Following up the interest sparked by our Railways Rediscovered pages, featuring the Woolsthorpe Branch and its ironstone connections, we have 'rediscovered' a number of almost forgotten railtours which travelled over local mineral and goods branches in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Here is a list of those we've found, along with some photographs. If you have photographs taken at locations other than those we've featured, or you know of similar rail tours, please let us know.
It's worth remembering in connection with these tours that operating a passenger-carrying train over branches and sidings which are not equipped for passenger traffic involves much planning for railway staff in terms of special arrangements and instructions for working the trains safely and according to the rulebook.
With special thanks to Humphrey Platts for facilitating reference to The Railway Observer and to the Six Bells Junction website for its wealth of information about rail tours.
Saturday 6th July 1957: Denton Mines Rail Tour
Organiser: RCTS East Midlands Branch
- Denton Mines loco depot - Cedar Hill - Denton Park - Denton BR Exchange Sidings - Denton Mines loco depot [Stewarts & Lloyds (Minerals) Ltd. steam locomotive Belvoir]
(The Railway Observer Vol. 27 [1957] pp. 202-203)
Sunday 19th June 1960: The Leicestershire Woldsman
Organiser: The Railway Enthusiasts' Club
- Leicester London Road - Melton Mowbray Town (via Market Harborough, Kettering, Oakham and Cottesmore Quarry) - Holwell Sidings - Wycomb Junction - Waltham-on-the-Wolds - Eaton Junction - Eaton Mines - Wycomb Junction - Scalford - Stathern Junction - Bottesford South & East Junctions - Grantham - High Dyke - Stainby Sidings - High Dyke - Grantham - Newark Northgate - Bottesford North & South Junctions - Melton Mowbray North - Marefield Junction - Leicester Belgrave Road
[BR Standard 4MT 4-6-0 No. 75059 (+ No. 43046 at Cottesmore)]
Here is a link to this tour on the Six Bells Junction website (the page includes photographs and an image of the tour ticket).
There is a good and well illustrated description of this rail tour in the August 2011 issue of The Railway Magazine on pages 30-35: A Ramble Through the Wilderness by Mick Alderman.
Below are photographs of the tour at its beginning and end.
Above: Departure was from platform 4 at Leicester London Road.
Above: Arrival at Leicester Belgrave Road, platform 3.
Saturday 29th April 1961: Vale of Belvoir Rail Tour
Organiser: RCTS East Midlands Branch
- Nottingham Midland - Sneinton Junction - Trent Lane Junction - Saxondale Junction - Stathern Junction - Newark Northgate - High Dyke - Stainby Sidings - High Dyke - Barrowby Road - Ambergate Yard - Barrowby Road - Bottesford East Junction - Scalford - Waltham-on-the-Wolds - Eaton Junction - Eaton Mines - Eaton Junction - Wycomb Junction - Holwell Sidings - Old Dalby - Nottingham Midland [BR DMU]
(The Railway Observer Vol. 31 [1961] pp. 168-169 and facing p. 200 [top])
Photograph kindly provided by Richard Marshall.
Here is a link to this tour on the Six Bells Junction website (the page includes an image of a special tour ticket)
Here is a link to a photograph taken at Stainby Sidings (the location in the caption is incorrect)
Here is a link to a photograph taken at Eaton Junction
Here is a link to a photograph taken at Waltham-on-the-Wolds (the location in the caption is incorrect)
Saturday 9th September 1961: Denton / Harlaxton Rail Tour
Organiser: RCTS East Midlands Branch
- Nottingham Victoria - Belvoir - Casthorpe Junction [BR DMU]
- Casthorpe Sidings - Harlaxton - Casthorpe Sidings [Stewarts & Lloyds (Minerals) Ltd. steam locomotive Achilles]
- Casthorpe Junction - Denton Siding - Belvoir - Nottingham Victoria [BR DMU]
(The Railway Observer Vol. 31 [1961] p. 305)
Here is a link to this tour on the Six Bells Junction website (the page includes an image of a special tour ticket)
Photograph taken by Humphrey Platts.
Photograph taken by Humphrey Platts.
Sunday 3rd October 1964: Market Overton Yard to Stainby Sidings
Organiser: The Birmingham Locomotive Club - Industrial Locomotive Information Section (now The Industrial Railway Society)
- Market Overton Yard - Buckminster Quarries (including Thistleton, No. 15 and No.16 Quarries) - Buckminster Yard - Stainby Sidings [Stewarts & Lloyds (Minerals) Ltd. steam locomotives Juno and Sewstern].
Information from The Ironstone Quarries of the Midlands, Part VIII South Lincolnshire by Eric Tonks, pages 46-47.
