Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway

Primarily serves holidaymakers in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England

Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway

SR&RL 2-6-2 No. 24 departing Kingsway Station

Overview
Headquarters| Cleethorpes
Locale| Lincolnshire, England
Dates of operation| 1948–
Technical
Track gauge| 15 in (381 mm)
Previous gauge| 14+1⁄4 in (362 mm)
Length| 2,130 yards (1.95 km)[1][2]

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Cleethorpes Coast
Light Railway

Legend

|  |  |

|  | Cleethorpes Kingsway

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|

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|  |
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| Viaduct

over boating lake

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|  |

|  |
|  |

|  | Discovery

(former station)

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|  |
|  |

|  |

Sheds & Workshop

|  |

|  |
|  |

|  | Lakeside Central
|  |

|  |
|  |

|  |
|  |

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|  | Humberston
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Passenger lines of
North East Lincolnshire

Legend

|  |  |

|  | Hull Corporation Pier

|
|
|
|

| Barton-

on-Humber

|  |

Humber Ferry

Barrow Haven |  |

|  | New Holland Pier

| New Holland

engine shed

|  | New Holland Town
New Holland |  |

|  |
Goxhill |  |

|  |
East Halton |  |

|  |  | Killingholme

Admiralty Platform
Thornton Abbey |  |

|  | Killingholme
Thornton Curtis |  |

|  |

Immingham West Jn

Humber Road Jn

|  |

|  |  | Immingham

Western Jetty
| Ulceby

Aerodrome Platform

|  | Eastfield Road

Ulceby North Jn

|  |

|  | Immingham Dock
Ulceby |  |

|  |

Dock Entrance

| Immingham

engine shed

|  |  | Immingham

Eastern Jetty
| Immingham

Queens Road

|  | Immingham Dock
Immingham Town |  |

|  |  | Eastern Entrance to

Immingham Dock

| Sheffield–

Lincoln line

|  |

| South Humberside

Main Line

|  | Immingham Halt
Habrough |  |

|  | Kiln Lane
Stallingborough |  |

|  | Marsh Road LC
Healing |  |

|  | No.5 Passing Place
Great Coates |  |

|  | Great Coates LC
| Pyewipe

Depot Halt

|  |

Pyewipe car sheds

Cleveland Bridge |  |

|  |  | Grimsby

Pyewipe Road

West Marsh Jn

|  |

|  |

East Marsh Jn

|  |

|  | Cleveland Street
|  |

|  | Stortford Street
Grimsby Town |  |

|  |  | Boulevard

Recreation Ground

| East Lincolnshire Rlwy

to Boston

|  | Jackson Street

| Grimsby

engine shed

|  | Yarborough Street
Grimsby Docks |  |

|  | Corporation Bridge
|  |

|  | Grimsby Pier
| Riby Street

Platform

|  |
New Clee |  |

|  |
Cleethorpes |  |

|  |
|  |

|  | Kingsway

(CCLR)

|  |

|  | Discovery
|  |

|  | Lakeside Central
North Sea Lane  |  |

|  |  | Humberston

North Sea Lane
Beach  |  |

|  |
South Sea Lane  |  |

|  |

| Lincolnshire Coast Lt Rly

1960–1985

|  |  |  |  |  |

The Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway is a 15 in (381 mm) minimum-gauge railway that primarily serves holidaymakers in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England.[3] It operates from near the Cleethorpes Leisure Centre, running to the mouth of the Buck Beck.

## History

[edit]

Main article: Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway timeline

The CCLR began as the Cleethorpes Miniature Railway in 1948, and ran for a distance of 300 yards (270 m) near the sea front in Cleethorpes.[4] The line was relocated and extended the following year, and between 1949 and 1971 ran southwards for 760 yards (690 m) from Cleethorpes Town to Thrunscoe (near the current Discovery Halt).[5] The line was extended at both ends in 1972: the northern terminus was relocated slightly closer to the town centre, while at its southern end it now ran as far as the Zoo.[6]

It became the Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway when it was privatised in 1991,[7] and the new company renamed the termini Kingsway and Witts End. Witts End (located at zoo, which by this time had closed to visitors) was abandoned in 1994, and a new southern terminus was built at Meridian (now Lakeside). A new extension from Lakeside to Humberston North Sea Lane was opened in 2007, lengthening the railway from 1,150 yards (1,050 m) to 2,130 yards (1,950 m).[1]

In the 1960s, the line used battery locomotives. On being regauged in the 1970s, two Rio Grande steam outline locomotives built by Severn Lamb were used. Since being taken into private ownership, a variety of steam and diesel locomotives have been used, followed by petrol-driven engines with a steam outline, though genuine steam locomotives are now in operation. A National Lottery grant enabled the railways supporter association to acquire stock from the long-dismantled Sutton Miniature Railway in Sutton Park, Sutton Coldfield, including Bassett-Lowke Class 10 Little Giant 'Mighty Atom.'[8][9]

