VERY RARE 'AGE OF STEAM' VISITOR TO THE BRIGG LINE

Brigg Blog today gets nostalgic about a nostalgic steam locomotive coming to our local railway line.
Ten years ago - on March 13, 2010 - preserved steam loco No 70013 Oliver Cromwell ran through Barnetby, Brigg and Kirton Lindsey while in charge of an enthusiasts' excursion called the Lincolnshire Coast Express which had left London earlier in the day.
Many local people turned out to watch the steam age survivor - a very rare sight in the 21st century.
We journeyed to Barnetby station to catch and glimpse and took the picture (above).
Heading a train organised by The Railway Touring Company, the loco arrived on the Lincoln line through Market Rasen, North Kelsey and Howsham to Barnetby, then went on to Cleethorpes.
The return route took in Ulceby, Barnetby, Brigg, Kirton Lindsey, Gainsborough Central and Retford to Worksop, where the steam loco gave way to a Class 47 diesel at the head of the train. The full route can be viewed here...
Watch video showing No. 70013 in our area on March 13, 2010 through this link...
Click here for footage of the train in Cleethorpes on the same day...
British Rail withdrew its last steam locos based in North Lincolnshire during early March 1966.
Oliver Cromwell went down in railway history in August 1968 when it was one of the locos chosen to take charge of BR's last steam-hauled mainline passenger train, which ran in the north-west.
Afterwards, Oliver Cromwell - built by British Railways in the early 1950s - steamed its way across country and through Lincoln, bound for preservation in East Anglia.
A few of its sister engines, including Clive of India, were based at Immingham depot in the early 1960s and hauled freight trains through Barnetby and along the Brigg line from time to time, providing excitement for local trainspotters! They also hauled passenger trains along the East Lincolnshire route between Grimsby and London Kiing's Cross, via Louth, Spalding and Peterborough. A small section of this route - closed to passengers in 1970s - lives on today as the Lincolnshire Wolds Railway, a heritage line that's well worth a visit.