It's rare for the Lincolnshire coast to get snow in recent years. In fact, the last major snowfall took place in January 1987. 12 January that year saw blizzard conditions combined with strong winds, and this continued throughout the day and night. So sever was the weather that the railway line from Skegness was closed completely in the early evening due to a build up of drifting snow on the level crossings.
The 1756 train arrival on that day ended up effectively marooned in Skegness until it operated the 0956 departure to Boston on the 19th! The First Generation Class 114 (E54012) dmu involved is illustrated below in platform 3.
With all roads out of the town cut off for several days, the bus service similarly ground to a halt - the view below shows vehicles marooned in the Lincolnshire RoadCar depot in Grosvenor Road.
It was not until 17 January, after much effort by the railway staff using a snow plough and shovels, that train services resumed and things began to get back to normal. The snow plough consisted of two class 31 locomotives sandwiched between a snow plough at each end. The photo below shows it departing from platform 5.
Sprinter 150101 was the first train to arrive with the 1533 from Crewe. It is illustrated below on platform 4 with the snow plough alongside on platform 5.
To view larger versions of any of the above, please click on the respective photographs. (PW)
