The Lincolnshire Wolds Railway is a heritage railway based at Ludborough station, near Grimsby in Lincolnshire.

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 in 1980.

The Grimsby-Louth Group was set up in 1978 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 all 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.

Ludborough station has been restored to a working 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.

Stations

• Ludborough
• North Thoresby (Proposed extension)

Locomotives

• Steam Locomotives
  • Industrial 0-4-0ST no. 1371 'Lion'
  • Industrial 0-4-0ST no. 1749 'Fulstow no. 2'
  • Industrial 0-6-0ST no. 1567 'Acton Hall no. 3'
  • Industrial 0-6-0ST no. 7849 'Moonbarrow'
• Diesel Locomotives
  • BR 0-6-0 Class 08 no. D3102
  • BR 0-6-0 Class 97 no. 97650
  • Industrial 0-6-0 Tioxide nos. 4, 6 and 7

External Links

• Lincolnshire Wolds Railway website.