Kirkstead and Little Steeping Railway

Kirkstead and Little Steeping Railway
East Lincolnshire Rly to Grimsby Firsby to Spilsby Poacher Line to Skegness Little Steeping East Lincolnshire Rly to Boston Midville Stickney New Bolingbroke Tumby Woodside Coningsby Woodhall Junction Lincolnshire Loop Line to Lincoln • to Boston

The Kirkstead and Little Steeping Railway, locally known as the New Line,^[1] was a railway line linking the East Lincolnshire Railway to the Lincoln to Boston railway through the Lincolnshire Fens in Lincolnshire, England. It was built to improve access from Lancashire and Yorkshire industrial centres to the seaside resort at Skegness.^[2] It was opened in 1913 by the Great Northern Railway (GNR).

The land used for the line was generally flat so there were no engineering difficulties and only three roads required the provision of bridges. Opened as a Light Railway, in the beginning a 25 mph speed restriction was imposed by the Board of Trade, but this was later increased to 50 mph for most of the route.

Although laid as double track, one line was lifted in 1916 to provide materials for use in France. Although the track was lifted it was not used for the War Effort as the vessel carrying it was sunk in the English Channel. The missing track was restored in 1923.

The line was closed on 5 October 1970, after 57 years of operation.^[1]

After closure

The line left the Lincoln to Boston line at Woodhall Junction railway station. Since closure in 1970, the whole route has largely returned to nature and farmland.

• Coningsby station was built on an embankment, but both the station and embankment have been completely removed.^[3]
• Tumby Woodside station still survives in its entirety with both platforms and station buildings still standing and existing but in derelict and dangerous condition.^[4] The station was immortalised in 1964 in the song "Slow Train" by Flanders and Swann.
• New Bolingbroke station's up platform and building still survives, and now hosts an antiques centre and a reclaim yard on the down platform. A modern building has been constructed on the former trackbed, including demoltition of part of the west end of the former down platform.^[5]
• Stickney station was in a cutting that has been infilled, burying the original platforms. The site is now in commercial use.^[6] The bridge carrying the A16 over the line here has been removed and the road levelled. A small picnic area has been created to the east of the road.
• Midville station has lost its timber-built platforms, but the building remains as a private residence.^[1]
• The building and track at the former junction station at Little Steeping remains as a private residence, although the signal box and platforms have been removed.^[7]
• The route remains in use as an active railway between the former Bellwater Junction^[8] and the 1881 direct link to Skegness installed at the former Firsby South Curve^[8] a few hundred metres south of the former branch terminus at Firsby station. The majority of this station and its platforms have been demolished. Only one small section of the main station building remains and is now a private residence.^[9]

References