BRIGG BLOG TAKES STOCK OF LOCAL PASSENGER TRAIN SERVICES

Regular followers of Brigg Blog will be well aware that although we frequently beat the drum in support of public transport, we sometimes strike it unlucky when making personal journeys.
This proved to be the case on Tuesday (July 12, 2022) while making a summer visit to Cleethorpes.
Again wishing to support public transport and planning to sink a few pints while in the seaside resort, we left the car at home and took an early morning Hornsbys No 4 bus to Barnetby railway station.
There were no problems with the bus, which arrived on time.
However, visual displays and loud speaker announcements on the railway station indicated that the TransPennine company train we were intending to board had been cancelled due to staff unavailability.

Our hopes rose, if only briefly, when a two-car passenger unit (seen above) unexpectedly headed Barnetby's way.
However, a further announcement explained this was 'empty stock' on its way to the Grimsby and Cleethorpes area and would not be stopping.
It was not a TransPennine train, in any case, but a Class 156 set operated by East Midlands.
This left us reflecting on the British Rail era (now long gone) when this nationalised concern ran all train services and managed the infrastructure, including tracks and signalling.
Would BR have re-purposed the 'empty stock' train into a replacement for the cancelled passenger service at Barnetby?
The passengers waiting patiently on platform two decided to board an east-bound train from Lincoln rather than wait for the next TransPennine service to Cleethorpes.
However, trains from Lincoln terminate at Grimsby Town, and the passengers waiting at Barnetby needed to get to Cleethorpes.
The East Midlands train duly arrived (on time) and comprised comfortable stock (refurbished, we gather) with plush seating and tables in the section we selected.

Once at Grimsby Town station, Brigg passengers' options were to catch a bus to Cleethorpes or to wait 10 minutes to board a Barton Line diesel unit (see above) to the resort.
We opted for the latter and were soon rewarded with a close look at the little-known New Clee station from a Class 156 unit.

 

Having travelled through New Clee dozens of times over the past 50 years, this was the first time we can recall being aboard a train that actually stopped there.
New Clee station is much nearer to Grimsby Town Football Club's Blundell Park ground than either Cleethorpes (the terminus) or Grimsby Docks.
We thought New Clee was a request stop (meaning trains only called if a passenger requested it to do so) but a helpful member of staff indicated that Barton Line trains now stop there as a matter of course.
Mariners' fans from the Brigg area who are planning to watch home games now Grimsby are back in the Football League for the 2022/23 season might like to take note.
Board a train from Barnetby to Grimsby Town (TransPennine or East Midlands) and then change to a Barton Line train, alighting at New Clee.
Hopefully from December the Saturdays-only Brigg Line passenger service (currently suspended) will be re-introduced and football fans from Brigg will be able to catch a train at our station to Barnetby, change for Grimsby Town and then onwards to New Clee.
Brigg and Grimsby were once linked by direct bus services and the Independent Brigg Line Rail Group has kindly sent us a 1982 timetable (seen here) to illustrate the point (source: David Barrett, Barnetby). 

 

In more recent times, Stagecoach ran a 909 express service between Grimsby, Brigg, Scunthorpe and Sheffield (eventually discontinued).
Brigg Blog followers who take an interest in railways past and present may be interested in the photographs seen below, taken during our outing to Cleethorpes.

One of the new locomotive-hauled trains to be introduced locally by TransPennine stopped in platform three at Barnetby while being used for crew-training purposes - before heading off towards Scunthorpe.
This afforded us an ideal opportunity to take a close look at this impressive stock and the loco - No. 68023 Achilles.

 

Meanwhile, a rare visitor to Barnetby also appeared on Tuesday - a track inspection train which ran slowly along loops and sidings near the station and towards Wrawby Junction.

Scaffolding is evident on the historic signalbox (long disused) near Grimsby Town station (viewed here from the end of the platform).
This got us thinking about Barnetby East - a wooden box, also disused, which is beginning to show some signs of weathering.
Barnetby East is located close to the new Co-op village store, now nearing completion.
Older Brigg Blog followers will remember boarding direct trains at our town's station in the 1960s and 1970s to take them to Cleethorpes for summer outings.
Trains ran seven days a week well into the British Railways era.
However, the Sunday service was eventually removed. And from October 1993 it became Saturdays only (three towards Cleethorpes, three heading to Sheffield).
Current operator Northern suspended this service in January 2022 due to staff-related issues. And when the May-December timetable became operative, it did not include any trains calling at Brigg or Kirton Lindsey.

PICTURED AT THE TOP OF THIS POST: Achilles on crew training duty at Barnetby station on Tuesday morning and a close up of one of the coaches; an 'empty stock' Class 156 running through; and Barnetby East signalbox near the Co-op store which is under construction.