Lincoln City centre.

At its eastern end was Greetwell Junction, the place where the new route connected with the line to Sleaford, also opened in 1882, together with a new line eastwards to link with the line to Boston, opened in 1848.

The Avoiding Line closed in 1983 and in this view the demolition train can be seen in the left background.

Peter Grey Archive, 1984

IA and Bridges, Lincoln avoiding line, Greetwell Junction
Lincoln, Avoiding Line, High Street
Lincoln, Avoiding Line, High Street
Lincoln, Avoiding Line, High Street

For 102 years, 1882 to 1984, the lower end of Lincoln High Street was crossed by this bridge.

It carried the Lincoln Avoiding Line at a high level around the south of the City, providing a route for trains not needing to disrupt traffic by passing over the level crossings in the City centre.

his bridge will be well remembered for the inspired advertising slogan it carried in its later years, shown in this view.

Peter Grey Archive, 1984

IA and Bridges, avoiding line, Lincoln High Street
Lincoln, Brayford Wharf East Railway Footbridge
Lincoln, Brayford Wharf East Railway Footbridge
Lincoln, Brayford Wharf East Railway Footbridge

A new railway footbridge opened in 2019.

OS 25 inch map published 1906 shows both a railway swing bridge and a drawbridge crossing the River Witham at this point. 

DB 24 December 2019

Lincoln, Brayford Wharf East Railway Footbridge image
Lincoln, Central Railway Station
Lincoln, Central Railway Station
Lincoln, Central Railway Station

View from Platform 4 with the St Mary le Wigford Church visible in the background to the left.

DB Cargo 66 051 "Maritime Intermodal Four" passing through the station.

DB 30 July 2019

Lincoln, Central Railway Station,
Lincoln, Central Railway Station
Lincoln, Central Railway Station
Lincoln, Central Railway Station

"Railway station with attached footbridge, platform building, yard walls and railing. 1848, with later C19 and C20 alterations. Possibly by Joseph Cubitt or JH Taylor of London for the Great Northern Railway Co."

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1388752 

DB 31 January 2013

Lincoln, Central Station, Great Northern Railway
Lincoln, Central Railway Station, High Street Signal Box
Lincoln, Central Railway Station, High Street Signal Box
Lincoln, Central Railway Station, High Street Signal Box

"High Street Signal Box was built by the Great Northern Railway in 1874.

It is an early surviving example of a GNR box, the oldest being Barnby Moor & Sutton of 1872.

GNR signal boxes were the least standardised of any of the major railway companies because they were often contracted out to local builders.

While the design was broadly set in 1871 - including gabled roofs with elaborate bargeboards and finials - there were many variations in detail and almost every box built in the 1870s was slightly different.

High Street combines the typical gabled roof and finials with unusual fleur-de-lys ridge cresting.

As well as controlling railway signalling, the box controls the level crossing barriers and traffic signals.

In 1925, when the crossing gates were electrified, an extension was built to the west to meet these operational need"

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1392292 

No longer in use. 

DB 30 July 2019

Lincoln, Central Station, High Street Signal Box
Lincoln, East Holmes Signal Box
Lincoln, East Holmes Signal Box
Lincoln, East Holmes Signal Box

"East Holmes Signal Box was opened by the Great Northern Railway in May 1873. It is the second oldest GNR box to survive, the earliest being Barnby Moor & Sutton (1872) ... 

In 1910 the original lever frame was replaced with a 35-lever one by McKenzie & Holland ...

East Holmes is unusual in being constructed entirely of timber".

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1391954 

DB 18 September 2019 

Lincoln East Holmes railway signal box
Lincoln, Great Northern Terrace, Rood Ashton Hall
Lincoln, Great Northern Terrace, Rood Ashton Hall
Lincoln, Great Northern Terrace, Rood Ashton Hall

Visiting special trains are usually parked opposite Great Northern Terrace for the duration of their stay.

"4965 Rood Ashton Hall is a 4-6-0 Hall class locomotive ...

The engine operates in its Great Western Railway green livery, and performs regularly on the Shakespeare Express, operated by Vintage Trains, between Birmingham and Stratford-upon-Avon, as well as various excursions ...

This locomotive was previously identified as 4983 Albert Hall, having been rebuilt in 1962 using parts from both original engines Albert Hall and Rood Ashton Hall"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GWR_4900_Class_4965_Rood_Ashton_Hall 

DB 8 December 2012

Lincoln, Rood Ashton Hall
Lincoln, Great Northern Terrace, Scots Guardsman
Lincoln, Great Northern Terrace, Scots Guardsman
Lincoln, Great Northern Terrace, Scots Guardsman

Visiting special trains are usually parked opposite Great Northern Terrace for the duration of their stay.

Scots Guardsman "6115 was built in 1927 by the North British Locomotive Company in Springburn, Glasgow.

It was named Scots Guardsman in 1928 after the Scots Guards.

After receiving smoke deflectors, it starred in the 1936 film Night Mail.

6115 was rebuilt in 1947 with a new tapered type 2A boiler, and was painted in LMS 1946-style black livery.

It was the first of the rebuilt engines to receive smoke deflectors and the only one to run with them as an LMS engine.

It was renumbered 46115 by British Railways in 1948 and was withdrawn in January 1966"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LMS_Royal_Scot_Class_6115_Scots_Guardsman 

DB 9 November 2014 

Lincoln, Scots Guardsman 46115
Lincoln, High Level Crossing
Lincoln, High Level Crossing
Lincoln, High Level Crossing

Level crossings in Lincoln have been the subject of controversy in the City since 1848 when the City Council received a petition expressing concern from a number of townspeople.

Since that time they have been a controversial issue and remain so today.

Details can be found in The Railway History of Lincoln, by Ruddock and Pearson, 1974.

Over the years their number has been reduced but that over the High Street remains.

Here, in 1982, the traditional crossing gates were being replaced with lifting barriers, an improvement to reduce street closure times.

Peter Grey Archive, 1969

IA and Bridges, Lincoln High Street level crossing
Lincoln, Railway Warehouse
Lincoln, Railway Warehouse
Lincoln, Railway Warehouse

The Great Central Railway opened their new warehouse on Holmes Yard on 8 July 1907 but it became surplus to requirements after the Railway Grouping in 1923.

At that time, along with the Great Eastern and the Great Northern Railways in the City they all became part of the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER).

The LNER decided to concentrate their sack hire service to farmers at four locations, Aberdeen, Edinburgh, York and Lincoln and this became the Lincoln sack depot.

It closed in 1963, becoming for some years a builders' merchant, in which guise it is seen here.

It survives today but now as the Library of the University of Lincoln which occupies the site of the former Holmes goods yard.

Peter Grey Archive, c.1980

IA and Bridges, G C R Railway Warehouse, sack depot
Lincoln, Railway Warehouse
Lincoln, Railway Warehouse
Lincoln, Railway Warehouse
An earlier undated photograph of the warehouse on the upper Witham (close to Brayford) when it was still in operation for the railway company.
IA and Bridges, Great Central warehouse
Lincoln, St Mark's Station
Lincoln, St Mark's Station
Lincoln, St Mark's Station

Lincolnshire's first main railway station, originally called simply "Lincoln", it was renamed Lincoln St Marks in 1950.

Opened in 1846 and built by the Midland Railway the attractive architecture of the lines buildings was particularly impressive.

It became the City's main station in 1965 when trains to London were diverted here from the City's other station.

With major alterations to the railway layout in Lincoln in 1985 it was closed but this building has been successfully converted as part of the shopping centre here and this view is little changed.

Peter Grey Archive, 1981

IA and Bridges, St Mark's Station, Midland railway
Lincoln, St Mark's Station, Wheelhouse
Lincoln, St Mark's Station, Wheelhouse
Lincoln, St Mark's Station, Wheelhouse

Former Wheelhouse controlling the level crossing gates across High Street.

Central Methodist Church, further down the High Street, just visible at the right hand edge of this image.

Building now occupied by Mr. Chippy. 