Saturday 30th September 1967: Woolsthorpe and Harlaxton Mines
Organiser: The Birmingham Locomotive Club - Industrial Locomotive Information Section (now The Industrial Railway Society)
- Woolsthorpe Quarries - BR Denton Sidings - BR Casthorpe Sidings - Harlaxton Quarries [Stewarts & Lloyds (Minerals) Ltd. steam locomotive Ajax].
Information from Eric Tonks The Ironstone Quarries of the Midlands, Part VIII South Lincolnshire, page 158 and Part IX Leicestershire, page 182.
This tour is described and illustrated in Railway Bylines Vol. 24: Issue 8, July 2019: pages 356-360 Harston & Harlaxton Ironstone Quarries - Notes by Charles A. Rekab. The event marked the imminent replacement of the fleet of industrial steam locomotives by second-hand diesels puchased from British Rail.
Sunday 28th September 1969: Stainby Sidings to Market Overton Yard
Organiser: The Birmingham Locomotive Club - Industrial Locomotive Information Section (now The Industrial Railway Society)
- Stainby Sidings - Buckminster Yard - Buckminster Quarries - Market Overton Yard [Stewarts & Lloyds (Minerals) Ltd. diesel-hydraulic locomotive No. 21 - formerly British Railways D9552].
Information from The Ironstone Quarries of the Midlands, Part VIII South Lincolnshire by Eric Tonks, pages 46-47 (includes photo).
Photograph by Jack Faithfull.
This image is from the collection of The Railway Correspondence and Travel Society (RCTS) ref. FAI5025 and is used here with permission.
Saturday 15th April 1972: Kesteven Ironstone Branches Rail Tour
Organiser: RCTS London Branch
- Grantham - Belvoir - Denton Sidings - Belvoir - Grantham - High Dyke - Sproxton - Skillington Road Junction - Stainby Sidings - High Dyke - Grantham [BR DMU]
Here is a link to this tour on the Six Bells Junction website
Photograph by Jack Faithfull.
This image is from the collection of The Railway Correspondence and Travel Society (RCTS) ref. FAI2524 and is used here with permission.
Photograph by Jack Faithfull.
This image is from the collection of The Railway Correspondence and Travel Society (RCTS) ref. FAI2525 and is used here with permission.
Photograph by Jack Faithfull.
This image is from the collection of The Railway Correspondence and Travel Society (RCTS) ref. FAI2527 and is used here with permission.
Photograph by Jack Faithfull.
This image is from the collection of The Railway Correspondence and Travel Society (RCTS) ref. FAI2526 and is used here with permission.
Hi Folks,
I have just looked through your excellent and informative site and I would like to ask if you have any images (or know where I can access any) of the Exton Park ironstone mines; I know that there are some colour images out there somewhere. The reason I ask is that my father worked within the quarry system at Cottesmore and Exton all his life and I have fond memories as a boy of riding on Yorkshire Engine Co. locomotives over the whole system. My father also told me that, on more than one occasion, locomotives were taken onto the British Railways main line from Ashwell to Saxby (via Ashwell Jn) with a BR pilot driver in order that they could be taken to mines in the Grantham area. He recalls that this was a favourite turn of Driver Len Boddington. I also remember a local driver called Walter Lowe who used to throw sweets to the children as he passed over one of the three level crossings in the Exton area. Any help with the photos would be appreciated.
Yours,
Simon Bell
Bourne, Lincolnshire
Hello Simon,
Thanks for getting in touch and for your kind words about Tracks through Grantham. Great memories you have there.
The Exton Park Mines locality is just outside the area we cover in Tracks through Grantham, but the book I think you’d be interested to see is the Rutland volume of a very comprehensive series written by Eric Tonks. It’s available for £8 (plus shipping) from Book Law Publications. I don’t have a copy of that particular volume, so I can’t say how well the Exton Park mines are covered by photographs.
It's possible that the Rocks by Rail Museum will be able to help.
Best wishes,
John Clayson
Another interesting number of articles with photographs of places and locomotives no longer to be seen!!
Thanks for the great website, well promoted by the Grantham Journal. I live in the former Bottesford South Station House and would love to see any pictures you have of the platforms or trains running through the area. I know it was only a Station for 4 years in the 19th century and then became a request stop due to the close proximity of Bottesford East.
Both my wife and I come from families that worked on the railways.
Best Wishes
David Slater
Hello David,
Thanks for your very kind comment. We don't know of any photographs of Bottesford South station when it was open for that short period of time. I've emailed separately with some suggestions for further research.
John Clayson