Through Kirton Tunnel, Kirton Lindsey to Cleethorpes

Today we welcomed back Stephen Gay from Sheffield with part 2 of his presentation “Through Kirton Tunnel – Kirton Lindsey to Cleethorpes”. The talk was set in and around the 1980’s, when early dmu’s were used along the line, this line used to be part of the (double tracked), main line from London and Manchester to Cleethorpes, with various branches coming off it, including the important freight route to Immingham. Today it is a single - track route with some of the branches closed and a very poor passenger service along it. Stephen is so good at picking out lineside features, this line has a large number of level crossings and semaphore signals in abundance during this period. We stopped at stations such as Brigg, Brocklesby and Ulceby along the Barton Line. One of the pleasures of Stephen’s presentation is that the trains we saw are part of the overall picture, not just one train or loco after another, you get a feel for the area being shown and occasionally the important features of that area, whether it’s a station, a signal box, a bridge or a church. Some features that we saw was of the Grimsby Tower and the pier and sea front at Cleethorpes. another superb presentation enjoyed by our largest audience for quite some time. A highly recommended presentation.

Dave Elsdon
Branch Secretary