The North Lindsey Light Railway (NLLR) was a

light railway A light railway is a railway built at lower costs and to lower standards than typical "heavy rail": it uses lighter-weight track, and may have more steep gradients and tight curves to reduce civil engineering costs. These lighter standards allow ...

in North

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...

. It was later absorbed by the

Great Central Railway The Great Central Railway in England was formed when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway changed its name in 1897, anticipating the opening in 1899 of its London Extension. On 1 January 1923, the company was grouped into the ...

and later, on grouping, it passed to the London and North Eastern Railway. The railway is now mostly closed.

Route

The line had its own station in Scunthorpe at Dawes Lane some from Frodingham on the Great Central Railway's Manchester to Cleethorpes route (now the

South TransPennine TransPennine Express (TPE), legally First TransPennine Express Limited, is a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup that operates the TransPennine Express franchise. It runs regional and inter-city rail services between the major ci ...

). The NLLR was connected to the Great Central, first by a connection into the goods yard facing towards Grimsby, and then, in 1913, by a further line forming a triangle facing towards Keadby. The line passed through Winterton and Thealby, West Halton and

Winteringham Winteringham is a village in North Lincolnshire, England, on the south bank of the Humber Estuary. History Roman Britain The Romans founded a settlement probably called ''Ad Abum'' in this area. It was where Ermine Street, the major Roman roa ...

; it was later extended to reach Whitton. An additional station for goods was opened at Normanby Park to deal with traffic to John Lysaghts works nearby. The ceremonial first sod was cut at Thealby by Sir Berkeley Sheffield on 7 January 1901. The line opened in stages, Scunthorpe to Winterton in 1906, then on to Winteringham in 1907 and finally to Whitton in 1910. Passenger services ended in 1925 and the line from Winteringham to Whitton closed in 1951. Part of the line still exists at the Scunthorpe end and is used to access a landfill site near Roxby which receives trainloads of household rubbish from various locations in the

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tam ...

area. There were docks on the banks of the Humber Estuary at Winteringham Haven.

History

The line was backed and operated by the Great Central Railway; its strategic importance to them was to prevent the

Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) was a major British railway company before the 1923 Grouping. It was incorporated in 1847 from an amalgamation of several existing railways. It was the third-largest railway system based in northern ...

from encroaching into their territory by crossing the

River Trent The Trent is the third-longest river in the United Kingdom. Its source is in Staffordshire, on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains the North Midlands. The river is known for dramatic flooding after storms and ...

References

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Sources

* {{LNERconstituents Closed railway lines in the East Midlands Pre-grouping British railway companies Rail transport in Lincolnshire Railway lines opened in 1906 London and North Eastern Railway constituents Light railways 1906 establishments in England