RAILWAY Roundabout
Lincs Coast Railway volunteers discover unseen photos of original Cleethorpes miniature line
When unseen old photographs of the earliest days of the world’s first heritage railway to be built by enthusiasts turned up at the back of old cupboards on another railway, which now runs close to its original site, the question was asked by the finders: “Are there any other unseen old photos of our railway?” The answer it now transpires, is ‘Yes’ - some dating back to 1949 – and they have never been published.
The photos of the Lincolnshire Coast Light Railway were taken in 1962 by photographer C W Underhill of Belper, Derbyshire, on its original site at Humberston, south of Cleethorpes, where it opened in August 1960. There had been plans to celebrate the 60th anniversary of this significant world first at its ‘new’ site at Skegness Water Leisure Park, more than 40 miles to the south, on which it reopened in 2009. These celebrations are postponed until 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic and the line remains closed to passengers
