North Thoresby railway station

North Thoresby is a heritage railway station in North Thoresby, Lincolnshire. The station, which was previously part of the East Lincolnshire Railway,[1] closed in 1970, but has since been reopened by the Lincolnshire Wolds Railway. The first services to the station from Ludborough, to the south, ran in August 2009, the first in 47 years. The LWR aims to extend the line further in both directions, northwards as far as Holton-Le-Clay and southwards to Louth.

North Thoresby
Station on heritage railway
North Thoresby up platform in 2018
LocationNorth Thoresby, East Lindsey
England
Coordinates53.4681°N 0.0410°W / 53.4681; -0.0410
Grid referenceTF301986
Operated byLincolnshire Wolds Railway
Platforms2
History
Original companyEast Lincolnshire Railway
Pre-groupingGreat Northern Railway
Post-groupingLondon and North Eastern Railway
Eastern Region of British Railways
Key dates
1 March 1848Opened
30 December 1963Goods facilities withdrawn
5 October 1970Closed to passengers
December 1980Closure of line
26 August 2009Reopened by LWR

History

The station was opened on 1 March 1848[2] to serve the Lincolnshire village of North Thoresby. It was constructed by contractor John Waring and Sons of Rotherham who, in December 1846, had agreed to construct the line between Grimsby and Louth for the sum of £46,102 (equivalent to £4,500,000 in 2019).[3][4] The architects of the station buildings were John Grey Weightman and Matthew Ellison Hadfield of Sheffield.[5]

The station was provided with staggered platforms either side of a level crossing; the up platform to the south of the crossing and the down to the north.[6] The stationmaster's house, similar to that at Ludborough,[7] was adjacent to the down platform and comprised the booking office and passenger waiting room.[6]

A signal box which contained 25 levers was situated on the north side of the level crossing and controlled the crossing gates[6] as well as access to the small goods yard with a siding on each side of the line.[8] The siding on the down side ran into a loading dock behind the down platform.[9] Unlike Ludborough, the station had no goods shed.[7] The goods yard closed on 30 December 1963,[10] but the station remained open to passengers until 5 October 1970.[2] In 1956-57, around a dozen passenger trains bound for Grimsby called at the station on weekdays, with the first two being local workings from Louth, save for a Mondays only service which called only to set down passengers.[11] In the other direction, fewer services ran through to Peterborough North, but the up/down passenger workings balanced once services to Louth were taken into account.[11] North Thoresby was the only intermediate station between Grimsby and Louth to remain open until October 1970.[12]After 1970 the down line was removed and only the up line through the station remained. The line finally closed in December 1980.[13]

Preceding station   Heritage railways Following station
Holton-le-Clay   Lincolnshire Wolds Railway   Ludborough
  Historical railways  
Grainsby Halt
Line and station closed		   Great Northern Railway
East Lincolnshire Line		   Ludborough
Line and station open

Preservation and reopening

On 28 September 1991, a Light Railway Order was granted 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 North Thoresby.[14]

Tracklaying by the Lincolnshire Wolds Railway reached North Thoresby in 2008 and the first train for 47 years between the two stations ran on 26 August 2009.[15][16] The south (up) platform has been restored and a waiting shelter erected.[8] The level crossing to the north has been tarmaced over, but the north crossing gate has survived.[8] The stationmaster's house remains in private occupation.[8]

The LWR plans to extend the line northwards beyond North Thoresby to as far as Holton-Le-Clay, which will involve reinstating the adjacent level crossing at the station.

References
  1. Conolly 2004, p. 22, section F2.
  2. Butt 1995, p. 174.
  3. UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  4. Ludlam 1991, p. 14.
  5. "General Remarks". Hull Packet. England. 3 March 1848. Retrieved 3 March 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. Ludlam 1991, p. 88.
  7. Ludlam 1991, p. 93.
  8. "Disused Stations". Subterranea Britannica.
  9. Ludlam 1991, p. 89.
  10. Clinker 1978, p. 102.
  11. King & Hewins 1998, fig. 37.
  12. King & Hewins 1998, fig. 176.
  13. Ludlam 1991, p. 150.
  14. "The Grimsby and Louth Light Railway Order 1991 (S.I. 1991 No. 2210)". Office of Public Sector Information. 28 September 1991. Retrieved 14 September 2010.
  15. "All Aboard the Steam Train". BBC News. 3 September 2009. Retrieved 21 September 2010.
  16. "Lincolnshire Wolds Railway". Ludborough Parish Council. 2010. Retrieved 21 September 2010.

Sources
  • Butt, R. V. J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199.
  • Clinker, C.R. (October 1978). Clinker's Register of Closed Passenger Stations and Goods Depots in England, Scotland and Wales 1830-1977. Bristol: Avon-Anglia Publications & Services. ISBN 0-905466-19-5.
  • King, P.K.; Hewins, D.R. (1998) [1989]. The Railways around Grimsby, Cleethorpes, Immingham & North-East Lincolnshire. Romiley, Stockport: Foxline Publishing. ISBN 978-1-870119-04-7.
  • Ludlam, A.J. (1991). The East Lincolnshire Railway (OL82). Headington, Oxford: The Oakwood Press. ISBN 0-85361-416-4.
  • Conolly, W. Philip (2004) [1958]. British Railways Pre-Grouping Atlas and Gazetteer. Hersham, Surrey: Ian Allan Ltd. ISBN 978-0-7110-0320-0.
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