DB 30 July 2019 

Lincoln, Saint Mark, Railway, Level Crossing, Wheelhouse
Lincoln, St Mark's Station, Wheelhouse
Lincoln, St Mark's Station, Wheelhouse
Lincoln, St Mark's Station, Wheelhouse

"RAILWAY WHEELHOUSE 

BUILT IN THE 1880's AS ACCOMMODATION FOR THE LEVEL CROSSING KEEPER FOR THE MANCHESTER, SHEFFIELD AND LINCOLNSHIRE RAILWAY.

FROM 1926 IT HOUSED THE MACHINERY AND OPERATOR FOR THE MECHANICALLY OPERATED CROSSING GATES ON THE APPROACH TO THE FORMER LINCOLN ST MARK'S STATION.

THIS USE CEASED IN 1985 WHEN THE RAILWAY CLOSED"

DB 29 July 2019  

Lincoln, Saint Mark, Railway, Level Crossing, Wheelhouse
Lincoln, Tram
Lincoln, Tram
Lincoln, Tram

This undated photograph shows the workers' car of a Lincoln tram passing over the level crossing on High Street by St Mary le Wigford Church, Lincoln.

Streets, tram
Lincoln, Tram Opening Day
Lincoln, Tram Opening Day
Lincoln, Tram Opening Day

"THE OPENING OF THE LINCOLN ELECTRIC TRAMWAYS 23-11-05"

Gatehouse Inn, Bracebridge pictured in the background.

Card postmarked 1st March 1906

Lincoln, Tram Opening Day, Bracebridge
Lincoln, Tram, Horse Car
Lincoln, Tram, Horse Car
Lincoln, Tram, Horse Car
Last day of the horse car service 22nd July 1905.
Lincoln Horse Car
Lincoln, Tramway Depot, Newark Road
Lincoln, Tramway Depot, Newark Road
Lincoln, Tramway Depot, Newark Road

Former Tramway Depot on the corner of Newark Road and Ellison Street. 

"The electric tramway system belongs to the Corporation and is being converted (1920) to the overhead trolley system"

"ELECTRIC TRAMWAY Between Lincoln and Bracebridge every few minutes"

"Tramway Depot Stanley Clegg manager"

Directory of the City of Lincoln published by JW Ruddock & Sons in 1919. 

DB 28 January 2019

Lincoln, Tramway Depot
Lincolnshire British Railways Map
Lincolnshire British Railways Map
Lincolnshire British Railways Map

Circa 1951 British Railways Map of Lincolnshire by Blake - displayed at National Railway Museum, York.

DB 12 January 2020 

Lincolnshire British Railways Map
Little Bytham, Station Road
Little Bytham, Station Road
Little Bytham, Station Road

On the left is Little Bytham's former station on the Great Northern railway which closed in 1959 (though the line is still open). In the distance is the now closed Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway line. To the right is the still open Willoughby Arms pub.

Unposted postcard by Raphael Tuck 

Little Bytham,
Little Bytham, Railway Bridge
Little Bytham, Railway Bridge
Little Bytham, Railway Bridge

This is the one surviving bridge (at TF 025 176) from the short-lived Little Bytham to Edenham Light Railway, commonly known as Lord Willoughby's Private Railway.

It opened in 1856 and closed for passengers in 1871, though horse-drawn goods wagons continued to use the line until 1884.

It provided a link from the main Towns Line at Little Bytham to a terminus close to Willoughby's home at Grimsthorpe Castle.

The bridge carries the minor road from Little Bytham to Witham on the Hill.

Ken Redmore, 2011

Little Bytham, railway bridge, Lord Willoughby, Edenham,
Little Ponton, Railway Bridge
Little Ponton, Railway Bridge
Little Ponton, Railway Bridge

Carries the Great Northern Railway line over Whalebone Lane.

Kelly's Directory of Lincolnshire 1919 states :-

"The Old Whalebones, which are a landmark in this parish, have recently been restored by Major William Longstaffe ; they are situated in Whalebone Lane" 

Bridge ECM1 236. 

DB 24 April 2019

Little Ponton, Railway Bridge
Little Steeping, Railway Station
Little Steeping, Railway Station
Little Steeping, Railway Station

The site of Little Steeping station, between Boston and Firsby, seen here in 1970.

On 11 September 1961 it was one of 25 rural stations in the County that lost its passenger trains, but goods trains continued to call until 1964.

Trains between Boston and Skegness still pass the site but the signal box and traditional crossing gates have gone to be replaced with automatic barriers.

Note the signal box with a very pronounced backwards lean.

Peter Grey Archive, 1970

Little Steeping, railway station
Littleworth railway station
Littleworth railway station
Littleworth railway station

Littleworth was the station for Deeping St Nicholas. It opened on 17 October 1848 & closed to passengers on 11 September 1961 though the line is still open. The image shows the line running southwards towards Peterborough.

Undated photo 

Deeping St Nicholas, Littleworth
Littleworth railway station
Littleworth railway station
Littleworth railway station

Littleworth was the station for Deeping St Nicholas. The image shows the line running northwards towards Spalding. Despite closing to passengers in 1961 the buildings on the westward side remain.

Photo dated 11 February 1961 

Deeping St Nicholas, Littleworth
Louth, Old Railway Line
Louth, Old Railway Line
Louth, Old Railway Line

The east side of Louth had several parks which have been taken into the growing town.  One such was Stewton House Park.

The railway from Boston cut through it so that land to the west of the line was sold off for large houses and gardens and that to the east is mostly housing estate.

The railway has gone but the route is still there and converted to a pleasant tree-lined footpath.

Louth, East Coast Line, Railway, footpath
Louth, Old Railway Line
Louth, Old Railway Line
Louth, Old Railway Line

This information board alongside the footpath to the south-east of the town centre gives details of the former East Lincolnshire Line which passed through Louth.

 

Louth, East Lincolnshire Railway Line, footpath
Louth, Railway Station
Louth, Railway Station
Louth, Railway Station

Opened in 1848, Louth station was on the East Lincolnshire Railway, opened in 1848.

The Tudor Gothic style with a large porte-coch're, (covered carriage entrance), over the main doorway was designed to give a sense of occasion to travelling by train. Furthermore, it was the entrance for all, not just the well to do as would be the case in the country house which its design resembled.

Passenger trains ceased in 1970 but goods trains to the malthouse alongside the station ran for another ten years.

This building has since been converted into apartments.

Peter Grey Archive, 1970

Louth, Railway station
Louth, Signal Box At Louth North
Louth, Signal Box At Louth North
Louth, Signal Box At Louth North

"Railway signal box. 1886 for the Great Northern Railway. Timber framed construction on a red brick base with a Welsh slate roof. The box is of the type known as GNR1(East Lincs)"

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1389137

Now a private house.

DB 30 April 2022

Louth North Signal Box
Mablethorpe, Railway Turntable (Site of)
Mablethorpe, Railway Turntable (Site of)
Mablethorpe, Railway Turntable (Site of)

Local signage states

"These are the remains of a railway turntable.

It was used to turn steam engines that brought trains to Mablethorpe railway station.

The railway opened at Mablethorpe in 1877, and by the 1930s thousands of people came here by train in the summer.

As cars and coaches became more popular, passenger numbers fell, and the railway closed on 5 October 1970"

No trace now remaining of the former railway station which was immediately to the south. 

DB 29 June 2019 

Mablethorpe, Railway Turntable
Market Rasen, Railway Signal Box (Pictured at Quorn & Woodhouse)
Market Rasen, Railway Signal Box (Pictured at Quorn & Woodhouse)
Market Rasen, Railway Signal Box (Pictured at Quorn & Woodhouse)

Signal box moved bodily from Market Rasen and is now situated at the south end of Quorn & Woodhouse Station on the preserved Great Central Railway.

"The box was originally located at Market Rasen and is an MS&L box of circa 1886 vintage"

https://www.gcrailway.co.uk/station-facilities/signal-box-quorn-woodhouse/ 

DB 20 April 2019

Market Rasen, Railway Signal Box
Market Rasen, Railway Station
Market Rasen, Railway Station
Market Rasen, Railway Station

"Railway station. 1848 for the Great Grimsby and Sheffield Junction Railway, later Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway"

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1359780 

DB 8 April 2019

Market Rasen, Railway Station
Market Rasen, Railway Station
Market Rasen, Railway Station
Market Rasen, Railway Station

"The station was a substantial structure with an overall roof below which all the usual station facilities could be found including a W. H. Smith bookstall"

"It is the only station now between Lincoln and Barnetby, but in the past there were many more (these mainly succumbed to the Beeching Axe in 1965).

