Sixtieth Anniversary Celebration of Opening of World's First Heritage Railway Falls Victim to Coronavirus

The Lincolnshire Coast Light Railway Historic Vehicles Trust announces, with regret, that it has postponed until further notice, because of the corona virus pandemic, celebrations planned for Saturday 18^th July 2020 to mark its opening in 1960, when it became the very first heritage  railway in the world to be built by enthusiasts on a greenfield site. (It opened in North Sea Lane, Humberston, near Cleethorpes, linking the local bus terminus and holiday camp with the beach and the Fitties Holiday Camp, moving to Skegness after closure in 1985).

The Railway had also planned to operate a special service on Saturday 4^th July 2020, to mark the 30^th anniversary of the Skegness Water Leisure Park, in which it operates in Walls Lane, Ingoldmells, Skegness and also, the 25^th anniversary of the opening of Skegness Airfield. The Railway’s track is at the side of the runway and its Walls Lane station is beside the airfield’s control office.

The Trust has already announced it will postpone the event planned for Saturday 6th June 2020: "Motor Rail Through The Decades" because of measures introduced to contain the spread of the Covid-19 infection.

A decision will be taken in due course on whether it will be possible to operate any of the LCLR’s timetabled services advertised for July, August and September 2020.

Trust Chairman, Richard Shepherd, said: “We are very disappointed not be able to stage these events, but the Government’s measures to control the spread of the virus and our concern for the safety and welfare of our volunteers, our intending passengers and the many people in the Water Leisure Park whose support makes possible the operation of our Railway, leaves us no choice.

“These are postponements, not cancellations. Preparation for these events takes our volunteers many months of work and at the moment, we cannot access our site or its equipment.  If we have to leave it a year to celebrate our anniversaries, we’ll just point out the train is running one year late. That’s probably another world record for the LCLR”.

Updates will be posted on www.lclr.co.uk