Immingham Dock electric railway station

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Immingham Dock
Immimgham Dock geograph-2387152-by-Ben-Brooksbank.jpg
Grimsby & Immingham Electric Railway at Immingham Dock in 1958
General information
Location Immingham, North East Lincolnshire
England
Coordinates 53°37′48″N0°11′11″W / 53.62987°N 0.18646°W / 53.62987; -0.18646 Coordinates: 53°37′48″N0°11′11″W / 53.62987°N 0.18646°W / 53.62987; -0.18646
Grid reference TA200163
Platforms0
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original company Great Central Railway
Pre-groupingGreat Central Railway
Post-grouping London and North Eastern Railway
Key dates
17 November 1913opened
3 July 1961closed [1]

Immingham Dock electric railway station was the western terminus of the inter-urban [2] Grimsby and Immingham Electric Railway which ran from Corporation Bridge, Grimsby with a reversal at what was euphemistically called Immingham Town. [3]

Contents

Overview

The electric railway was built primarily to carry workers between Grimsby and Immingham Dock which the Great Central Railway had built on a greenfield site in a sparsely populated area. The line was built by the Great Central and remained in railway ownership up to closure in 1961. It therefore appeared in railway timetables [4] and it was possible to buy through tickets between any of the stops on the line and anywhere on the national railway network, [5] though there never was any physical connection with any conventional track, nor with the tramways in Grimsby and Cleethorpes.

In modern parlance the vehicles would be described as trams, but they were typically referred to locally and in publications such as Bradshaw as "cars" [6] [4] or "tramcars", with related things being called names such as "tramcar halt" and "tramcar bridge." "Car" was always a more common short form than "tram."

Location and facilities

Dock tramcar station was situated on the southeast side of the dock's main entrance lock and at right angles to it. [7] [8] Directly opposite the station on the other side of the lock was a conventional railway station, also called Immingham Dock [9] Lines from the two set off in opposite directions.

The line was a tramway, no platforms ever existed at any of the stopping places; passengers were expected to board and alight from the roadway or trackside cinders according to the location. The "stations" were much more commonly referred to as "halts" or "stopping places."

A waiting room was provided at Dock tramcar station. [10] [11] Passengers bought tickets on board from the conductor. Timetables and tickets consistently used the name "Immingham Dock" throughout the terminus's life. [12]

The line's two termini - Corporation Bridge and Immingham Dock - were the only halts on the line to attempt anything along the lines of railway nameboards, both proclaimed themselves in very large letters to be a "TRAMWAY STATION." [13]

The line from the station

After the end of the cindered station area the line was conventional double track running alongside the dock road, giving the appearance of a conventional railway, except for the absence of fencing between road and rail. [14] At Habrough Marsh Drain bridge a little over half a mile from the station road and rail merged, with the tracks changing to grooved tramway common throughout all road tramways. [15] This spot was and remains the eastern boundary of dock property. In 2012 this was a continuously staffed entrance checkpoint with barriers to road vehicles and pedestrians. In the 1950s and 1960s the spot was completely unmarked, with not so much as a sign to indicate entering or leaving the dock. From mid-1916 to July 1920 a halt was provided here, [6] [16] whose purpose is unclear. It may have been a version of the modern checkpoint or to serve works which ended with the war.

From this point road and tramtracks climbed one of the two "hills" on the whole line, i.e. the bridge over the conventional Grimsby District Light Railway line near Immingham East Junction. This bridge, which was in regular, heavy road use in 2015, was known locally as "tramcar bridge." [17] At the other side of the bridge was "Tramcar Halt", or, formally, Immingham Town.

Services

Unusually among British tramways services ran round the clock, particularly to provide for railway workers based at Immingham engine shed, whose duties often involved starting or finishing at unsocial hours. Traffic was highly peaked, with convoys of tramcars leaving and arriving to match shift changes at the dock. It was normal for several tramcars to rest at Dock station between peaks. [18] [19] [20]

In 1956 over a million passengers used the line [21] and even with deliberate rundown a quarter of a million used it in its last twelve months up to closure in July 1961.