The signal box which was at the south end of the Lincoln platform was removed to Great Central Railway (heritage railway) at Quorn and re-erected in 1987.

Nowadays it is on the "Grimsby - Lincoln - Newark" line and is managed by East Midlands Trains"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market_Rasen_railway_station 

DB 8 April 2019

Market Rasen, Railway Station
Market Rasen, Railway Station
Market Rasen, Railway Station
Market Rasen, Railway Station

View from Platform 2.

Kelly's Directory of Lincolnshire 1889 states :-

"MARKET RASEN is a market town and parish, with a station on the Hull and Lincoln branch of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire railway"

"The railway crosses the main street and the station is on the south side of the town"

"Railway Station, William Crossland Fell, station master" 

DB 8 April 2019

Market Rasen, Railway Station
Market Rasen, Railway Station
Market Rasen, Railway Station
Market Rasen, Railway Station

"Since closing in 1997, the landmark Victorian building had fallen into disrepair and had been placed on the Buildings at Risk Register.

It stood empty for 21 years before it was bought at auction for £50,000 by Lindum Group Ltd in 2015.

Now, thanks to significant investment from the National Lottery, and the efforts of dedicated volunteers who make up the Market Rasen Station Community Project Ltd, the building has been given a new lease of life.

While no longer serving as a waiting room for travellers, the building is home to a heritage centre which charts the history of the station, a community room for use by local people and business space, which is home to two local companies, employing ten people between them"

https://lindumgroup.com/news/2018/09/three-year-restoration-of-market-rasen-station-to-be-unveiled 

DB 8 April 2019

Market Rasen, Railway Station
Market Rasen, Railway Station
Market Rasen, Railway Station
Market Rasen, Railway Station

The fast train from Lincoln arriving at Market Rasen station in 1887 or 1888.

The locomotive in the photo is a Manchester Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway class 23, an 0-6-0.

This was shortly before interlocking block signalling was installed on this line.


Courtesy Chris Padley

Market Rasen, railway station, train,
Martin by Horncastle, Martin Bridge
Martin by Horncastle, Martin Bridge
Martin by Horncastle, Martin Bridge

Bridge across the former Horncastle and Kirkstead Junction Railway now the Spa Trail. Located at National Grid Reference TF 241 662.

"The Horncastle and Kirkstead Junction Railway was a seven mile long single track branch railway line in Lincolnshire, England, that ran from Horncastle to Woodhall Junction (opened as Kirkstead) on the Great Northern Railway (GNR) line between Boston and Lincoln. There was one intermediate station, Woodhall Spa.

The line opened in 1855 and was worked by the GNR, but the H&KJR company remained as an independent entity until 1923. The short line suffered from road competition after that time, and the passenger service was withdrawn in 1954, although a goods service was retained until 1971"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horncastle_Railway 

DB 9 January 2022

Martin Bridge Horncastle and Kirkstead Junction Railway
Metheringham, Railway Station
Metheringham, Railway Station
Metheringham, Railway Station

Crowds gather on Metheringham Station platforms prior to the arrival of Mayflower 61306 and Flying Scotsman 60103 on their way to York. 

Stopped at Metheringham for about 20 minutes to take on water from the red & yellow painted fire tanker visible in the background.

Super Sprinter 153318 in the foreground left on its way to Peterborough. 

"The British Rail Class 153 Super Sprinters are single-coach railcars converted from two-coach Class 155 diesel multiple units in the early 1990s.

The class was intended for service on rural and branch lines where passenger numbers do not justify longer trains"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_153  

DB 7 May 2019

Metheringham, Railway Station, Super Sprinter 153318
Metheringham, Railway Station
Metheringham, Railway Station
Metheringham, Railway Station

Mayflower 61306 and Flying Scotsman 60103 stopped at Metheringham to take on water.

LNER Thompson Class B1 61306 was built in 1948 by the North British Locomotive Company, Works No. 26207.

Though built to an LNER design, it was delivered after nationalisation to British Railways (BR).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LNER_Thompson_Class_B1_61306 

LNER Class A3 4472 Flying Scotsman is a Pacific steam locomotive built in 1923 for the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) at Doncaster Works to a design of Nigel Gresley.

The locomotive set two world records for steam traction, becoming the first steam locomotive to be officially authenticated at reaching 100 miles per hour (160.9 km/h) on 30 November 1934, and then setting a record for the longest non-stop run by a steam locomotive when it ran 422 miles (679 km) on 8 August 1989 while in Australia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LNER_Class_A3_4472_Flying_Scotsman 

DB 7 May 2019

Metheringham, Railway Station, Mayflower 61306, Flying Scotsman 60103
Metheringham, Railway Station
Metheringham, Railway Station
Metheringham, Railway Station

View from Lincoln bound platform, towards signal box, at south end of station. 

"The station opened to passengers on 1 July 1882 as Blankney and Metheringham.

It closed to them on 11 September 1961 but reopened on 6 October 1975 as Metheringham"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metheringham_railway_station

DB 7 June 2018

Metheringham, Railway Station
Metheringham, Railway Station, Signal Box
Metheringham, Railway Station, Signal Box
Metheringham, Railway Station, Signal Box

Signal box at the south end of the station is labelled "Blankney" however it is no longer in use.

Kelly's Directory of Lincolnshire 1919 states :-

"METHERINGHAM is a parish and large improving village, with a station called Blankney and Metheringham on the Great Northern and Great Eastern joint railway from Spalding to Doucaster, and is 10 miles north from Sleaford, and 9 south-east from Lincoln by rail"

DB 7 June 2018

Metheringham, Railway Station, Signal Box
Metheringham, Railway Control Building
Metheringham, Railway Control Building
Metheringham, Railway Control Building

Alongside Metheringham station was a small brick building with the remnants of heavy steel shutters around its windows.

It was built during World War II as an emergency railway control building.

If the control office at Lincoln station ten miles away had been knocked out by enemy bombing then the trains and traffic would have been controlled from here.

It was one of 20 such buildings in the country and was a rare survivor, having been used as a railway store for almost 70 years until it was demolished in 2011.


Stewart Squires, 2010

Metheringham, railway control,
Midville, Railway Station
Midville, Railway Station
Midville, Railway Station

 Opened with what was known as the "New Line", between Coningsby Junction and Bellwater Junctions, in 1913, the line and station closed in 1970.

The route was created primarily to help speed excursionists from the Midlands to Skegness and Mablethorpe but it also served the many farms and hamlets scattered along the northern edges of the East and West Fens. Midville station was a good example of this.

Some buildings remain today but the track bed has disappeared, incorporated into the adjacent fields.

Peter Grey Archive, 1970

Midville, railway station
Muckton, Railway Crossing
Muckton, Railway Crossing
Muckton, Railway Crossing

The East Lincolnshire Railway Line looped towards the coast and skirted the Wolds. For the stretch between Alford and Louth - a distance of about 11 miles - it took a dead straight line in the flat marshland.

This photograph is taken at the point where the line crossed an unmetalled green lane running SW-NE along the boundary between the parishes of Muckton and Authorpe.

The concrete post once supported the an unmanned crossing gate.

Jean Howard, May 2020

Muckton, railway crossing, East Lincolnshire Railway
Muckton, Railway Line
Muckton, Railway Line
Muckton, Railway Line

Much of the former East Lincolnshire Railway Line between Firsby and Grimsby, closed in 1970, has reverted to agricultural land, leaving little trace of its former use. 

However, in some places the position of the line can be readily recognised through the lines of vegetation - now vastly overgrown - which once bordered the track.

This view of former line is on the eastern edge of Muckton parish. 

Jean Howard, May 2020

Muckton, East Lincolnshire Railway Line
Navenby, Railway Goods Shed
Navenby, Railway Goods Shed
Navenby, Railway Goods Shed

Former Goods Shed associated with Navenby railway station on the Grantham and Lincoln railway line

"The station closed for passengers in 1962 and freight in 1964 but the line remained open until it was closed in 1965 as part of the Beeching Axe"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navenby_railway_station 

Located at National Grid Reference SK 97594 57975. 