The railway held the Olympic Torch on Day 39 of the 2012 Olympic Torch relay with BMR locomotive 'Mountaineer' hauling the Alan Keef 'Council Rake' carriages from Kingsway station to Lakeside station.[10]

The railway was sold to Cleethorpes Light Railway Limited in May 2014 [11][12][13] and celebrated its 70th anniversary in July 2018. The railway also had its 75th Anniversary in July 2023

## Present operations

[edit]

Trains run from Cleethorpes Kingsway station, next to Cleethorpes Leisure Centre, over a 40 yards (37 m) viaduct and along the sea wall, turning SSW to run past the sheds to the intermediate main station named Lakeside. The track will continue 900 yards (823 m) south-east to a station named Humberston, close to the Meridian Line car park, and the mouth of the Buck Beck.

The Humberston section of the line has been closed to the public since the 2019 running season due to level crossings in need of upgrades.

## Stations

[edit]

* Cleethorpes Kingsway: Original station dismantled in 1998 and the current station built and opened in 1999 with a viaduct over the boating lake on way into the station. Station building houses a gift shop.
* Discovery Halt: No longer in use, but platform exists, accessed by means of footpath alongside.
* Lakeside: The main terminus with engine sheds and workshops, passing loop and on the platforms a cafe, multi-function space and the Signal Box Inn 'The Smallest Pub on the Planet'.
* Humberston: Opened in 2007, features a signal box.[14] (currently closed to the public)

## Operations

[edit]

There are multiple operational timetables for the 2025 season. The first train departs Lakeside Station at 10:40 and runs every forty minutes between Lakeside and Kingsway Station, with last train times being 15:20, 16:00 and 16:40. Special timetables are put in place on special event days and busy periods throughout the season.

Engine reversing at the terminus to pick up the front of the train

## Steam Locomotives

[edit]

Locomotives which have worked on the railway but have since left are listed in Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway timeline.

Name  | No  | Wheel Arrangement  | Built  | In Service

|
|
|
|

SRRL no.24[15] | 24  | 2-6-2+T | Fairbourne 1990  | Overhaul
Bonnie Dundee[16] | 11  | 0-4-2+T | Kerr Stuart KS720/1901[17] | In Service
Flower of the Forest[18] |  | 2w-2 VBT  | R&ER 1985  | Awaiting long-term restoration
Effie  |  | 0-4-0 | Great Northern Steam 1999  | Overhaul

## Diesel Locomotives

[edit]

Locomotives which have worked on the railway but have since left are listed in Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway timeline.

Name  | No  | Wheel Arrangement  | Built  | In Service

|
|
|
|

| 7  | 0-4-0 DM | R A Lister & Company Limited 1944  | Long term rebuild
Rachel  | 15  | 0-6-0 DM  | Trevor Guest Engineering 1959  | In Service
DA1  | 6  | 0-4-0 DM  | BMR 1986  | In Service
Königswinter  | 5  | 0-8-2 DH  | Severn-Lamb Limited 1973  | In Service

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Scott 2015, p. 99.
2. ^ Yonge 2016, Map 27D.
3. ^ Scott 2017, p. 20.
4. ^ Bates & Bairstow 2005, pp. 109–110.
5. ^ Scott 2015, Chapters Three to Five.
6. ^ Scott 2015, p. 62.
7. ^ Scott 2015, Chapter Six.
8. ^ "SMR in its heyday". Old newspapers in Sutton Coldfield.
9. ^ Tidmarsh 1990.
10. ^ "Olympic Torch on CCLR". BBC News. 16 March 2012.
11. ^ Ludlam 2014, pp. 47–8.
12. ^ "Sale of railway in 2014". Grimsby Telegraph. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015.
13. ^ "Sale of railway in 2014". Angus Mearns. 30 August 2014.
14. ^ Scott 2015b, Alpha order: Cleethorpes.
15. ^ "SRRL 24 under overhaul". CCLR Website.
16. ^ "Bonnie Dundee comes to Clethorpes". CCLR. Archived from the original on 3 April 2017. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
17. ^ Thomas 2017, p. 83.
18. ^ "SRRL 24 in service". CCLR Website.

