Immingham (Eastern Jetty) railway station explained
Immingham (Eastern Jetty) railway station was a special excursion station built along the port's eastern jetty to cater for traffic to passenger ships on cruises to the North Cape, Norwegian Fjords and the Baltic.
The station was not much more than a long wooden platform along the jetty. It was only used for the transfer of the passengers and luggage from train to ship and vice versa so little in the way of facilities was needed or provided. The critical provision was numerous staff to guide travellers and handle their belongings.
Traffic
The cruise ships sometimes berthed in the dock itself,[1] but usually they moored at the seaward side of the jetty where they were adjacent to all-First Class, Restaurant Car special trains. These operated along two routes:
- to and from and with a connecting carriage from Liverpool Central, and
- to and from, travelling either via and the Waleswood Curve or via the LDECR and . In both cases they then used the main line via .
Locomotives
Originally these trains were hauled by Great Central Railway 4-6-0 locomotives but following grouping in 1922 Great Northern Railway motive power took many of them over.
Spectacle
Visits by such ships drew crowds of sightseers and passed into local folklore, none more so than the vessel which was torpedoed in 1940 with heavy loss of life.
Closure
The cruises terminated in 1939, just prior to the Second World War. Although the platform remained for some time, the station was effectively closed. One source suggests GCR passenger vessels plied between here, Antwerp, Hamburg and Rotterdam.
Afterlife
By 2015 the tracks on the jetty had long been lifted, but the structure remained well used, handling oils, spirits, and liquid chemicals.
Liners known to have used Immingham
References
Sources
- Book: Burgess, Neil . Lincolnshire's Lost Railways . 2007 . Stenlake Publishing . . 978-1-84033-407-4 .
- Book: Crossland . G J . Turner . C E . Immingham A History of the Deep Water Port . 2012 . 2006 . T&C Publishing . 978-0-9543051-2-3 .
- Grainger . Ken . Bob . Gellatly . 2012 . Immingham Dock Centenary Souvenir 1912-2012 . Forward . Brian Bell for the Great Central Railway Society . . 0141-4488 .
- Book: King, Paul . The Railways of North-east Lincolnshire, Part 2: Stations . 2019 . Pyewipe Publications . . 978-1-9164603-1-7 .
- Book: Ludlam, A.J. . Immingham - A Lincolnshire Railway Centre (Lincolnshire Railway Centres) . 2016 . . . 978-0-9954610-0-0 .
- Book: Ludlam, A.J. . Railways to New Holland and the Humber Ferries . LP 198 . 1996 . The Oakwood Press . . 978-0-85361-494-4 .
- Ludlam . A.J. . Rex . Kennedy . July 2006 . Immingham-Gateway to the Continent . Steam Days . 203 . Redgauntlet Publications . . 0269-0020 .
- Book: Mitchell . Vic . Smith . Keith . Branch Lines North of Grimsby, including Immingham . 2017 . Middleton Press (MD) . . 978-1-910356-09-8 .
- Book: Mummery . Brian . Butler . Ian . Immingham and the Great Central Legacy (Images of England) . 1999 . Tempus . . 978-0-7524-1714-1 .
- NotRecorded . X . Brian . Bell . Summer 2002 . Not recorded . Forward . 50 . Brian Bell for the Great Central Railway Society . . 0141-4488 .
- Book: Great Central Locomotives . William Alfred. Tuplin . George Allen & Unwin. . 1967 . 753041210 .
- Book: Immingham - the way we were : more memories of a marsh village . WEA . Workers' Educational Association . WEA. . 1994 . 978-0-9524259-2-2 .
External links
Notes and References
- http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/the-ss-calgaric-in-immingham-docks-north-east-lincolnshire-news-photo/494177046?esource=SEO_GIS_CDN_Redirect#the-ss-calgaric-in-immingham-docks-north-east-lincolnshire-c1930-picture-id494177046 SS Calgaric, with the lines to the Eastern Jetty curving under the camera
