Mablethorpe Trains 1960s

The Louth to Mablethorpe Railway, was built by farmers and tradesmen was opened on October 16th 1877. It ran at a loss and was sold out to the Great Northern in 1889. A year earlier, the branch line from Willoughby was built, but came only to Sutton and was not extended to Mablethorpe until around 1892. About the turn of the century, the Railway Company wished to build a large hotel, whore the Midland Bank now stands, but so great was the opposition from the existing hotels and boarding houses that the scheme was abandoned. The line still ran at a loss and after this set-back to their plans, the Company practically ignored Mablethorpe. Before the Sutton-Willoughby branch was extended to Mablethorpe, the late Mr. Ben Simon Sithen of the Bacchus Hotel Sutton on Sea, operated a kind of Wells Fargo coach service between Sutton and Mablethorpe and for some reason, the Mablethorpe Stationmaster used to ride with him. The first Mablethorpe Stationmaster was Mr. John Watson and the last, Mr. D. Oxby. The yard at Mablethorpe had its own engine and crew and apart from excursions, there were seven trains each way, with an additional long goods train. The line finally closed in December 1960 and within a few days the tracks in the station were torn up.