Bygone Railways of East Lincolnshire

The station at Sibsey was located on the East Lincolnshire Line (now a part of the Skegness branch), 4.75 miles north of Boston. Opened on 2nd October 1848, it was closed to passengers (along with many others on the East Lincolnshire and the "Joint Line") on 11th September 1961. It continued to be used goods trains until 15th June 1964. During 1981 the section between Sibsey and Boston was converted to single-track as an economy measure. The final timetable for the passenger services at Sibsey (12th June - 10th September 1961) shows the following departures: (* Diesel train) MONDAYS TO FRIDAYS 0716 Peterborough North 0749 Grimsby Town 0917 Skegness* 0935 Spalding* 1129 Grimsby Town 1300 Grantham* 1621 Grimsby Town 1641 Boston 1829 Firsby SATURDAYS 0716 Peterborough North 0749 Grimsby Town 0834 Firsby* 0936 Peterborough North* 1218 Grimsby Town 1329 Grantham* 1632 Grimsby Town 1715 Peterborough North 1811 Firsby SUNDAYS 1155 London King's Cross 1341 Skegness* (from 25th Ju

In 1933 the London & North Eastern Railway came up with the novel concept of renting out some of it's withdrawn vintage rolling stock, after conversion, as holiday accomodation. Veteran carriages, mainly of Great Northern, Manchester Sheffield & Lincolnshire origins, and to a lesser extent those of Great Eastern, East Coast Joint, and Great Central heritage, were thus deployed to sidings around their network. Three of these were based in Lincolnshire at: Woodhall Junction, Seacroft, and Theddlethorpe, the latter being illustrated below. An example of LNER publicity for these can be seen from extracts from the 1935 booklet below. Rental of these would require a valid rail ticket per person to the location of the carriages. Two types of carriage were available. For £2 10s 0d per week the carriage would require guests to exit the "Day Compartment" to access the bedrooms. £3 0s 0d would gain the user "superior"

Old Leake was one of four stations on the section of the East Lincolnshire Line between Boston and Firsby. Opened on 2nd October 1848, it underwent several name changes, initially opening as Hob Hole due to the proximity of the nearby Hob Hole Drain. From November 1848 it was renamed Leake and Wrangle, and to Old Leake and Wrangle from 1st October 1849. From October 1852 it assumed it's final identity as Old Leake. The centre of Old Leake is actually 3 miles away and Wangle 4, so the name was still rather misleading! It was amongst the first stations on the East Lincolnshire Line to close to passengers on 17th September 1956, and to goods on 15th June 1964. Two years prior to closure to passengers it had a weekday service of 4 northbound (plus an additional one on Wednesday and Saturdays); 3 southbound. On Sundays there was 1 northbound and 1 southbound (in the form of a Cleethorpes - King's Cross train).  An early postcard view, the station can be seen in the distance on the l

In summer 1929, the LNER commenced operating Pullman day excursions from Liverpool Street to various resorts in Anglia under the title "Eastern Belle".  From 24th June 1930, Skegness was included in the itinerary. The 1935 leaflet lists the following: Tuesday 18th June; Friday 19th July; Thursday 25th July; and Tuesday 13th August. Times for all were: 1105 Liverpool Street 1430 Skegness 1850 Skegness 2200 Liverpool Street Fares 11/3 (1st), 7/9 (3rd) The excursions would continue until the outbreak of War in 1939. Illustrated using the now defunct platform 7 at Skegness on one of these tours, is Holden D15 4-4-0, 8790, new to the Great Eastern Railway in February 1911. It lasted into the British Rail era, then numbered 62601, until withdrawn from service at King's Lynn in January 1957 (Photo: LEYTR Collection). And some LNER publicity material for the train.

Yesterday would have been the second visit to Skegness for the famous locomotive "Royal Scot", hauling an excursion train from King's Cross. Unfortunately, it was cancelled a while ago. We can at least look back to the first visit. The locomotive was withdrawn by British Rail in October 1962 and soon after was purchased by Billy Butlin, who intended to have it displayed as a static exhibit at his Holiday Camp in Ingoldmells.  After some cosmetic work was carried out at Crewe, it was towed to Nottingham by 45038 and, from there to Boston Shed by 61177 on 12th June 1963. It is illustrated during its stay there (rail-online.co.uk). It was subsequently towed to Skegness by a 4MT locomotive on Wednesday 17th July and parked on one of the Coal Merchant's sidings east of the station, the site of the present Coach Park (rail-online.co.uk). Eventually, two Pickford's Low-Loaders moved the locomotive and tender on 18th July 1963, for the