3 Sep 1848 Opened Platforms in use 3 | ||
Post-grouping London and North Eastern RailwayEastern Region of British Railways Similar Halton Holegate railway st, Donington on Bain railway st, Holton‑le‑Clay railway station, Midville railway station, Coningsby railway station | ||
Firsby railway station was a busy station in Firsby, Lincolnshire which closed in 1970 as a result of the Beeching Axe. Firsby served as a main line station and a terminus for two branch lines, one to the seaside resort of Skegness and one to the market town of Spilsby. Firsby station was located in a small rural linear village 36 miles (58 km) east from the county town of Lincoln, 4 miles (6.4 km) south east of the nearest market town of Spilsby and 8 miles (12.9 km) inland from the popular holiday resort town of Skegness.
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Opening
The station, originally named Firstby, opened on 3 September 1848, and was a substantial structure for a country station, totally unlike the majority of small isolated rural halts. The station had three platforms each two hundred and twenty yards long and covered with buildings, booking offices, several waiting rooms (male, female and general), restaurants, toilets, baggage and goods halls, crew rooms, staff canteen and housing, and several railway offices. The main line tracks were crossed by a substantial passenger footbridge and most of the station was covered by an ornate cast-iron and glass canopy normally only seen at main city stations. The station also had signal boxes, water towers, extensive goods sidings and engine repair sheds.
The station was served by two public houses, one of which doubled as the Firsby Railway Hotel. There are several mentions in old records of a second drinking establishment around 1852, called Whyley's Beerhouse, that stood adjacent to Firsby railway Station.
Branch lines
Firsby was a junction for the Skegness line and the Spilsby line on their short branches from the main Great Northern Railway's London Kings Cross to Cleethorpes East Coast Main Line railway. During the summer months holiday passenger traffic from all over the country alighting at Firsby for their connection to Skegness was substantial with hundreds and sometimes thousands of passengers passing through the station at a weekend and the platforms would be teeming with families and their luggage. In the Victorian era most holidaymakers travelled by train and Firsby was one of the busiest stations on the east coast main line. The station was the major employer in the area and between the station master and his assistants, ticket office staffs, ticket inspectors, signalmen, porters, catering staffs, drivers, firemen, guards and track maintenance staff for three separate railway companies, several hundred people worked at or from Firsby station on a regular daily basis.
Between 1943 and 1958 Firsby station was kept busy as the nearest railhead staging point for RAF and later USAF airmen travelling to and from the nearby RAF Spilsby airfield at Great Steeping.
Closure
The line was closed down in 1970 due to the Beeching axe cuts, and the majority of the station and the platforms were demolished. Only the most southerly section of the station building remains and is now a private residence. With the old East Coast Main Line between Firsby and Grimsby removed, a new direct link to Skegness was used at the junction a few hundred metres south of the old Firsby station. Although the station is long gone many locals still remember the station master calling out "Skegness passengers, Over the bridge for Skegness!"
Timetable for February 1863
The table below shows the train departures from Firsby & Spilsby station on weekdays in February 1863. At this point, the East Lincolnshire line is only 13 years old, and none of the branch lines have been built yet, but Firsby is still an important station on account of being the railhead for the nearby town of Spilsby.
Timetable for July 1922
The table below shows the train departures from Firsby station on weekdays in July 1922, when services were at their peak. The most recent addition, the Midville line has been open for 9 years. This was built mainly for excursion trains to Skegness, and the local service is sparse, consisting of only 2 trains each way per day, with one extra on Mondays and Saturdays.