DB 15 November 2020

Navenby, Railway Goods Shed
New Bolingbroke, Railway Station
New Bolingbroke, Railway Station
New Bolingbroke, Railway Station

This is the former booking office at New Bolingbroke railway station.

The ‘New Line’ was built in 1913, running west-east from Coningsby Junction on the Lincoln to Boston line, to Bellwater Junction, where it joined the East Lincolnshire line.

The line and this station closed in 1970. For many years since then the booking office and railway yard have been the base of a sales emporium of large vintage and antique items, many of which relate to rural industries.

Jean Howard, April 2023

New Bolingbroke, Railway Station
New Bolingbroke, Railway Station
New Bolingbroke, Railway Station
New Bolingbroke, Railway Station

The left-hand portion of this building was the waiting room on the south platform for trains heading west to Coningsby and Lincoln. The lower structure on the right was for storing goods.

Jean Howard, April 2023

New Bolingbroke, Railway Station
New Bolingbroke, Railway Station
New Bolingbroke, Railway Station
New Bolingbroke, Railway Station

Opened with what was known as the "New Line", between Coningsby Junction and Bellwater Junctions, in 1913, the line and station closed in 1970.

The route was created primarily to help speed excursionists from the Midlands to Skegness and Mablethorpe and it was very successful at doing this. It also served some small villages en route of which New Bolingbroke was one.

Everything in this view has gone now although the very distinctive former booking office, out of view to the right, remains in a new use to mark the location.

Peter Grey Archive, 1970

New Bolingbroke, railway station
North Lindsey Light Railway Notice
North Lindsey Light Railway Notice
North Lindsey Light Railway Notice

A cast iron notice on display at the National Railway Museum York.

The North Lindsey Light Railway stretched from Scunthorpe to Whitton which was a terminal station.

Original location of this notice not known.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Lindsey_Light_Railway 

DB 12 January 2019

Whitton, North Lindsey Light Railway, Notice
North Hykeham, Hykeham Station
North Hykeham, Hykeham Station
North Hykeham, Hykeham Station

"The station has two platforms, which are staggered over a level crossing and feature basic facilities"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hykeham_railway_station 

Super Sprinter 156405 seen arriving from Lincoln.

"The British Rail Class 156 Super Sprinter is a diesel multiple unit train.

A total of 114 sets were built between 1987 and 1989 for British Rail by Metro-Cammell's Washwood Heath works"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_156 

The Directory Of The City of Lincoln 1919 published by JW Ruddock & Sons has an entry for North Hykeham "Railway Station, G. Stapleton, stationmaster"

DB 22 January 2019

North Hykeham, Station, Super Sprinter 156405
Potterhanworth, Railway Station
Potterhanworth, Railway Station
Potterhanworth, Railway Station

Great Eastern and Great Northern Joint Railway carrying trains between East Anglia to south Yorkshire and beyond opened in 1882.

It was created from a mix of existing railway routes together with one new section, that from Spalding to Lincoln, also opened in 1882. Potterhanworth station was on this latter stretch.

It was built to the same architectural design as the other village stations on the new line.

The station closed to passengers in 1955 and for goods in 1964.

The line remains open but the building in this photograph has since been demolished.

Peter Grey Archive, 1971

Potterhanworth, railway station
Quarrington, Rauceby Railway Signal Box
Quarrington, Rauceby Railway Signal Box
Quarrington, Rauceby Railway Signal Box

OS 25 inch map published 1905 seems to show the parish boundary between Quarrington and South Rauceby bisecting the signal box.

The station which is immediately adjacent is just within the Quarrington parish boundary.

DB 20 August 2018 

Quarrington, Rauceby Railway Signal Box, South Rauceby
Quarrington, Rauceby Railway Station
Quarrington, Rauceby Railway Station
Quarrington, Rauceby Railway Station

"The railway station originally served Rauceby Mental Hospital (the former Kesteven Lunatic Asylum, which lies immediately to the south of the railway station and was closed in 1998) and the village of South Rauceby in Lincolnshire, England.

The line was built by the Boston, Sleaford and Midland Counties Railway.

It now principally serves commuters living in the new housing estates that comprise the Greylees suburb of Sleaford"

DB 20 August 2018 

Quarrington, Rauceby Railway Station, Greylees, Mental Hospital, Kesteven Lunatic Asylum
Quarrington, Rauceby Railway Station
Quarrington, Rauceby Railway Station
Quarrington, Rauceby Railway Station

"Rauceby still has a working signal box at west end of the station, however the station is unstaffed and offers limited facilities other than two shelters, bicycle storage, timetables and modern 'Help Points'" 

"The former leader of the Liberal Democrat Party, Nick Clegg, proposed to his wife on a platform at the station"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rauceby_railway_station 

DB 20 August 2018 

Quarrington, Rauceby Railway Station, Nick Clegg
Quarrington, Rauceby Railway Station
Quarrington, Rauceby Railway Station
Quarrington, Rauceby Railway Station

Detail of station signboard on the southernmost platform.

DB 20 August 2018 

Quarrington, Rauceby Railway Station
Ruskington, Railway Station
Ruskington, Railway Station
Ruskington, Railway Station

Super Sprinter 153382 about to depart from Platform 1 bound for Metheringham and Lincoln.

"The British Rail Class 153 Super Sprinters are single-coach railcars converted from two-coach Class 155 diesel multiple units.

The class was intended for service on rural and branch lines where passenger numbers do not justify longer trains"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_153 

DB 21 August 2019

Ruskington, Railway Station, Super Sprinter 153382
Ruskington, Railway Station
Ruskington, Railway Station
Ruskington, Railway Station

Looking north from Platform 2, towards Priory Road Bridge, a Footbridge and Fen Road Bridge just visible in the distance.

"Ruskington railway station serves the village of Ruskington in Lincolnshire, England.

It opened in 1882 as part of the Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Railway between Sleaford and Lincoln Central.

It closed in 1961 but was reopened in 1975.

The station is now owned by Network Rail and managed by East Midlands Railway who provide all rail services"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruskington_railway_station 

The original station building as depicted on older maps has been demolished. 

DB 21 August 2019

Ruskington, Railway Station
Ruskington, Railway Station
Ruskington, Railway Station
Ruskington, Railway Station

"In 2014 work was undertaken to improve access at the station.

This included the construction of new railway bridges and disabled access ramps to safely cross the lines.

Previous access from one platform to the other was by crossing both railway lines"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruskington_railway_station 

DB 21 August 2019

Ruskington, Railway Station
Sandtoft, Trolleybus Museum
Sandtoft, Trolleybus Museum
Sandtoft, Trolleybus Museum

"The museum occupies part of the former RAF Sandtoft, an operational bomber airfield during the Second World War.

RAF Sandtoft was disposed of by the RAF in 1958 and the site was acquired for the museum in November 1969.

Since that time, volunteers have transformed a barren site into a museum with the addition of workshop, vehicle depot and exhibition building"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Trolleybus_Museum_at_Sandtoft 

DB 27 August 2017

Sandtoft Trolleybus Museum
Sandtoft, Trolleybus Museum
Sandtoft, Trolleybus Museum
Sandtoft, Trolleybus Museum

"The museum is recognised as having the largest collection of preserved trolleybuses in Europe, if not the world, with over 60 examples.

Whilst the exhibits are predominantly from the UK, a collection of international examples is growing at the museum"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Trolleybus_Museum_at_Sandtoft 

DB 26 July 2015

Sandtoft Trolleybus Museum
Saxilby, Railway Bridge
Saxilby, Railway Bridge
Saxilby, Railway Bridge

Bridge over the Foss Dyke Navigation

"The Foss Dyke, or Fossdyke, connects the River Trent at Torksey to Lincoln, the county town of Lincolnshire, and may be the oldest canal in England that is still in use"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foss_Dyke 

DB 17 May 2020 

Saxilby, Railway Bridge
Saxilby, Railway Station
Saxilby, Railway Station
Saxilby, Railway Station

"It was built by The Great Northern Railway and opened in 1849"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saxilby_railway_station 

Kelly's Directory of Lincolnshire 1919 states :-

"a station on the Spalding and Doncaster section of the Great Northern and Great Eastern joint railway"

DB 19 June 2018

Saxilby, Railway, Station, Great Northern Railway
Saxilby, Railway Signal Box
Saxilby, Railway Signal Box
Saxilby, Railway Signal Box

The signal box at Saxilby (SK 892753) was built in 1922 to replace an earlier one within the station limits.

