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The Lincolnshire Wolds Railway is a heritage
railway based at Ludborough station, near Grimsby in Lincolnshire, England.
Coordinates: 53°26′41″N 0°01′55″W / 53.44472°N
0.03194°W / 53.44472;
-0.03194
Description
The railway operates on the trackbed of the former East Lincolnshire Railway,
which opened from Grimsby to
Boston via Louth
in 1847. The railway was absorbed by the Great Northern
Railway (GNR), which later became part of the London and North Eastern
Railway (LNER) in 1923. The railway remained open upon
nationalisation of British Railways
in 1948, the line's passenger services being operated by
railmotors. These were later replaced by diesel
multiple units. The line was gradually downgraded, with
passenger services ending in 1970, whilst freight services ended 10
years later in 1980 when British Rail decided to shut the whole
line down for good.
In 1978 (2 years before complete closure) the Grimsby-Louth
Group was set up to fight the closure of the line. When the end
became inevitable, the group was renamed the Grimsby-Louth Railway
Preservation Society, with the aim of preserving the line for
continued use. Unfortunately, British Rail removed the track, and
demolished most of the buildings, thus making their task harder.
The society rehabilitated Ludborough station in 1984, and started
operating trains in 1991. The initial aim of reopening the line
from Louth to Grimsby is no longer possible, due to the opening of
a bypass on the track formation near Grimsby. However, it is hoped
eventually to reconstruct the 10 miles of track between Louth and
Waltham and it also hopes that
the 10 mile branch project could be completed by 2010 "whose
marking the 30th anniversary of the lines closure".
Ludborough train station has been restored to its original
condition and is a working station museum, complete with an
operational signal box. A 900 yard running line
operates northwards towards North Thoresby. Trains are operated by
both steam
and diesel
locomotives. Two of the line's diesel locomotives, nos. D3102
and 97650 have strong local connections. The former was the
resident shunter at Lincoln Central for many years,
whilst the latter was built by Ruston &
Hornsby at their Lincoln works.
The section towards North Thoresby railway station was reopened
in 2008 with the station itself reopened to passengers a year later
on 26 August 2009 (after nearly 30 years).[1] However
there are plans to extend the line to Waltham and to Louth in the
future recreating 10 miles between Louth and Waltham.
Stations
Locomotives[2]
Operational Steam
Locomotives
Steam locomotives under
Repair
- Peckett industrial 0-4-0ST no. 1351
'Lion'. Awaiting a retube and general overhaul.
- Peckett industrial 0-4-0ST no. 1749 'Fulstow no. 2'. Awaiting a
ten yearly overhaul after its boiler ticket expired in 2007.
Operational Diesel
locomotives
Diesel locomotives under
Repair
- BR 0-6-0 Class 97/6 no. 97650[4]
- Ruston & Hornsby 0-4-0DM 375713, Tioxide no 4[5]
- Ruston & Hornsby 0-4-0DM 414303, Tioxide no 6[6]
- Ruston & Hornsby 4wDM 421418, Tioxide no 7[7]
- Fowler 0-4-0DM 4210131 ex Conoco[8]
- Fowler 0-4-0DM 4210145 ex Conoco No 8[9]
- Hunslet 4wDM 5308, Colonel B[10]
- Sentinel 0-6-0DH 10166[11]
Electric
multiple units
References
External
links
Wikis
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