Closure

The line took some years to die, being cut back at the Grimsby end in 1956 then reduced to peak services only in 1959, when it disappeared from Bradshaw and through ticketing beyond the line was withdrawn. [22] Formal closure of the line and Dock tramcar station came on Monday 3 July 1961, with the last tramcars running on Saturday 1 July 1961 when a convoy of six tramcars set off, nominally at 14:03. The last tramcar of this convoy and therefore the last from the Immingham terminus was Number 4. [23]

Aftermath

The first track on the line to be removed was at Dock tramcar station, to give increased parking space. The process of demolition was piecemeal and even in 2013 many hints of the line remained, such as spun concrete masts near Tramcar Bridge.

Former Services
Preceding station Disused railways Following station
Eastern Entrance to Immingham Dock   Great Central Railway
Grimsby and Immingham Electric Railway 		 Terminus

Related Research Articles

The Grimsby District Light Railway (GDLR) was one of three standard gauge railways, all part of the Great Central Railway, promoted by the latter to connect the wider world to Immingham Dock which it built in the early Twentieth Century on an almost uninhabited, greenfield site on the south bank of the Humber, England.

Grimsby and Immingham Electric Railway Light railway in Lincolnshire, England

The Grimsby & Immingham Electric Railway (G&IER) was an electric light railway, primarily for passenger traffic, linking Great Grimsby with the Port of Immingham in Lincolnshire, England. The line was built by the Great Central Railway (GCR), was absorbed by the London & North Eastern Railway (LNER) in 1923, and became part of the Eastern Region of British Railways. It ran mainly on reserved track.

Immingham Dock railway station

Immingham Dock railway station served the dock at Immingham, Lincolnshire, England.

Immingham Town electric railway station

Immingham Town electric railway station was the penultimate unconditional stop on the inter-urban Grimsby and Immingham Electric Railway when travelling from Corporation Bridge, Grimsby to Immingham Dock. All tramcars reversed here.

Grimsby electric railway station was the eastern terminus of the Grimsby and Immingham Electric Railway, the western terminus being Immingham Dock, 7 miles (11 km) to the north west.

Immingham electric railway station would have been a halt on the Grimsby and Immingham Electric Railway, but it never opened to fare paying passengers. Electrified track was laid to the station site and quarterly proving cars ran for nearly twentyfive years, but no revenue-earning car ever travelled to or from the halt.

Kiln Lane electric railway station was situated at the eighth of eight passing loops on the otherwise single track central "country" section of the inter-urban Grimsby and Immingham Electric Railway when travelling from Corporation Bridge, Grimsby to Immingham Dock.

Marsh Road Level Crossing electric railway station was situated at the seventh of eight passing loops on the otherwise single track central "country" section of the inter-urban Grimsby and Immingham Electric Railway when travelling from Corporation Bridge, Grimsby to Immingham Dock.

No. 6 Passing Place electric railway station was situated at the sixth of eight passing loops on the otherwise single track central "country" section of the inter-urban Grimsby and Immingham Electric Railway when travelling from Corporation Bridge, Grimsby to Immingham Dock.

No. 5 Passing Place electric railway station was situated at the fifth of eight passing loops on the otherwise single track central "country" section of the inter-urban Grimsby and Immingham Electric Railway when travelling from Corporation Bridge, Grimsby to Immingham Dock.

No. 4 Passing Place electric railway station was situated at the fourth of eight passing loops on the otherwise single track central "country" section of the inter-urban Grimsby and Immingham Electric Railway when travelling from Corporation Bridge, Grimsby to Immingham Dock.

Great Coates Level Crossing electric railway station was situated at the third of eight passing loops on the otherwise single track central "country" section of the inter-urban Grimsby and Immingham Electric Railway when travelling from Corporation Bridge, Grimsby to Immingham Dock.

Pyewipe Depot electric railway station was situated at the second of eight passing loops on the otherwise single track central "country" section of the inter-urban Grimsby and Immingham Electric Railway when travelling from Corporation Bridge, Grimsby to Immingham Dock.

Cleveland Bridge electric railway station was situated at the first of eight passing loops on the otherwise single track central "country" section of the inter-urban Grimsby and Immingham Electric Railway when travelling from Corporation Bridge, Grimsby to Immingham Dock.

