10th anniversary of re-opening of Skegness line runner-up in railway 'Oscars'

The Small Groups Award was won by the West Lancashire Light Railway Trust for securing the future of the West Lancashire Light Railway and the Deeside Railway Company Ltd of Scotland for their restoration and operation of the locomotive ‘Bon Accord’.

Ferryhill Railway Heritage Trust, for their restoration of the turntable at Ferryhill, Aberdeen, joined the LCLR as runners-up.

Spokesman John Chappell said: “This is national recognition of the achievement of the volunteers and supporters who have rebuilt this historic railway in Skegness and made it one of the most fascinating places to visit along the Lincolnshire Coast.”

Long-serving volunteer Chris Bates, who was presented with the certificate honouring the LCLR at the Awards in the Burlington Hotel, in Birmingham, commented: “We had a lot of fun celebrating our anniversary and to be a runner-up in this Award is recognition of everyone who made it possible – the volunteers and supporters, the passengers, our hosts in the Skegness Water Leisure Park, the Mayor of Skegness and even that most famous of railway icons – the Jolly Fisherman, who reminds us that 'Skegness is SO Bracing';.

“And I've really got to thank Milly Waby, the student from Horncastle, who iced a chunk of railway sleeper to turn it into an anniversary 'cake'; for the Mayor of Skegness to load into the firebox of our beautiful old steam engine 'Jurassic'; when we staged our celebration.

"The Heritage Railway Association calls this event the Railway 'Oscars'; and it really is the icing on our cake!

"Not forgetting, too, Tim Fry, the traditional signwriter from Martin Dales, near Woodhall Spa, who made the anniversary headboard which ‘Jurassic’ carried all summer.”

It was the second consecutive year in which the LCLR was short-listed for one of the HRA's awards and the third time it has featured in the ceremony.

After the line reopened in the Park in 2009, following the closure of its original site at Humberston, near Cleethorpes in 1985, it won the award jointly with its standard gauge neighbours and friends, the Lincolnshire Wolds Railway.

John Chappell added: “We involved as much of Skegness and the coast's holiday industry as we could in what we did to mark the anniversary – so this is as much an honour for the

community of Skegness and District, as it is for the Railway.

“Now in 2020 we will be celebrating the 60 th anniversary of the opening of the Lincolnshire Coast Light Railway.

"The video of our railway shown at the awards, in front of the editors of the main railway magazines and the leading figures from Britain’s heritage railways, emphasised our Railway was a world first. It pointed out that back in 1960, the Lincolnshire Coast Light Railway was the first heritage line to be built by enthusiasts, on a greenfield site, anywhere in the world.

“Construction of the second such line, the Ocean Beach Railway, started that year at Dunedin in New Zealand and it opened three years later. So while two or three existing railways had been reopened or taken over by enthusiasts 60 years ago, it was here in Lincolnshire that the LCLR became the first railway in the whole world to be built and operated by enthusiasts.

"What a marvellous achievement for this to be honoured and celebrated by our peers and contemporaries.

“This year will also be the 30th anniversary of the opening of the Park and the 25th anniversary of the first flights from and to the Skegness Airfield, which is next to the LCLR.

“Quite a year for the Railway, the Park and the Airfield and everyone in Skegness District whose support and dedication makes it possible”.

In 2019 the magazine Heritage Railway listed the LCLR among Britain's Top 20 Seaside Railways and it was The Railway Magazine which coined the description “The Lazarus Line” to describe the LCLR's transformation from closure and storage, to becoming an award-winning line, showcasing the railway history of the First World War battlefields, and Lincolnshire's narrow gauge lines to the point where it was honoured by a visit from HRH The Princess Royal.