It protects a public road to the south of the station and has a strong LNER style.

Stewart Squires, 2003

Saxilby, railway signal box,
Scunthorpe, Railway Station, Station Road
Scunthorpe, Railway Station, Station Road
Scunthorpe, Railway Station, Station Road

"This is not the original Scunthorpe station.

The original station was known as Frodingham and located over half a mile to the east near the Brigg Road bridge (then a level crossing).

It opened in 1864, it was replaced by a second station just 200 yd west from the first in 1887.

This one was closed when the present station was opened on 11 March 1928"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scunthorpe_railway_station 

DB 19 February 2019 

Scunthorpe, Railway Station, Station Road
Scunthorpe, Railway Station, Station Road
Scunthorpe, Railway Station, Station Road
Scunthorpe, Railway Station, Station Road

Work to install a new footbridge can be seen beyond the platform canopies.

"We're improving accessibility at Scunthorpe station as part of the Government Inclusive Transport Strategy.

We will install a new footbridge and two new 16-person lifts either side of the footbridge to deliver accessible routes to and between platforms one and two. We are opening up access to rail journeys not only for those with reduced mobility, but also people with children, heavy luggage or shopping.

To allow for the replacement of the existing footbridge, a temporary footbridge will be installed towards the opposite end of the platforms (towards the barrow crossing) while the new permanent footbridge is installed in place of the existing one".

https://www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/our-routes/lne-and-em/scunthorpe-station-access-for-all/ 

DB 19 February 2019 

Scunthorpe, Railway Station, Station Road, footbridge
Scunthorpe, Railway Station, Station Road
Scunthorpe, Railway Station, Station Road
Scunthorpe, Railway Station, Station Road

On the left a British Rail Class 142 Pacer diesel multiple-unit 142608 sitting at Platform 2.

"96 units were built by British Rail Engineering Limited's Derby Litchurch Lane Works between 1985 and 1987"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_142 

On the right Freightliner 66539 travelling through the station.

DB 19 February 2019 

Scunthorpe, Railway Station, Station Road
Seacroft, railway station
Seacroft, railway station
Seacroft, railway station

Seacroft station was the closest stop to Skegness. Originally called Cow Bank, it opened on 28 July 1873 & was renamed Seacroft on 1 October 1900. Passenger services ended on 7 December 1953 & the station closed completely on 27 April 1964.

Photo dated August 1955 

Seacroft, Cow Bank
Sibsey station
Sibsey station
Sibsey station

Sibsey's railway station opened on 2 October 1848. It closed to passengers on 11 September 1961 and to goods traffic on 15 June 1964. It saw heavy traffic in potatoes and sugar beet in the interwar years.
The line through the station remains open as part of the Poacher Line between Boston and Skegness.

Undated postcard
 

Sibsey, station
Skegness, Jolly Fisherman Statue, Railway Station
Skegness, Jolly Fisherman Statue, Railway Station
Skegness, Jolly Fisherman Statue, Railway Station

Jolly Fisherman depicted walking towards the station exit, carrying a bucket and spade and trailing a suitcase on wheels behind him.

The statue by Siobhan Coppinger was unveiled in 2010. 

DB 30 October 2019

Skegness, Jolly Fisherman Statue
Skegness, Jolly Fisherman, John Hassall
Skegness, Jolly Fisherman, John Hassall
Skegness, Jolly Fisherman, John Hassall

Blue plaque at Skegness Railway Station. 

"The Jolly Fisherman is a poster created by artist John Hassall in 1908 after he had been commissioned by the Great Northern Railways (GNR).

It is regarded as one of the most famous holiday advertisements of all time and is believed to have influenced the success of Skegness, Lincolnshire as a holiday destination.

The poster depicts a fisherman skipping along the beach, with the slogan "Skegness is SO bracing".

There are different versions of the poster, however, the fisherman and the slogan are always part of the design.

He is now the mascot for Skegness and celebrated his 100th birthday in 2008.

"The Jolly Fisherman" is also the name of places located in Lincolnshire, such as a restaurant, a resort, among others"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jolly_Fisherman 

DB 30 October 2019

Skegness, Railway Station, Blue Plaque, Jolly Fisherman, John Hassall
Skegness, Railway Station
Skegness, Railway Station
Skegness, Railway Station

"The line to Wainfleet was opened in August 1873 by the Wainfleet and Firsby Railway. This line was then extended to Skegness; the station opened on 28 July 1873.

Skegness was dubbed "the Blackpool of the East Coast" or "Nottingham by the Sea", and has a mascot, the Jolly Fisherman (designed by John Hassall in 1908 for the Great Northern Railway), and a slogan - Skegness is so bracing - a reference to the chilly prevailing north-easterly winds that can and frequently do blow off the North Sea.

A statue of The Jolly Fisherman now greets passengers as they arrive at the station when entering through the main entrance"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skegness_railway_station 

DB 30 October 2019

Skegness, Railway Station
Skegness, Railway Station
Skegness, Railway Station
Skegness, Railway Station

"General Motors Electro-Motive Division (EMD) DB Schenker Class 66 diesel No. 66040 at Skegness Station with a rake of tankers. 

As the line terminates here there was a second similar diesel at the opposite end to allow the tankers to be hauled out of the station in the reverse direction. 

A passenger train, arriving from Nottingham, can just be seen in the far distance beyond the signal box. 

DB 30 October 2019

Skegness, Railway Station
Skegness, Railway Station
Skegness, Railway Station
Skegness, Railway Station

Arrivial of Super Sprinter 156473 from Nottingham.

"The British Rail Class 156 Super Sprinter is a diesel multiple unit train.

A total of 114 sets were built between 1987 and 1989 for British Rail by Metro-Cammell's Washwood Heath works.

They were built to replace elderly first-generation DMUs and locomotive-hauled passenger trains"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_156 

DB 30 October 2019

Skegness, Railway Station, Super Sprinter 156473
Skegness, Railway Station, Signal Box
Skegness, Railway Station, Signal Box
Skegness, Railway Station, Signal Box

"Skegness signal box is a Type 1 box of the Great Northern Railway (GNR), the earliest of which appeared in 1872.

Type 1 boxes were built of brick or timber, the last all-brick examples dating to the 1890s.

The signal box at Skegness, the largest surviving example of its type, was built in 1882 and extended by the addition of an extra bay in 1900 to accommodate a new Railway Signal Co. tappet lever frame.

This is one of only two lines where the whole signalling process remains fully mechanical"

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1413516 

DB 30 October 2019

Skegness, Railway Station, Signal Box, Great Northern Railway
Skegness, Railway Station, Weighing Machine
Skegness, Railway Station, Weighing Machine
Skegness, Railway Station, Weighing Machine

Former station weighing machine.

"TO WEIGH 20 CWT

HENRY POOLEY & SON

BIRMINGHAM & LONDON" 

DB 30 October 2019

Skegness, Railway Station, HENRY POOLEY & SON
Skellingthorpe, railway line removal
Skellingthorpe, railway line removal
Skellingthorpe, railway line removal

The Lancashire, Derbyshire and East Coast Railway was an ambitious 171 mile project to link Warrington in the west and new docks at Sutton on Sea in the east, thus giving a new outlet for Derbyshire coal.

In the event, in 1896 only the central portion, from Chesterfield to Pyewipe on the outskirts of Lincoln was built and Skellingthorpe became the line's only Lincolnshire station.

The line lost its passenger service in 1955. The route, however, was important for coal trains to Immingham and seasonal passenger trains taking people from north Nottinghamshire to the Lincolnshire seaside and remained in use until total closure in 1980.

The track, seen here near Skellingthorpe, was removed in 1981.