Cleveland Street electric railway station was the fifth of five calling points on the 1+1⁄4 miles (2.0 km) eastern, "street" section of the inter-urban Grimsby and Immingham Electric Railway when travelling from Corporation Bridge, Grimsby to Immingham Dock.

Stortford Street electric railway station was the fourth of five calling points on the 1+1⁄4 miles (2.0 km) eastern, "street" section of the inter-urban Grimsby and Immingham Electric Railway when travelling from Corporation Bridge, Grimsby to Immingham Dock.

Boulevard Recreation Ground electric railway station was the third of five calling points on the 1+1⁄4 miles (2.0 km) eastern, "street" section of the inter-urban Grimsby and Immingham Electric Railway when travelling from Corporation Bridge, Grimsby to Immingham Dock.

Jackson Street electric railway station was the second of five calling points on the 1+1⁄4 miles (2.0 km) eastern, "street" section of the inter-urban Grimsby and Immingham Electric Railway when travelling from Corporation Bridge, Grimsby to Immingham Dock.

Yarborough Street electric railway station was the first of five calling points on the 1+1⁄4 miles (2.0 km) eastern, "street" section of the inter-urban Grimsby and Immingham Electric Railway when travelling from Corporation Bridge, Grimsby to Immingham Dock.

Eastern Entrance to Immingham Dock electric railway station was a temporary halt 62 chains (1.2 km) by route south east of the western terminus of the inter-urban Grimsby and Immingham Electric Railway which ran from Corporation Bridge, Grimsby with a reversal at what was euphemistically called Immingham Town.

References

  1. ↑ Butt 1995, p. 126.
  2. ↑ Feather 1993, p. 1.
  3. ↑ Ludlam 2006, pp. 426 & 428.
  4. 1 2 Bradshaw 1985, p. 717.
  5. ↑ Price 1991, p. 112.
  6. 1 2 Bradshaw 1917, p. 710.
  7. ↑ Dow 1965, p. 260.
  8. ↑ Wilson & Barker 1998, p. 360.
  9. ↑ Mitchell & Smith 2017, Photo 85.
  10. ↑ Burgess 2007, Back cover.
  11. ↑ Ludlam 1996, p. 74.
  12. ↑ Pask 1999, Throughout.
  13. ↑ Crossland & Turner 2012, pp. 30 & 31.
  14. ↑ Bett & Gillham 1979, p. 62.
  15. ↑ Price 1991, p. 77.
  16. ↑ Quick 2009, p. 224.
  17. ↑ Price 1991, p. 81.
  18. ↑ King & Hewins 1989, Photos 57 & 58.
  19. ↑ Bett & Gillham 1979, p. 61.
  20. ↑ Mitchell & Smith 2017, Photos 120a and 120b.
  21. ↑ Price 1991, p. 94.
  22. ↑ Bates & Bairstow 2005, p. 85.
  23. ↑ Price 1991, p. 101.

Sources

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  • Bett, W. H.; Gillham, J. C. (1979) [1963]. The Tramways of South Yorkshire and Humberside. London: Light Railway Transport League. ISBN   978-0-900433-75-7.
  • Bradshaw, George (1917). Bradshaw's Railway Guide. Bradshaw.
  • Bradshaw, George (1985) [July 1922]. Bradshaw's General Railway and Steam Navigation guide for Great Britain and Ireland: A reprint of the July 1922 issue. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN   978-0-7153-8708-5. OCLC   12500436.
  • Burgess, Neil (2007). Lincolnshire's Lost Railways. Catrine: Stenlake Publishing. ISBN   978-1-84033-407-4.
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  • 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.
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  • Ludlam, A.J. (July 2006). Kennedy, Rex (ed.). "Immingham-Gateway to the Continent". Steam Days. Bournemouth: Redgauntlet Publications (203). ISSN   0269-0020.
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  • Pask, Brian (1999). The Tickets of the Grimsby & Immingham Electric Railway. Sevenoaks: The Transport Ticket Society. ISBN   978-0-903209-33-5.
  • Price, J. H. (1991). The Tramways of Grimsby, Immingham & Cleethorpes. Light Rail Transit Association. ISBN   978-0-948106-10-1.
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