LUXURY TRAIN ON THE BRIGG LINE

The railway line through Brigg with its Saturday-only passenger train service received an unusual high-profile visitor last weekend.
We received a Facebook message from a friend who said he'd just glimpsed what he called a lengthy luxury train passing through late on Saturday afternoon.
He wondered what it was and when it was going.
A quick inquiry on the rail fans' grapevine revealed this to be a special excursion from Newcastle to Cleethorpes, returning home to the north-east.
It was diesel-hauled and made up of heritage carriages.
Someone even captured video of it a little further along the Brigg line, passing through Gainsborough Central.
Well worth a look - click here to view...
The Brigg line's passenger service, which will be running again tomorrow, sees one or two-car diesel units operating between Sheffield Midland and Cleethorpes, via Retford, Gainsborough, Brigg and Barnetby.
So a loco-hauled train passing through our town is a real rarity, though they were once quite common. The early morning newspaper-carrying train from Manchester was perhaps the last regular one.
Read this week's Brigg Line Blog update by Paul Johnson through this link...

Our picture above shows Brigg railway station, through which the 'luxury special' passed last Saturday, without stopping, of course! The image brings back memories of the British Rail era in 1980, when a train were arranged to take Grimsby Town football fans to an FA Cup tie in Liverpool one Saturday. BR declined to make a stop at Brigg station so 'yours truly' had to drive 20+ miles to board the train at the eastern end of the line. Full-length platforms, capable of taking 12 coaches, were then still in use at Brigg so that couldn't have been the reason why BR wouldn't stop at our station.  It was a cold January day and a very long one, ending in a drive back along the A18 we could have done without! 
The Mariners suffered a heavy defeat;  5-0 we think it was. Liverpool were one of the top teams in the country at that time. Kenny Dalglish, the great striker from Scotland, led their attack.