Immingham (Eastern Jetty) railway station

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Immingham (Eastern Jetty)
Immingham Dock (Eastern Jetty) station.jpg
A postcard of the station in the 1910s
General information
Location Immingham, North East Lincolnshire
England
Coordinates 53°37′51″N0°10′55″W / 53.6307°N 0.1819°W / 53.6307; -0.1819
Grid reference TA203165
Platforms1 [1]
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original company Great Central Railway
Pre-groupingGreat Central Railway
Post-grouping London and North Eastern Railway
Key dates
15 May 1912opened
1939closed [2] [3]
Location
Immingham (Eastern Jetty) railway station

Immingham (Eastern Jetty) railway station was a special excursion station built along the port's eastern jetty [4] to cater for traffic to passenger ships on cruises to the North Cape, Norwegian Fjords and the Baltic.

Contents

The station was not much more than a long wooden platform along the jetty. It was only used for the transfer of the passengers and luggage from train to ship and vice versa so little in the way of facilities was needed or provided. The critical provision was numerous staff to guide travellers and handle their belongings. [5] [6] [7]

Traffic

The cruise ships sometimes berthed in the dock itself, [8] [9] but usually they moored at the seaward side of the jetty where they were adjacent to all-First Class, Restaurant Car special trains. [10] [11] [12] These operated along two routes:

Locomotives

Originally these trains were hauled by Great Central Railway 4-6-0 locomotives [14] but following grouping in 1922 Great Northern Railway motive power took many of them over. [15]

Spectacle

Visits by such ships drew crowds of sightseers and passed into local folklore, none more so than the vessel SS Arandora Star which was torpedoed in 1940 with heavy loss of life.

Closure

The cruises terminated in 1939, just prior to the Second World War. Although the platform remained for some time, the station was effectively closed. One source suggests GCR passenger vessels plied between here, Antwerp, Hamburg and Rotterdam. [6]

Afterlife

By 2015 the tracks on the jetty had long been lifted, but the structure remained well used, handling oils, spirits, and liquid chemicals.

Liners known to have used Immingham

References

Sources

  • Burgess, Neil (2007). Lincolnshire's Lost Railways. Catrine: Stenlake Publishing. ISBN   978-1-84033-407-4.
  • Butt, R. V. J. (October 1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN   978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC   60251199. OL   11956311M.
  • Crossland, G J; Turner, C E (2012) [2006]. Immingham A History of the Deep Water Port. T&C Publishing. ISBN   978-0-9543051-2-3.
  • Croughton, Godfrey; Kidner, R. W.; Young, Alan (1982). Private and Untimetabled Railway Stations, Halts and Stopping Places. The Oakwood Press. ISBN   978-0-85361-281-0. OCLC   10507501.
  • Dow, George (1985) [1965]. Great Central, Volume Three: Fay Sets the Pace, 1900–1922. Shepperton: Ian Allan. ISBN   978-0-7110-0263-0. OCLC   500447049.
  • Grainger, Ken (2012). Gellatly, Bob (ed.). "Immingham Dock Centenary Souvenir 1912-2012". Forward. Holton le Clay: Brian Bell for the Great Central Railway Society. ISSN   0141-4488.
  • King, Paul (2019). The Railways of North-east Lincolnshire, Part 2: Stations. Grimsby: Pyewipe Publications. ISBN   978-1-9164603-1-7.
  • Ludlam, A.J. (2016). Immingham - A Lincolnshire Railway Centre (Lincolnshire Railway Centres). Ludborough: Lincolnshire Wolds Railway Society. ISBN   978-0-9954610-0-0.
  • Ludlam, A.J. (1996). Railways to New Holland and the Humber Ferries. Headington: The Oakwood Press. ISBN   978-0-85361-494-4. LP 198.
  • Ludlam, A.J. (July 2006). Kennedy, Rex (ed.). "Immingham-Gateway to the Continent". Steam Days (203). Bournemouth: Redgauntlet Publications. ISSN   0269-0020.
  • Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2017). Branch Lines North of Grimsby, including Immingham. Midhurst: Middleton Press (MD). ISBN   978-1-910356-09-8.
  • Mummery, Brian; Butler, Ian (1999). Immingham and the Great Central Legacy (Images of England). Stroud: Tempus. ISBN   978-0-7524-1714-1.
  • NotRecorded, X (Summer 2002). Bell, Brian (ed.). "Not recorded". Forward. 50. Holton le Clay: Brian Bell for the Great Central Railway Society. ISSN   0141-4488.
  • Tuplin, William Alfred (1967). Great Central Locomotives. London: George Allen & Unwin. OCLC   753041210.
  • WEA (1994). Immingham - the way we were : more memories of a marsh village. Immingham: WEA. ISBN   978-0-9524259-2-2.