Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway

Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway
Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway steam locomotive
Route length:	1.95 km
Gauge :	1948–71: 260 mm 1972–93: 362 mm Since 1994: 381 mm
Legend Kingsway Station Viaduct over the boat pond Discovery Station (demand stop) Engine shed Lakeside Central Humberston, North Sea Lane

The Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway (CCLR) is a 1.95 km long park railway with a gauge of 15 inches (381 mm) from the Leisure Center to the Buck Beck Estuary in Cleethorpes , north east Lincolnshire , England.

history

Today's CCLR has developed from the 270 m long single-track Cleethorpes Miniature Railway (CMR) founded in 1948 with an original track width of 10¼ inches (260 mm). From 1972 to 1993 it had a track width of 14¼ inches (362 mm) and since 1994 of 15 inches (381 mm).

The 1972 change of gauge to a 14¼ inch (362 mm) gauge is noteworthy because it is the only known narrow-gauge railway with this gauge. There are two theories as to why this gauge was chosen. Either the track manufacturers mistakenly measured center to center of the rails instead of measuring the clear width between the rail heads. Or they received an order from the Cleethorpes Borough Council for ¼ of the gauge of a standard gauge track, which they fulfilled with a tolerance of ⅛ inch (3 mm).

Years	Surname	Gauge	drive	Managers	Remarks
1948	CMR	10¼ inches (260 mm)	steam	W. Botterill, under license from Cleethorpes Borough Council	One season on the original route
1949-1953	CMR	10¼ inches (260 mm)	steam	W. Botterill, under license from Cleethorpes Borough Council	New longer route, profitable
1954-1958	CMR	10¼ inches (260 mm)	battery	A. Clethro, under license from Cleethorpes Borough Council	Completely new rail vehicles, stable sales
1959-1971	CMR	10¼ inches (260 mm)	battery	Cleethorpes Borough Council, in-house	General loss of sales when the market changed
1972-1990	CMR	14¼ inch (362 mm)	propane	Cleethorpes Borough Council, in-house	Investments and extension of the railway line, afterwards a drop in sales
1991-1993	CCLR	14¼ inch (362 mm)	propane	Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway	privatization
1994-1999	CCLR	15 inches (381 mm)	Mixed	Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway	Re-gauging and significant investments
2000-2013	CCLR	15 inches (381 mm)	Mixed	Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway	Route extension in 2000 and 2007
2014 – today	CCLR	15 inches (381 mm)	Mixed	Cleethorpes Light Railway Ltd	The railway line was bought by P. Bryant and J. Kerr

Today's operation

The trains run from Kingsway Station at the Leisure Center over a 37 m long viaduct along the coastal defense wall and then turn south-south-west past the engine shed and museum to the Lakeside station. In the winter of 2006/7, the route was extended by 825 m to the south-east to the new North Sea Lane stop at the Meridian Line parking lot, near the Pleasure Island Family Theme Park and the mouth of the Buck Beck. Since then, the route has been 1.95 km long.

The railway operates 7 steam locomotives and five locomotives with internal combustion engines (diesel or gasoline). There are 19 closed cars, four open cars and an articulated train .

There are two Rio Grande steam locomotives built by Severn Lamb . National Lottery funds were used to procure rail vehicles for the long-disused Sutton Miniature Railway in Sutton Park , Sutton Coldfield , including a Bassett-Lowke Class 10 Little Giant Mighty Atom .

In May 2014 the railroad was privatized as Cleethorpes Light Railway Limited.

Timetables

Three official color-coded timetables are used:

• Blue: every 50 minutes; 1 train; on weekdays except Saturday and in the low season.
• Green: every 30 minutes; 2 trains on weekends and public holidays.
• Red: every 15 minutes; 4 trains, for special events.

