page_title: Mablethorpe loop railway
section_title: Closures
hierarchical_section_title: Mablethorpe loop railway / Closures
caption_attribution_description: English: The former station building and platform at Theddlethorpe in 2018.
context_page_description: The Mablethorpe Loop railway was formed in Lincolnshire, England, by two independent railway companies, which built branches from the East Lincolnshire Line.
  The Louth and East Coast Railway opened its line, approaching Mablethorpe from the North, in 1877. This was followed by the opening of the Sutton and Willoughby Railway and Dock company in 1886; it had planned to create a large fishing dock at Sutton le Marsh, but it was unable to generate the capital to do so. Abandoning the dock idea, instead it built a connecting line to Mablethorpe, approaching from the south, and opening in 1888. Together the lines formed a loop off the main line. The two small companies sold their concerns to the Great Northern Railway in 1902 and 1908.
  Mablethorpe developed very considerably as a holiday and excursion destination, facilitated by the railway connection, and the GNR did much to foster the business, running through excursions from Midlands towns, and later London, as well as handling holiday visitors. The local traffic was never significant, and the L&ECR section closed in 1960; as seaside holidays in Britain lost popularity, the remaining line declined and was closed in 1970.
context_section_description: The southward connection to Mablethorpe via Willoughby had always dominated in serving the holiday traffic. The decline in the use of rural railways for ordinary passenger and goods business was heavily felt in the locality and the line between Louth and Mablethorpe closed completely on 5 December 1960. However on one night in the summer of 1961, a late night return excursion to Lincoln had to traverse the route because of a derailment on the level crossing at the south end of Mablethorpe Station, so that the train was unable to run on its ordinary route direct to Willoughby.
  The Willoughby connection too was under consideration for closure, but it was retained because the summer traffic was buoyant: 402,000 passengers arrived at Mablethorpe by rail in 1962.
  The line lost its goods service on 30 June 1964. Pay-trains were introduced in 1968, and the line still enjoyed a good level of service, with eleven up and ten down trains a day. However as part of a rationalisation scheme throughout the district, the branch closed completely on 5 October 1970, together with the East Lincolnshire Line north of Firsby.
caption: Theddlethorpe station
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