|
The Lincolnshire Wolds Railway is a heritage railway based at Ludborough station, near Grimsby in Lincolnshire, England and the only standard gauge steam railway in Lincolnshire open to the public. The line is part of the original Great Northern Railway (GNR), a rail system that opened in 1848 and once linked Grimsby, Louth and East Lincolnshire with London.〔 In early 2002, 2009 and 2013 the Lincolnshire Wolds Railway received a top national award from the Heritage Railway Association for its heritage railway efforts. ==History== Construction of the railway began in 1846 and was completed in 1848. The line ran from Louth to New Holland and was officially opened on 28 March 1848 as the first section of the GNR. The line was constructed by the East Lincolnshire Railway Co (ELR), which leased it to the GNR when they could not raise sufficient funds to operate it. The GNR had obtained running rights over the MS&L from Grimsby to New Holland Pier; in return it allowed the MS&L running rights to Louth. The line south of Louth was extended as far as Boston in October 1848. The GNR ran the line with some of its famous C12 locomotives on the local services. From 1912-1913 Stirling single no.1 (preserved at the NRM York) was based at Louth shed (40c). In 1923 the GNR was absorbed by the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) and with it the East Lincolnshire Railway. The LNER carried out a variety of improvements on the line, namely the replacement of the GNR Somersult signals with the more common upper quadrant at some locations on the line. Box name boards were also changed from the black background with white lettering to the usual (and later BR specifications) white background with black lettering, although Louth South obtained an enamel sign, which remained on the box until its closure on 5 October 1970. In 1948, three years after the end of World War II, Great Britain took the railway assets into public ownership through nationalisation under the Transport Act 1947; it gave the assets to British Railways so that the railway would remain open. At that time, the line's passenger services were operated by steam railcar, but these later were replaced by diesel multiple units. BR ran the line from 1948 until the line's eventual closure. BR had announced as early as 1965 that the line would be closing under the Beeching plan. The first attempt failed after major local opposition and the minister of transport's refusal to close a major route. BR was successful in 1969 in obtaining permission from the transport minister to close the line despite massive local opposition. The line from Firsby JN to Grimsby was closed after the last passenger train departed on 5 October 1970. The line from Firsby JN to Louth was quickly lifted, and the infrastructure left to deteriorate. The section from Louth to Grimsby was singled (the down line lifted), and was retained for an additional 10 years for grain traffic three times a week to the ABM building at Louth. In 1978 BR announced that grain traffic would cease, and that the line would be removed and abandoned. In 1978, a group known as 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. Despite their efforts, British Rail announced that the line would completely close on 20 December 1980. The Grimsby-Louth rail group did run several Santa specials over the line. The last one ran on 20 December 1980. BR closed the line and quickly removed the rails, sleepers and ballast, making it harder for preservationists to restore the line. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Lincolnshire Wolds Railway」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|