Peter Grey Archive, 1981

Skellingthorpe, railway line, Pyewipe,
Skellingthorpe, Railway Station (Site Of)
Skellingthorpe, Railway Station (Site Of)
Skellingthorpe, Railway Station (Site Of)

Sign on the wall of the Community Centre.

"The first station to serve the village was opened by the Great Northern Railway on the line between Lincoln and Gainsborough which closed in 1868 although the line is still operational today.

The second station was opened in March 1897 by the Lancashire, Derbyshire and East Coast Railway on its main line from Chesterfield to Lincoln.

It was closed by British Railways in 1955, though freight and passenger trains continued to pass for some years after that.

It was the only LD&ECR station in Lincolnshire, since to the east it crossed the GN&GE Joint line at Pyewipe Junction onto GNR metals into Lincoln.

Only two LD&ECR stations had a level crossing, Skellingthorpe and Bolsover South.

The station building stood to the north of the tracks. It was built in the LD&ECR's standard modular style"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skellingthorpe_railway_station  

DB 2020

Skellingthorpe, railway station
Skellingthorpe, Railway Station, Weighbridge Office
Skellingthorpe, Railway Station, Weighbridge Office
Skellingthorpe, Railway Station, Weighbridge Office

Former weighbridge office now used as a Heritage Room.

DB 2020

Skellingthorpe, Railway Station, Weighbridge Office
Sleaford, East Signal Box
Sleaford, East Signal Box
Sleaford, East Signal Box

"Railway Signal Box. c1882.

Built for the Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Rail-way"

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1261326 

DB 21 June 2017 

Sleaford, East Signal Box, Sleaford, Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Rail
Sleaford, Railway Station
Sleaford, Railway Station
Sleaford, Railway Station

Sleaford Station.

British Rail Class 156 Super Sprinter 156405 ready to depart for Skegness.

"On 21 October 1993, 156405 became the first Sprinter to accrue 1 million miles, whilst working the 10:10 Great Yarmouth to Norwich service"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_156  

DB 24 July 2018 

Sleaford, Station, 156405, British Rail Class 156 Super Sprinter, Railway
Sleaford, Railway Station
Sleaford, Railway Station
Sleaford, Railway Station

"Railway station.

Built 1857 for the Boston, Sleaford and Midland Counties Railway, extended 1882 for the Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Railway"

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1062114 

DB 21 June 2017 

Sleaford, Station
Sleaford, Railway Station, West Junction
Sleaford, Railway Station, West Junction
Sleaford, Railway Station, West Junction

Map of Sleaford West Junction dispalayed on a plaque at the station.

DB 24 July 2018

Sleaford, Station, West Junction
Sleaford, West Signal Box & Level Crossing
Sleaford, West Signal Box & Level Crossing
Sleaford, West Signal Box & Level Crossing

"Sleaford is the last remaining market town in Lincolnshire to be served by both north-south and east-west lines"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleaford_railway_station 

DB 20 June 2018

Sleaford, West Signal Box, Level Crossing, Railway
South Willingham, Station Rd, Railway Gate
South Willingham, Station Rd, Railway Gate
South Willingham, Station Rd, Railway Gate

This dilapidated gate led onto the access lane up to Hainton and Willingham Station.
 
This was a junction on the Louth to Bardney railway line, originally built by the Louth & Lincoln Railway Company. Construction began at Louth in July 1872, but it took almost 4 years to complete the route.
 
The line closed to passengers in 1951 and to freight in 1958. The station building still exists but is now a private house.

Jean Howard, 18 January 2021

South Willingham, Station, Railway Gate
South Willingham, Station Rd, Railway Pedestrian Gate
South Willingham, Station Rd, Railway Pedestrian Gate
South Willingham, Station Rd, Railway Pedestrian Gate

This small gate alongside the main vehicular one was for access on foot. A tree having grown through, it is now impossible to move it!

Jean Howard, 18 January 2021

South Willingham, Station, Railway, gate
South Willingham, Station Rd, Weighbridge Office
South Willingham, Station Rd, Weighbridge Office
South Willingham, Station Rd, Weighbridge Office

Halfway along the concourse was a weighbridge for which this small building was the office
 
See map at
http://disused-stations.org.uk/s/south_willingham_and_hainton/index.shtml 

Jean Howard, 18 January 2021

South Willingham Station Railway weighbridge
Southrey, Railway Station
Southrey, Railway Station
Southrey, Railway Station

The Lincoln to Boston line was opened in 1848 as part of the Great Northern Railway's Lincolnshire Loop Line.

Southrey station closed with the line in 1970 but goods trains to and from Horncastle continued to pass through until 1971.

This was one of the stations alongside the River Witham with a ferry service linking the isolated farms on Dunston Fen on the west bank with the station.

Now part of the long distance cycling and walking trail, the "Water Rail Way", the platforms, concrete name boards and station master's house still survive.

Peter Grey Archive, 1970

Southrey, railway station
Southrey, Railway Station
Southrey, Railway Station
Southrey, Railway Station

"The station was opened on 17 October 1848 as part of the new 58 miles (93 km) Lincolnshire Loop Line, from Peterborough to Lincoln via Spalding and Boston.

This line was authorised as part of the London and York Railway bill, which received Royal assent on 26 June 1846.

The Great Northern Railway began construction of the loop line in 1847.

The station closed on 5 October 1970"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southrey_railway_station 

DB 20 March 2019

Southrey, railway station
Southrey, Railway Station
Southrey, Railway Station
Southrey, Railway Station

Station name board and platform edge.

DB 20 March 2019

Southrey, railway station
Spalding, Railway Station
Spalding, Railway Station
Spalding, Railway Station

"Railway station and attached foot bridge. 1848, for the Great Northern Railway Company"

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1063914 

DB 2 October 2019

Spalding Town Railway Station
Spalding, Railway Station
Spalding, Railway Station
Spalding, Railway Station

"By the end of the nineteenth century the town had become a major rail crossroads and the station had grown to reflect this, having more than doubled in size from its opening half a century earlier.

It would also later become a popular destination in its own right, with the annual Tulip Festival bringing excursion trains into the town from all over the country from the late 1950s onwards"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spalding_railway_station 

DB 2 October 2019

Spalding Town Railway Station
Spalding, Railway Station
Spalding, Railway Station
Spalding, Railway Station

Super Sprinter 57382 about to depart for Peterborough.

Recently rebranded from East Midlands Trains to East Midlands Railway whose franchise started 18 August 2019.

DB 2 October 2019

Spalding Town Railway Station
Spalding, Railway Station
Spalding, Railway Station
Spalding, Railway Station

Looking south from Platform 1 towards the footbridge.

"The bridge connecting Platforms 1 and 2 to the rest of the station still exists, but the old platform 5 has been fenced off, the bays filled in and the walk through on the bridge to platforms 6 and 7 bricked up.

The tracks meanwhile have been lifted, the western island platforms cleared and the site now used for housing"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spalding_railway_station 

DB 2 October 2019

Spalding Town Railway Station
Spalding, Railway Station
Spalding, Railway Station
Spalding, Railway Station

The footbridge leading to former platforms 6 & 7 is now in a ruinous condition.

"The bridge connecting Platforms 1 and 2 to the rest of the station still exists, but the old platform 5 has been fenced off, the bays filled in and the walk through on the bridge to platforms 6 and 7 bricked up.

The tracks meanwhile have been lifted, the western island platforms cleared and the site now used for housing"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spalding_railway_station 

DB 2 October 2019

Spalding Town Railway Station
Spalding, Railway Station
Spalding, Railway Station
Spalding, Railway Station

Detail of the footbridge leading from platforms 1 & 2 to the rest of the station.

DB 2 October 2019

Spalding Town Railway Station
Spalding, Railway Station
Spalding, Railway Station
Spalding, Railway Station

Station booking hall.

DB 2 October 2019

Spalding Town Railway Station
Spalding, Steppingstones Railway Footbridge
Spalding, Steppingstones Railway Footbridge
Spalding, Steppingstones Railway Footbridge

This wrought iron footbridge, with five equal spans of 50 feet, and a total length of 368 feet overall, spanned a total of 16 running lines and sidings just north of Spalding station (TF 245 231).

It was built in 1860 for GNR and demolished in 2010.

