Louth to Bardney Line

Louth to Bardney Line
Legend The eastern entrance to High Street tunnel, the shorter of the two tunnels on the disused Louth to Bardney railway line ( to Grimsby ) Louth ( to Boston ) Hallington Withcall Withcall Tunnel Donington on Bain High Street Tunnel South Willingham and Hainton East Barkwith Wragby Kingthorpe ( to Lincoln ) Bardney ( to Boston )

The Louth to Bardney Line was a railway line built by the Great Northern Railway to link Bardney to Louth. It was closed in 1960.

History

The Great Northern Railway planned and built a branch line from Bardney to Louth in stages, beginning in 1874. The line reached South Willingham on 9 November 1874 with intermediate stations at Kingthorpe and Wragby. The line was extended to Donington-on-Bain on 27 September 1875, via the High Street tunnel at Benniworth. The final stage between Donington on Bain and Louth via Withcall and Hallington opened to goods on 28 June 1876 and passengers on 1 December 1876.^[1] A 48 feet (15 m) turntable was constructed at Bardney to turn the engines working on the branch.

Passenger services ended on 5 November 1951, goods traffic being discontinued in stages over the next 10 years. Louth to Donington on Bain was closed on 17 December 1956, followed by Donington on Bain to Wragby on 1 December 1958. The final section between Wragby and Bardney closed on 1 February 1960, bringing to a close 86 years of railway history.

References