### Sources

[edit]

* Bates, Chris; Bairstow, Martin (2005). Railways in North Lincolnshire. Leeds: Martin Bairstow. ISBN 978-1-871944-30-3.
* Dow, George (1985) [1959]. Great Central, Volume One: The Progenitors, 1813-1863. Shepperton: Ian Allan. ISBN 978-0-7110-1468-8. OCLC 60021205.
* Ludlam, A.J. (2014). Trains to the Lincolnshire Seaside: Cleethorpes Volume 3. Ludborough: Lincolnshire Wolds Railway Society. ISBN 978-0-9926762-4-7.
* Price, J. H. (1991). The Tramways of Grimsby, Immingham & Cleethorpes. Light Rail Transit Association. ISBN 978-0-948106-10-1.
* Scott, Peter (2015). A History of the Cleethorpes Miniature Railway: The Story of the Seaside Miniature Railway, from Opening in 1948 to the Present Day Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway, Including the Railways at Wonderland & Pleasure Island. Reading, Berkshire: P Scott. ISBN 978-1-902368-41-2. Minor Railway Histories No.7.
* Scott, Peter (2017). Minor Railways (29th ed.). Reading, Berkshire: P Scott. ISBN 978-1-902368-45-0.
* Scott, Peter (2015b). Track Plans of Minor Railways in the British Isles. Reading, Berkshire: P Scott. ISBN 978-1-902368-43-6. Vol.3 - Northern England.
* Thomas, Cliff (2017). Milner, Chris (ed.). "Narrow Gauge Track Record". The Railway Magazine. 163 (1393). Horncastle: Mortons Media Group Ltd. ISSN 0033-8923.
* Tidmarsh, John G. (1990). The Sutton Coldfield Fifteen Gauge Railway. Brighton: Plateway Press. ISBN 978-1-871980-05-9.
*   * Yonge, John (2016). Martyn Brailsford (ed.). Railway Track Diagrams - Book 2: Eastern (Quail Track Plans) (4th ed.). Bradford on Avon: Trackmaps (formerly Quail Map Co). ISBN 978-0-9549866-8-1. OCLC 964924377.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Holroyde, Dave; Little, Lawson (2010). The Locomotives of Severn-Lamb Ltd. Peterborough: Narrow Gauge Railway Society. ISBN 978-0-9554326-2-0.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway.

* Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway Official Website
* The railway in Miniature Railway World
* The railway and its predecessors in Miniature Railway World Blog
* The railway in Geoffs Pages
* Images of the railway past and present in flickr
* Images of the railway from 2001 to the present in Dave's Rail Pics
* One-time resident loco Haigh Hall in Narrow Gauge Heaven

* v
* t
* e

Heritage railways, museums and preservation societies in England

Operational railways

| Narrow-gauge|

* Amerton Railway
* Amberley Museum Railway
* Bredgar and Wormshill Light Railway
* Bure Valley Railway
* Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway
* Gartell Light Railway
* Great Whipsnade Railway
* Great Woburn Railway
* Hastings Miniature Railway
* Hayling Seaside Railway
* Hythe Pier, Railway and Ferry
* Launceston Steam Railway
* Leighton Buzzard Light Railway
* London Post Office Railway
* Lynton and Barnstaple Railway
* North Gloucestershire Railway
* Perrygrove Railway
* Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway
* Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway
* Rudyard Lake Steam Railway
* Ruislip Lido Railway
* Seaton Tramway
* Sittingbourne and Kemsley Light Railway
* South Tynedale Railway
* Southend Pier Railway
* Steeple Grange Light Railway
* Volk's Electric Railway
* Wells and Walsingham Light Railway
* West Lancashire Light Railway
* Whistlestop Valley
* Yaxham Light Railway

|

Standard-gauge|

* Aln Valley Railway
* Appleby Frodingham Railway
* Avon Valley Railway
* Battlefield Line Railway
* Bluebell Railway
* Bodmin and Wenford Railway
* Bowes Railway
* Bristol Harbour Railway
* Cambrian Heritage Railways
* Chasewater Railway
* Chinnor and Princes Risborough Railway
* Cholsey and Wallingford Railway
* Churnet Valley Railway
* Colne Valley Railway
* Dartmouth Steam Railway
* Dean Forest Railway
* Derwent Valley Light Railway
* East Kent Railway
* East Lancashire Railway
* East Somerset Railway
* Ecclesbourne Valley Railway
* Eden Valley Railway
* Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway
* Epping Ongar Railway
* Foxfield Railway
* Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway
* Great Central Railway
* Great Central Railway (Nottingham)
* Helston Railway
* Isle of Wight Steam Railway
* Keighley & Worth Valley Railway
* Kent and East Sussex Railway
* Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway
* Lavender Line
* Lincolnshire Wolds Railway
* Mid-Norfolk Railway
* Middleton Railway
* Midland Railway – Butterley
* Mountsorrel Railway
* Nene Valley Railway
* North Norfolk Railway
* North Tyneside Steam Railway
* North Yorkshire Moors Railway
* Northampton and Lamport Railway
* Northamptonshire Ironstone Railway Trust
* Peak Rail
* Plym Valley Railway
* Ribble Steam Railway
* Rother Valley Railway
* Rushden, Higham and Wellingborough Railway
* Severn Valley Railway
* South Devon Railway
* Spa Valley Railway
* Stainmore Railway
* Swanage Railway
* Swindon and Cricklade Railway
* Tanfield Railway
* Telford Steam Railway
* Watercress Line
* Weardale Railway
* Wensleydale Railway
* West Somerset Railway
* Yorkshire Wolds Railway

