ONE OF THE RAREST SIGHTS IN BRIGG 'SPOTTED' BY KEN HARRISON

Here's one of the rarest sights to be seen in Brigg since the mid-1960s - a steam locomotive.
Cynics might suggest that ALL trains are rare, as Brigg's diesel unit passenger service - when it is running - only operates on Saturdays and then just three trains to Sheffield and three to Cleethorpes from our station. It's been like that for 27 years.
Ken Harrison recorded this steamy scene in October 2003 when preserved B1 class 4-6-0 steam loco No. 61264 headed an enthusiasts' special from the London area to Grimsby and Immingham.
The train - made up of heritage maroon carriages - was called The Lincolnshire Poacher and was arranged by Nigel Dobbing's Railway Touring Company, whose advanced publicity offered enthusiasts from London the opportunity to ride "the more unusual lines of Lincolnshire."
The steam loco took over from a diesel at Grantham, going via Nottingham, Sheffield, Worksop, Gainsborough Central, Kirton Lindsey and Brigg. After that came Barnetby, Brocklesby Junction, Ulceby, Immingham, Pyewipe Road, Great Coates No. 1 Junction (Grimsby), Marsh West Junction, and back through Barnetby and Market Rasen to Lincoln. Via Newark it proceeded to Grantham where modern traction was waiting for the last leg back to London.
Built in the 1940s and very early 1950s, the multi-purpose B1s were a familiar sight on the Brigg Line until the mid-1960s, including a few 'namers' like Ourebi (a species of antelope) and A. Harold Bibby (company director).
A memorable boyhood trainspotting trip we made from Brigg to Retford circa 1965 was rewarded with a view of another B1 - Gnu - the shortest name carried by any steam loco on British Railways.
Other preserved steam locos to visit Brigg since 1968 when BR ended coal-driven traction include a Stanier 'Black Five' 4-6-0, Britannia class 4-6-2 Oliver Cromwell and V2 2-6-2 Green Arrow.
'Spotting' a steam loco in Brigg is indeed a very occasional opportunity!
Whether we ever see another is very much in doubt. The government is planning to ban sales of coal in the UK, although heritage railways where most preserved locos earn their keep are trying to negotiate an exemption. 
Many of us will be chuffed to bits if they succeed!