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Published on Leave a comment on Leicester Lads found a View from a Bridge

Bob has recently been in touch with an enquiry.

I know I am clutching at straws but here goes!  In the early '60s my friend and I used to travel from Leicester to Grantham trainspotting.  They are fondly remembered days.  We used to walk to a road bridge, climb up the slope at the side and sit on the fence at the top.  The sheds were close by on our left with the main line in front.  I think the road was the route through Grantham to the east coast.
Is it possible that one of your members may have a photo showing either the bridge with a loco beyond or above, or maybe a picture of spotters at the location?
Any help much appreciated.

Exchanging a few emails, and with clues picked up from Mike Bacon's page in Spotters' Corner, we worked out that the bridge over Springfield Road was a perfect match.  Bob kindly filled in a little more background, and we had the nucleus of our latest page: How we discovered Springfield Road Bridge.

One of the pleasures of developing the content of Tracks through Grantham is that sometimes we don't know where the material for our next new page is going to come from ... but we can be sure that something will always show up!  So if you have a memory or a query and have been thinking about sending it, don't hold back any longer!

Published on Leave a comment on Multiple Collision at Conington

It appeared to be just another trip for a Grantham footplate crew in December 1961 but it ended abruptly when, almost without warning, they became involved in a series of collisions involving four trains.  Read more in our latest page here.

Published on Leave a comment on Rob Taylor’s cine film of Grantham

We have just added another section about Rob Taylor's many visits to Grantham. This time it's a lovely record in the form of cine film taken at Grantham during one of his trips there. So dim the lights, get your note book ready and enjoy a brief trip back in time to those memorable days. Here is the link to the new page.  Use 'full screen' (near bottom right on each clip) for the best effect.

PS - we sent this message earlier before it was ready; apologies for the confusion!

Published on Leave a comment on ‘The Plant Centenarian’ at Grantham

Let's go back to September 1953, when the Eastern Region of British Railways celebrated the centenary of Doncaster Works by bringing the two preserved GNR Atlantic locomotives out of retirement at York Railway Museum and onto their old stamping ground, the East Coast Main Line.  Humphrey Platts was on Grantham station to witness and photograph the arrival and departure of the veterans.

Published on Leave a comment on Bridge over the Grantham Canal at Woolsthorpe

In Part 1 of our Railways Rediscovered series on the Woolsthorpe Branch there's mention of the former railway crossing of the Grantham Canal, though without any detail as to the type of bridge that used to be there. The March 2017 Newsletter of the Grantham Canal Society, Bridge, carries a page about the restoration of navigation by the clearance of the embankment and culverts, and the discovery and re-use of timbers from a wooden trestle structure that was found within the embankment.  Turn to page 4 of the Newsletter.

Published on Leave a comment on New Grantham Gallery

Like many other railway enthusiasts Rob Taylor was attracted by the sight and sound of mainline expresses thundering through Grantham station. This new gallery is very much a 'spotter's collection' composed of images taken by him on different occasions but will hopefully provide you the reader with a flavour of a typical day trip to Grantham.

You can view this new gallery here

Published on Leave a comment on New Passenger Lounge opens at Grantham Station

Tracks through Grantham aims to cover the railway at Grantham today as well as historically.  Read about the latest new passenger (or is that customer?) facility on The Grantham Journal's website here.

Published on Leave a comment on Stranded at Long Eaton …

Alan Pinchbeck recently sent us a photo of some tickets he has that remind him of days out by train from Grantham in the summer holidays with friends, and how a break of journey between Derby and Nottingham led to a sharp lesson in ticket availability!  Read more here.

Published on Leave a comment on ‘Tracks through Grantham’ April 2017 Meeting

The next of our regular twice-a-year get-togethers for people interested in the Tracks through Grantham project will take place in Grantham in mid-April.  These are always very enjoyable occasions, an opportunity for our contributors and supporters to meet while enjoying a varied and, we hope, informative programme.

If you are already on our list of contacts you should recently have received our notice giving details.  Please remember to let us know if you hope to be there.

If you're interested in attending but are not currently on our contacts list get in touch using the Contact Form here, and we will send you information - date, time, venue and programme - and a reply form.  We need to know how many people to expect so we cannot publish full details on the website.  It might help if we say that it's a weekday, late morning to mid-afternoon.