Centres and museums

* Barrow Hill Roundhouse
* Bressingham Steam Museum
* Buckinghamshire Railway Centre
* Coleford Great Western Railway Museum
* Crewe Heritage Centre
* Crowle Peatland Railway
* Devon Railway Centre
* Didcot Railway Centre
* East Anglian Railway Museum
* Great Central Railway (Nottingham)
* Hollycombe Steam Collection
* Hopetown Darlington
* London Museum of Water & Steam
* Mangapps Railway Museum
* Mid-Suffolk Light Railway
* Moseley Railway Trust
* Mountsorrel Railway
* National Railway Museum
* North Ings Farm Museum
* Rutland Railway Museum
* National Railway Museum Shildon
* Shillingstone Railway Project
* Somerset & Dorset Railway Heritage Trust
* Southall Railway Centre
* Stephenson Railway Museum
* Museum of the Great Western Railway (Swindon)
* Tyseley Locomotive Works
* Yeovil Railway Centre

Planned railways

* Berkeley Vale Railway
* Bideford Railway Heritage Centre
* Combe Rail
* Don Valley Railway
* Lea Bailey Light Railway
* Norfolk Orbital Railway
* North Dorset Railway
* North Somerset Railway
* Poulton & Wyre Railway
* Southwold Railway
* Tarka Valley Railway
* Wisbech and March Bramley Line

Closed sites

* Abbey Light Railway
* Ashford Steam Centre
* Cadeby Light Railway
* Dartmoor line (mainline service restored)
* Derbyshire Dales Narrow Gauge Railway
* Electric Railway Museum, Warwickshire
* Elsecar Heritage Railway
* Great Yorkshire Railway Preservation Society
* North Woolwich Old Station Museum
* Wells Harbour Railway

* Heritage railways: England
* Scotland
* Wales
* Northern Ireland
* Isle of Man
* Channel Islands

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* e

Railways and tramways of 15-inch (381 mm) gauge

Asia|

* Bal Bahran Park (Delhi, India)
* Sakuradani (Japan)
* Shuzenji Romney (Japan)

Europe|

* Anse (France)
* Donaupark (Austria)
* Dresdner Park (Germany)
* Killesberg Park (Germany)
* Park Auensee (Germany)
* Prater Park (Austria)

| United
King-
dom|

* Alton Towers (defunct)
* Bellevue Park (defunct)
* Blackpool Zoo
* Blenheim Park
* Bure Valley
* Cleethorpes Coast
* Conwy Valley
* Combe Martin Wildlife Park
* Craigtoun
* Duffield Bank (defunct)
* Eaton Hall (defunct)
* Evesham Vale
* Gulliver's Land
* Gulliver's World
* Haigh Country Park
* Heatherslaw
* Knowsley Safari Park
* Lakeside (Southport)
* Lappa Valley
* Lightwater Valley
* Liverpool Garden Festival (defunct)
* Longleat
* Markeaton Park (defunct)
* Marwell Zoo (defunct)
* Oakwood Park
* Paradise Park
* Paultons Park
* Perrygrove
* Ravenglass & Eskdale
* Rhiw Valley (defunct)
* Rhyl
* Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch
* Saltburn
* Sand and Hutton (defunct)
* Sherwood Forest
* Waveney Valley
* Whistlestop Valley
* Windmill Farm
* Wotton

|

North
America|

* Bear Creek Park (Canada)
* Pindal Electric (Canada)
* Springbank Express (Canada)

| United
States|

* American Heritage
* B.A.D. Great Northern
* Gage Park
* Glenwood South Park
* Hillcrest & Wahtoke
* Joshua Tree & Southern GSD
* Laurel Run
* Little Toot
* Look Park
* Milwaukee County Zoo Safari
* Nickel Plate
* Northwest Ohio
* Orland, Newville and Pacific
* Paradise and Pacific
* Phoenix & Holly
* Redwood Valley
* Riverside and Great Northern
* Riverview & Twin Lakes
* Sonoma TrainTown
* Tiny Town
* Waterman & Western

|

Oceania|

* Bush Mill (Australia)
* Driving Creek (New Zealand)
* Whangaparaoa (New Zealand)

Arlesdale (fictional) · Fairbourne (now re-gauged) · Far Tottering and Oyster Creek (temporary exhibition line)

53°32′47″N 0°00′51″W﻿ / ﻿53.54649°N 0.01425°W﻿ / 53.54649; -0.01425﻿ (Cleethorpes Light railway, Lakeside)
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