Sibsey railway station explained

Sibsey
Status:Disused
Borough:Sibsey, Boston
Country:England
Platforms:2
Original:East Lincolnshire Railway
Pregroup:Great Northern Railway
Postgroup:London and North Eastern Railway
Eastern Region of British Railways
Years:2 October 1848
Events:Opened
Years1:11 September 1961
Events1:Closed to passenger traffic
Years2:15 June 1964
Events2:Closed to goods traffic

Sibsey was a railway station on the East Lincolnshire Railway which served the village of Sibsey in Lincolnshire between 1848 and 1964. Withdrawal of passenger services took place in 1961, followed by goods facilities in 1964. The line through the station remains in use as part of the Poacher Line between Boston and Skegness.

History

The station was opened on 2 October 1848. It was constructed by Peto and Betts civil engineering contractors who, in January 1848, had taken over the contract to construct the section of the East Lincolnshire Railway between and from John Waring and Sons. This section was the last to be completed in September 1848 at an agreed cost of £123,000 . The village of Sibsey lay to the north-west of the line; at the time, it was a small settlement on the Horncastle Road. A four-road goods yard facing Boston was provided and this was extended by the mid-1920s to seven roads, later eight. The Great Northern Railway acquired extra land around the station to facilitate the expansion, which was necessary to cope with the increasing potato and sugar beet traffic. During the interwar period, Sibsey dealt with up to 80 wagons of potatoes or beet a day. A goods service drawn by a Class K2 or J6 departed at 3.30pm and collected potato and beet wagons from, and . They were brought to Sibsey to be marshalled with existing wagons before being despatched to Boston at 4.45pm. During the 1920s, two potato trains ran at night from Sibsey: one to Bradford and the other to . At the time, five up and down passenger services, and one Sunday service each way, called at Sibsey. The station was closed to passengers on 11 September 1961 and to goods traffic on 15 June 1964.

Present day

The line through the station continues to be used by services on the Poacher Line between and . Sibsey Station house was sold in 1964 and partly converted to a private house, and remained in the same hands until 2017 when it was sold again, and completely renovated. The goods office remains largely untouched. The platforms have been demolished.

Sources

53.0349°N 0.0262°W