Steam locomotives

Surname	number	Wheel alignment	Displacement (inches); Pressure ( lb )	Manufacturer	status	owner
Sutton Belle	1	4-4-2 tenders	4.25 x 6.75	Cannon Ironfoundries 1933	Is being restored	CCLRSA
Sutton Flyer	2	4-4-2 tenders	4.25 x 6.75	Griffin Foundry 1950	Stored	CCLRSA
Mighty Atom / Prince of Wales	11	4-4-2 tenders		Bassett-Lowke 1908	Stored	CLR Ltd
SRRL 24	24	2-6-2 tenders	5.94 x 8; 3000 lb	Fairbourne 1990	Operational	CLR Ltd
Effie		0-4-0 Side water tanks		Great Northern Steam 1999	In service	Privately owned
Yvette	111	4-4-0 tender	3 13 / 16 x 6; 508 lb	Craven 1946	Is being restored	T. Brackenbury
O4 class	6284	2-8-0 tender		Crome / Loxley 2009	Operational	R Crome & R Loxley

Diesel and gasoline locomotives

Surname	number	Manufacturer	Wheel alignment	Fuel / propulsion	status	owner
Toby / Ted	7th	Lister 1944	0-4-0	Diesel mechanically	Operational	CLR Ltd
Dudley	SMR 4	G&S Light Engineering 1946	Bo-Bo	Gasoline mechanically	Stored	CCLRSA
DA1	6th	Bush Mill Railway 1986	0-4-0	Diesel mechanically	Operational	CLR Ltd
Bluebell	278	Severn Lamb 1979	2-8-0	Diesel hydraulic	In service	CLR Ltd
Battison	5	Stanley Battison 1958	2-6-4T steam locomotive design	Diesel-electric	Operational	CLR Ltd

literature

• Dow, George (1985) [1959]. Great Central, Volume One: The Progenitors, 1813-1863. Shepperton: Ian Allan. ISBN 978-0-7110-1468-8 . OCLC 60021205
• AJ Ludlam: Trains to the Lincolnshire Seaside: Cleethorpes Volume 3 . Lincolnshire Wolds Railway Society , Ludborough, Lincolnshire 2014, ISBN 978-0-9926762-4-7 .
• JH Price: The Tramways of Grimsby, Immingham & Cleethorpes . Light Rail Transit Association, 1991, ISBN 978-0-948106-10-1 .
• Peter Scott: A History of the Cleethorpes Miniature Railway: The Story of the Seaside Miniature Railway, from Opening in 1948 to the Present Day Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway, Including the Railways at Wonderland & Pleasure Island . P Scott, Reading, Berkshire 2015, ISBN 978-1-902368-41-2 , Minor Railway Histories No.7.
• Peter Scott: Track Plans of Minor Railways in the British Isles . P Scott, Reading, Berkshire 2015b, ISBN 978-1-902368-43-6 , Vol.3 - Northern England.
• John G. Tidmarsh: The Sutton Coldfield Fifteen Gauge Railway . Plateway Press, Lincolnshire 1990, ISBN 978-1-871980-05-9 .
• Yonge, John (2016). Martyn Brailsford, ed. Railway Track Diagrams - Book 2: Eastern (Quail Track Plans) (4th ed.). Bradford on Avon: Trackmaps (formerly Quail Map Co). ISBN 978-0-9549866-8-1 . OCLC 964924377

Web links

Commons : Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

• Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway Official Website

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Scott (2015), p. 99.
2. ^ Yonge (2016), Map 27D.
3. ↑ Scott (2015), p. 59.
4. ↑ Scott (2015), Chapter 2
5. ↑ Scott (2015), Chapter 2
6. ↑ Scott (2015), Chapter 4
7. ↑ Scott (2015), Chapter 5
8. ↑ Scott (2015), Chapters 6-7
9. ↑ ^{a b c d} Scott (2015), Chapter 8
10. ^ SMR in its heyday .
11. ↑ Tidmarsh (1990).
12. ↑ Ludlam (2014), pp. 47-48.
13. ^ New owners of Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway pledge to bring 'fresh ideas' to attraction . Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
14. ^ Next stop Cleethorpes for Kerr's Miniature Railway entrepreneur .
15. ^ Sutton Belle in service .
16. ^ Sutton Flyer in 2007 .
17. ^ Prince of Wales in 2007 .
18. ↑ SRRL 24 in service .
19. ↑ Effie in 2007 .
20. ↑ Effie in 2006 .
21. ↑ 6284 in service .
22. ↑ 6284 in service in 2009, via Daves Rail Pics
23. ^ Toby at Kingsway Halt in 2000 .
24. ↑ SMR 4 in service in 2006 .
25. ↑ DA1 in service .
26. ↑ Bluebell in service .
27. ↑ Battison in service .

Coordinates: 53 ° 32 '52 "  N , 0 ° 0' 44.6"  W.