'Beast From The East 2.0' Cold day at Maxey, Lolham and Helpston crossings, ECML | 18/03/18

Yet a freezing cold visit to Maxey, Lolham and Helpston crossings all situated on the ECML, however Lolham is only the ECML, Maxey and Helpston are the ECML and the Birmingham to Peterborough Line. Day 2 of the 2nd Beast From The East with a trip to Maxey, Lolham and Helpston, partly located near The Fens. Not ever have i been in such cold weather before, it felt like -9 or even more we ended up hanging out the area for around 4 hours on Sunday 18th March 2018, 1 freight is included in this video which is at Helpston, 66001. Helpston info: Helpston (also, formerly, "Helpstone") is an English village formerly in the Soke of Peterborough, geographically in Northamptonshire, subsequently (1965–1974) in Huntingdon and Peterborough, then in Cambridgeshire, and administered by the City of Peterborough unitary authority. The civil parish of Helpston covers an area of 1,860 acres (750 ha) and had an estimated population in 2005 of 870. The parish church is dedicated to St Botolph; the chancel window was created by Francis Skeat and depicts "Christ in Majesty". The poet John Clare was born in Helpston in 1793 and is buried in the churchyard of St Botolph's. The thatched cottage where he was born was bought by the John Clare Trust in 2005. The John Clare Cottage, at 12 Woodgate, has been restored using traditional building methods and is open to the public. In 2013 the John Clare Trust received a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund to help preserve the building and provide educational activities for youngsters visiting the cottage. The name Helpston is Anglo-Saxon in origin and means the farmstead (tun) first settled by Help (an Old English personal name). Disused Helpston station: Helpston railway station was a station in Helpston, Cambridgeshire, on the Midland Railway's Syston and Peterborough Railway. It was closed in 1966. The Great Northern Railway main line runs adjacent to the Midland Railway at this point, but the Great Northern never had a station in Helpston. This was due to an agreement whereby the Midland carried materials to the site during construction of the Great Northern, and in return the Great Northern offered no competition for services on this section. The goods shed survives, as does the Great Northern Railway signal box, which is now used only to monitor a number of level crossings in the vicinity. Helpston level crossing itself carries the Helpston to Glinton road over the four tracks of the ex-GNR line and the two tracks of the ex-MR line. This was previously two separate level crossings, controlled by two separate signal boxes. There was space for two cars between the level crossings. The crossings were merged and converted from gates to full barriers in the 1970s.