REGISTER OF CLOSED RAILWAYS

RCH East of Engmland 1917

OCD - Mon 07/12/1953 - PNM 1980 p58. No Sunday service, LTR - Sat 05/12/1953. Withdrawal of RTS and closure of intermediate stations, along with adjoining sections of line Welham Jct. - Marefield North Jct., John o' Gaunt (excl.) - Saxondale Jct., Stathern Jct. - Bottesford East Jct.  

ACD - Mon 29/04/1957. Due to the lack of a suitable local bus substitute, timetabled workmens' trains were introduced between between Leicester (Belgrave Rd.) and John o' Gaunt. This service ran until Sat 08/12/1956 incl. and from Mon 31/12/1956 until LTR Sat 27/04/1957. The service was advertised and appeared in Bradshaw's as a normal public service.

SDS from Leicester (Belgrave Rd.) - Skegness/Mablethorpe ran until LTR - Sun 09/09/1962.

BR (LM) 12 Jun - 10 Sep 61 index shows Table 205 against Leicester - Mablethorpe & Skegness, but no Table 205 is printed. Table 205 does appear in the 1962 LM Summer timetable.

An article in Trains Illustrated July 1961 p409 'Leicester's Belgrave Road branch lives another year' sheds light on the matter. It states "This spring it seemed that the tradition was to end with the closure of the branch, but the threat was withdrawn as abruptly as it was uttered". The article goes on to say "It is the state of this section (Marefield Jct. - Belgrave Rd.) which provoked the decision to end the operation........ and to run them instead from Leicester Central. However, the decision was abruptly rescinded before Whitsun this year - largely, it is believed, because of sudden fears that the local T.U.C.C. had not been adequately consulted..."

Clearly the decision came too late to amend the timetables, resulting in both the LM and ER editions for Summer 1961 showing the Leicester - Mablethorpe and Skegness trains as running to/from Leicester (Central). Having said that, it appears some effort was made to amend the LM timetable, hence the reference to Table 205 which, nonetheless, failed to appear!

Page updated: 19/05/2022