Seaside Potential...
Hello everyone. Well, its sunny and breezy today as we inspect the golden beach at Mablethorpe, around 20 miles north of Skegness. Walking along the sea from the main town, its only a few minutes stroll to Queens Park. Here, there are various amusements but, in the middle of it all, a miniature railway is hiding. The Mablethorpe Miniature Railway first opened in 1968, at 10.25" gauge. However, later on in its life, it was regauged to the current one, of 7.25". The circuit runs from the little station at Queens Park, skirting a well-kept lawn area. The £1 train journey gives the passenger two laps of the track in wooden bogie coaches behind a rather-odd looking steam-outline diesel loco. The track looks stable, yet a little lightly-laid, creating some sharp and dipped joints. However, the bogie coaches, as well as the bo-bo configuration of the locomotive, seem to cope with this arragement quite well. The attractive little circuit includes a few signals, level crossings and a sizeable tunnel. The brick-built ticket office provides even more of a 'railway look'. I didn't ride today but trains were operating when required. As we passed by, the little Petrol engine was ticking over in the platform...
I don't quite know what this locomotive was meant to be. It includes a bo-bo arragement, linked up to a petrol hydraulic engine I believe. As you can see below, it sports a smiling face, as well as hazard tape and what looks to be a flashing beacon, not to mention the side-mirror! The latter features are obviously for safety reasons. The loco's shape looks a little bit like a Shay, especially when you view it from the side; if a little misguided in design! All this aside, it looks powerful, useful and sounded like a good little runner...
As the station awaits passengers, we can see the steps to the beach in the back-left corner of the image. To be honest, you couldn't put a railway much closer to the sands than this!...
After checking out the little railway, we headed back up towards the beach and the sea. I can't help feeling that this railway has alot of potential. Think about it, the location is great; you can't really get a better one in terms of attracting passing trade. Secondly, everything is in place; such as the track, the tunnel and the ticket office. Things that could perhaps improve the railway are signage, as well as the odd steam loco; even if only visiting! I would love to take a 7.25" steamer up there if I had one! Steam at the seaside?! What could be better?! Ah well, another railway spotted. Thank you everybody for reading! Good day...
Hello everyone. Well, its sunny and breezy today as we inspect the golden beach at Mablethorpe, around 20 miles north of Skegness. Walking along the sea from the main town, its only a few minutes stroll to Queens Park. Here, there are various amusements but, in the middle of it all, a miniature railway is hiding. The Mablethorpe Miniature Railway first opened in 1968, at 10.25" gauge. However, later on in its life, it was regauged to the current one, of 7.25". The circuit runs from the little station at Queens Park, skirting a well-kept lawn area. The £1 train journey gives the passenger two laps of the track in wooden bogie coaches behind a rather-odd looking steam-outline diesel loco. The track looks stable, yet a little lightly-laid, creating some sharp and dipped joints. However, the bogie coaches, as well as the bo-bo configuration of the locomotive, seem to cope with this arragement quite well. The attractive little circuit includes a few signals, level crossings and a sizeable tunnel. The brick-built ticket office provides even more of a 'railway look'. I didn't ride today but trains were operating when required. As we passed by, the little Petrol engine was ticking over in the platform...
I don't quite know what this locomotive was meant to be. It includes a bo-bo arragement, linked up to a petrol hydraulic engine I believe. As you can see below, it sports a smiling face, as well as hazard tape and what looks to be a flashing beacon, not to mention the side-mirror! The latter features are obviously for safety reasons. The loco's shape looks a little bit like a Shay, especially when you view it from the side; if a little misguided in design! All this aside, it looks powerful, useful and sounded like a good little runner...
As the station awaits passengers, we can see the steps to the beach in the back-left corner of the image. To be honest, you couldn't put a railway much closer to the sands than this!...
After checking out the little railway, we headed back up towards the beach and the sea. I can't help feeling that this railway has alot of potential. Think about it, the location is great; you can't really get a better one in terms of attracting passing trade. Secondly, everything is in place; such as the track, the tunnel and the ticket office. Things that could perhaps improve the railway are signage, as well as the odd steam loco; even if only visiting! I would love to take a 7.25" steamer up there if I had one! Steam at the seaside?! What could be better?! Ah well, another railway spotted. Thank you everybody for reading! Good day...
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