This photograph shows some of the architectural detailing, which is both functional and attractive. The spandrels, external brackets, stairway balusters, supporting columns and their caps were all finely detailed.

Spalding, Steppingstone Railway footbridge
Spilsby, Railway Station
Spilsby, Railway Station
Spilsby, Railway Station

There was a short branch line from Firsby on the East Lincolnshire line to Spilsby which opened in 1868 and closed to passengers in 1939 (freight continued on the line until 1958).

This photo dates from c.1900.

Of interest is the exceptionallty tall signal designed to be visible to trians approaching the station around a sharp curve.

undated postcard

Spilsby, railway station
Stamford, Stamford East Railway Station (Great Northern), Water Street
Stamford, Stamford East Railway Station (Great Northern), Water Street
Stamford, Stamford East Railway Station (Great Northern), Water Street

This station, known as Stamford East, was the terminus of the line to Essendine where there was a junction with the main East Coast line between Peterborough and Grantham.

The line close for passenger traffic in 1959; freight services continued until 1969.

1920s postcard

Stamford, GNR Railway Station
Stamford, Stamford East Railway Station (Great Northern), Water Street
Stamford, Stamford East Railway Station (Great Northern), Water Street
Stamford, Stamford East Railway Station (Great Northern), Water Street

Former railway station now a private house.

"Stamford East railway station was the Stamford and Essendine Railway station in Water Street, Stamford, Lincolnshire.

The line was worked by the Great Northern Railway but retained its independence until 1886, when the GNR took the line on perpetual lease"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stamford_East_railway_station 

DB 3 July 2019

Stamford East Railway Station
Stamford, Stamford Railway Station (Midland Railway)
Stamford, Stamford Railway Station (Midland Railway)
Stamford, Stamford Railway Station (Midland Railway)

"The station was formerly known as Stamford Town to distinguish it from the now closed Stamford East station in Water Street.

It is often printed on timetables and train tickets as Stamford (Lincs) to distinguish it from either Stamford Hill station in London or Stanford-le-Hope station in Essex.

The station building is a fine stone structure in Mock Tudor style, influenced by the nearby Burghley House, and designed by Sancton Wood"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stamford_railway_station 
 
DB 3 July 2019 
Stamford Railway Station
Stamford, Stamford Railway Station (Midland Railway)
Stamford, Stamford Railway Station (Midland Railway)
Stamford, Stamford Railway Station (Midland Railway)

"Opened as part of the Syston & Peterborough Railway by the Midland Railway in 1848.

Designed in a Tudor-inspired style by noted railway architect Sancton Wood (1816-1886), who two years earlier had designed Dublin's Heuston, formerly Kingsbridge, Station .

The weathervane on the turret still bears the initials of the Syston & Peterborough Railway.

The station is Listed Grade II"

DB 3 July 2019 

Stamford Railway Station
Stamford, Stamford Railway Station (Midland Railway), Signal Box
Stamford, Stamford Railway Station (Midland Railway), Signal Box
Stamford, Stamford Railway Station (Midland Railway), Signal Box

Located immediately to the west of the station. 

"General goods services in Stamford finished in the late 1960s but the coal yard remained in use until 16 May 1983. 

When the coal yard closed, the opportunity was also taken to close the signal box"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stamford_railway_station 

DB 3 July 2019 

Stamford, Stamford Railway Station, Signal Box
Stickney, Railway Station
Stickney, Railway Station
Stickney, Railway Station

Stickney station opened with what was known as the "New Line", between Coningsby Junction and Bellwater Junction, in 1913.

Built by the Great Northern Railway with a double track, in 1916 the GNR Board agreed to lift one line of rails to assist the war effort. This happened on several branch lines nationwide with the rails destined for use in France.

The missing track was reinstated in 1923.

This station lost its goods service in 1964, became unstaffed in 1968 and the line and station closed in 1970.

Peter Grey Archive, 1970

Stickney, railway station
Stixwould, Railway Station
Stixwould, Railway Station
Stixwould, Railway Station

The Lincoln to Boston line was opened in 1848 as part of the Great Northern Railway's Lincolnshire Loop Line.

It lost its goods yard in 1963 and closed for passengers in 1970. However, goods trains to and from Horncastle passed through for another six months until April 1971.

The railway here is now part of the long distance cycle and footpath, the Water Rail Way.

The stationmaster's house, in the background, has since been imaginatively extended and the former signal box is now linked to and part of the house.

Peter Grey Archive, 1970

Stixwould, railway station
Stixwould, Railway Station
Stixwould, Railway Station
Stixwould, Railway Station

"The station was also the site of the Stixwould ferry across the River Witham, which closed in the 1960s.

The station building and signal box have been converted into a private dwelling and guest house ...

The line has become part of the Water Rail Way, supported by Sustrans.

The platforms survive and one has a station name board"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stixwould_railway_station 

DB 20 March 2019

Stixwould, Railway Station
Stixwould, Railway Station
Stixwould, Railway Station
Stixwould, Railway Station

Station name board and platform edge.

DB 20 March 2019

Stixwould, Railway Station
Sutton Bridge, Cross Keys Bridge
Sutton Bridge, Cross Keys Bridge
Sutton Bridge, Cross Keys Bridge

The third Cross Keys Bridge over the river Nene at Sutton Bridge.

This Swing Bridge was built by the Great Northern Railway in 1894-1897 at a cost of £80,000 and was initially worked by hydraulic power.

It carried both rail and road traffic until the railway closed in 1959.

The bridge still opens for river traffic heading to and from Wisbech.

Postcard, 1920

Sutton Bridge, Cross Keys Bridge, River Nene, swing bridge,
Swinderby, Signalman's Cottage
Swinderby, Signalman's Cottage
Swinderby, Signalman's Cottage

A cottage built at the railway crossing on the road to South Scarle in 1848 when the Midland Railway line from Newark to Lincoln was opened.

Pearl Wheatley, 2012

Swinderby, Signalman's Cottage
Swineshead Bridge, Swineshead Railway Station
Swineshead Bridge, Swineshead Railway Station
Swineshead Bridge, Swineshead Railway Station

"Although named Swineshead, the station is, in reality, located in the hamlet of Swineshead Bridge some miles north of Swineshead.

The line was opened by the Boston, Sleaford and Midland Counties Railway"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swineshead_railway_station 

White's Directory of Lincolnshire 1872 states :-

"RAILWAY Station on Grantham, Sleaford and Boston (G.N.) Railway. Trains several times a day. Joseph Ellis, station master"

DB 2 October 2019

Swineshead, Railway Station
Tallington, East Coast Main Line
Tallington, East Coast Main Line
Tallington, East Coast Main Line

Looking north along the East Coast Main Line from the footbridge at Tallington level crossing.

Tallington Station, which closed in 1959 was located immediately to the left just beyond the footbridge.

DB 17 November 2018 

Tallington, East Coast Main Line
Tallington, East Coast Main Line
Tallington, East Coast Main Line
Tallington, East Coast Main Line

Signal Box retained for emergency control at Tallington level crossing.

Final Whistle public house visible in the background. 

DB 17 November 2018 

Tallington, East Coast Main Line, signal box
Tallington, East Coast Main Line
Tallington, East Coast Main Line
Tallington, East Coast Main Line

Footbridge over the East Coast Main Line at Tallington level crossing.

Tallington Station, which closed in 1959 was located immediately to the left just beyond the footbridge.

A commercial interest listed at Tallington Station in 1919 was Ellis & Everard Limited, coal, oil cake, guano & artificial manure merchants ; & Bourne; Littleworth & other railway stations"

DB 17 November 2018 

Tallington, East Coast Main Line, Ellis & Everard Limited
Tattershall, Railway Station & Goods Shed
Tattershall, Railway Station & Goods Shed
Tattershall, Railway Station & Goods Shed

Goods shed to the left with former railway station, just visible above the hedge, to the right.

The station was closed in 1963 and is now a gallery and pottery.

DB 22 October 2019

Tattershall, Railway Station, Engine Shed
Tattershall, Railway Notice
Tattershall, Railway Notice
Tattershall, Railway Notice

Like the vast majority of country railway stations, there was no pedestrian bridge between the two passenger platforms at Tattershall.

The station entrance, main station building and ticket office were all on the north (up) platform and passengers were obliged to walk across the lines to access the down platform.

Matthew Wibley 

Tattershall, station notice
Tattershall, Railway, Crossing Keepers House
Tattershall, Railway, Crossing Keepers House
Tattershall, Railway, Crossing Keepers House

Just to the north of the former railway station.

The G.N.R. Lincolnshire Loop Line crossed the road immediately to the east (on the right hand side in this image).

DB 22 October 2019

Tattershall,
Thornton, Railway Crossing
Thornton, Railway Crossing
Thornton, Railway Crossing

A small mixed freight train on the Woodhall Junction - Horncastle line after the end of passenger services (1954) and before the line closed in 1971.

This photograph is taken from Thornton Crossing where the line crosses the minor road known as 'Fifty Acre' between the A153 and the B1191 in the centre of Thornton.

Horncastle canal ran parallel with the line at this point and is just out of the picture to the right

KR 1959

Thornton by Horncastle, railway, Thornton Crossing
Thorpe on the Hill, Railway Goods Yard
Thorpe on the Hill, Railway Goods Yard
Thorpe on the Hill, Railway Goods Yard

Ordnance Survey 25 inch map published 1905 shows this building standing, to the north of the station, at the entrance to what was presumably a small goods yard.

Map shows cattle pens and a couple of spurs from the railway.

Yard now occupied by Alpha Concrete whose address is given as The Old Coal Yard. 

DB 26 April 2018

Thorpe on the Hill, Railway, station, Goods Yard, cattle pens, coal yard, Alpha Concrete
Thorpe on the Hill, Railway Station
Thorpe on the Hill, Railway Station
Thorpe on the Hill, Railway Station

Former station-master's house or crossing keepers cottage now a private house. 

"in 1846 the village was linked to the remainder of the Empire by the London Midland and Scottish Railway, whose station opened in Thorpe that year. The station-master's house and the Railway Hotel are still there, but no trains have stopped since the 1960s"

Village Plan Version 4. December 2014 

Kelly's Directory of Lincolnshire 1876 lists James Scott as the Station Master.

DB 26 April 2018

Thorpe on the Hill, Railway Station, James Scott,
Tumby, Tumby Woodside, Railway Station
Tumby, Tumby Woodside, Railway Station
Tumby, Tumby Woodside, Railway Station

Opened with what was known as the "New Line", between Coningsby Junction and Bellwater Junctions, in 1913, the line and station closed in 1970.

Serving such a rural area it unusually became a terminus for some trains in the year before closure.

There were three trains calling here from Lincoln to Skegness with a further three, to and from Lincoln, terminating here.

Peter Grey Archive, 1970

Tumby Woodside, railway station
Wainfleet All Saints, Railway Signal Box
Wainfleet All Saints, Railway Signal Box
Wainfleet All Saints, Railway Signal Box

"Wainfleet signal box is a Type 1 box of the Great Northern Railway (GNR), the earliest of which appeared in 1872.

Type 1 boxes were built of brick or timber, the last brick examples dating to the 1890s.

The signal box at Wainfleet, which appears to be substantially unaltered, was built in 1899 and retains its original Railway Signal Co lever frame.

The wheel mechanism for raising the crossing gates, originally located between the lever frame and the entrance to the operations room, has been removed"

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1414000 

DB 22 June 2019

Wainfleet All Saints, Railway, Signal Box
Wainfleet All Saints, Railway Station
Wainfleet All Saints, Railway Station
Wainfleet All Saints, Railway Station

"The station has its own signal box at the east end of the platforms, which is next to the level crossing"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wainfleet_railway_station 

British Rail Class 153 Super Sprinter 153382 arriving from Skegness on its way to Nottingham. 

Coupled with two other units including a British Rail Class 156 Super Sprinter 156404 at the rear.

DB 22 June 2019

Wainfleet All Saints, RailwayStation
Washingborough, Ferry and Station
Washingborough, Ferry and Station
Washingborough, Ferry and Station

Washingborough Ferry over the River Witham was close by the railway station which stood on the bank.

This was the Lincoln to Boston line, now a cycle track.

Washingborough, Ferry, Witham, Lincoln to Boston railway
Washingborough, Railway Station
Washingborough, Railway Station
Washingborough, Railway Station

The Lincoln to Boston line was opened in 1848 as part of the Great Northern Railway's Lincolnshire Loop Line.

Built alongside the River Witham, this was one of those stations on the line which had a ferry.

Seen here in 1971 the station had lost its goods and passenger services in July 1940. Despite this in this view taken 31 years later the platforms were intact.

Now part of the long distance cycling and walking trail, the "Water Rail Way", the platforms, and the buildings seen here still survive.

Peter Grey Archive, 1971

Washingborough, railway station
Wickenby, Railway Level Crossing
Wickenby, Railway Level Crossing
Wickenby, Railway Level Crossing

Looking north with former Wickenby Station on the right.

DB 2020 

Wickenby Station image, level crossing
Wickenby, Railway Signal Box
Wickenby, Railway Signal Box
Wickenby, Railway Signal Box

Signal Box next to the former Wickenby Railway Station. Box still in use operating the adjacent level crossing.

DB 2020

Wickenby, Railway Signal Box
Wickenby, Railway Station
Wickenby, Railway Station
Wickenby, Railway Station

Station "opened in 1848 and closed in 1965" on the G.C.R. Market Rasen Branch. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wickenby_railway_station 

Now a private house. 

DB 2020

Wickenby, railway Station
Withcall, Railway Station
Withcall, Railway Station
Withcall, Railway Station

Withcall was a stop on the Louth to Bardney line but, as it was a late addition in 1882, it never had a brick-built station.

It was provided only with a single storey timber building that was used as a Methodist chapel after line closure in 1956.

The edge of the single platform can be seen although the end nearest the camera has been shortened to allow easier access to the fields by agricultural equipment.

http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/w/withcall/

Jean Howard, January 1980


Withcall, Railway Station, Methodist Chapel
Withcall, Railway Station, Platform Edging
Withcall, Railway Station, Platform Edging
Withcall, Railway Station, Platform Edging

In the nineteenth century the edges of railway platforms were usually made of hard blue coping bricks, as shown here at Withcall station on the Bardney to Louth line (completed 1876).

Similar bricks made by Joseph Hamblet of West Bromwich were also used in station buildings, bridges and other railway structures at many Lincolnshire lines built in this period.

For example, they are seen on the Midland and Great Northern Railway between Bourne and Little Bytham, constructed in the period 1890-93.

The platforms on this line were reconstructed some time after the GNR bought the line from the original company.

Ken Redmore, 2009

Withcall, railway station, platform edging, Joseph Hamblet,
Woodhall Spa, Railway Station
Woodhall Spa, Railway Station
Woodhall Spa, Railway Station

Woodhall Spa station was on the 7-mile line opened in 1855 between Kirkstead (later Woodhall Junction) and Horncastle. Passenger services ceased in 1954 and goods traffic in 1971.

This view looking west from the station shows the extremely acute angle of the road and railway crossing.  Cyclists could find this hazardous.

This postcard was posted in 1909.

Woodhall Spa, railway station
Woodhall Spa, Railway Station
Woodhall Spa, Railway Station
Woodhall Spa, Railway Station

Woodhall Spa was the only intermediate station on the Horncastle branch railway which opened in 1855.

This is the Broadway level crossing and, in the foreground, is the site of the passenger station.

Passenger trains stopped running on the line in 1954 and the station was demolished. Goods trains continued to use the line until final closure in 1971.

Space was very limited by the railway and the town's only goods siding was further south, beyond a second level crossing. The siding was in use until 1964.

Peter Grey Archive, 1970

Woodhall Spa, railway station
Wragby, Station
Wragby, Station
Wragby, Station

Former station building built by the Louth and Lincoln Railway.

" The station opened for freight in 1874 and passenger traffic in 1876. The passenger service from Bardney to Louth was withdrawn in 1951 but freight service continued until 1960 when the station was completely closed"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wragby_railway_station  

DB 12 May 2018 

Wragby, Station, Louth and Lincoln Railway