To celebrate the Coronation of HM King Charles III, the Royal Voluntary Service has organised “The Big Help Out” at the Lincolnshire Coast Light Railway in Skegness on Bank Holiday Monday, 8th May.
King Charles III has welcomed the initiative, which will give anyone a chance to drive a railway locomotive, fire a steam engine, be a guard, or just be a part of a railway. Anyone who wishes to volunteer will be welcome from 11 am to 3 pm.
The Lincolnshire Coast Light Railway will train new volunteers to carry out roles that interest them, but to work on the railway, volunteers must be 18 years or older and sufficiently fit to carry out their role. Volunteers get together on a Wednesday throughout the year, and on some Saturdays as well, to work on the track, stations, locomotives, and carriages.
During the railway's operating season, which is usually the school summer holidays and some other dates, trains run on Saturdays with a steam locomotive where possible, and on Wednesdays and most Mondays in August one of the railway's heritage diesels.
The Lincolnshire Coast Light Railway was the world's first heritage line to be built by enthusiasts on a greenfield site. It opened in 1960 near Cleethorpes but closed in 1985, then in 1992 it moved to the Skegness Water Leisure Park and after years of restoration by volunteers reopened in 2009.
The railway's volunteers have won several awards for their achievements, most recently at the Heritage Railway Association's “Railway Oscars” 2023 when they won the Morgan Award for Rolling Stock Restoration for their renovation of the unique “Queen Mary” carriage.
In 2017 HRH Princess Royal visited the railway to view the volunteers' achievements and operated a Royal Train to convey her.
Many of the vehicles and some of the rails were based on the British Army's trench railways of World War One. The Simplex diesel locos are based on a design developed for use in the war, and the steam locomotive Jurassic dates from 1903.
Further information about the railway can be found on the railway's website at www.lclr.co.uk and its Facebook page, Lincolnshire Coast Light Railway Today.
Chairman of the Lincolnshire Coast Light Railway Historic Vehicles Trust, Richard Shepherd, said: “We're delighted to welcome people who want to volunteer on the LCLR and we'll have a train and volunteers waiting at our Walls Lane station in the Skegness Water Leisure Park to show them how this unique railway operates and how they can be part of it.”
“The Royal Volunteer Service have included us in their Big Help Out app, so anyone looking to be a volunteer in Lincolnshire will see what we're doing and be encouraged to come along, to see how we operate and we hope, to be inspired to join us.
“You don't have to be a railway enthusiast (many of our volunteers say they are not) – the satisfaction is being part of a good-natured group conserving and operating for the pleasure of our visitors, a significant part of our heritage, which would otherwise have vanished – and putting a smile on our passengers' faces.
“It is sociable, physically and mentally healthy good exercise and as we all know, there is no shortage around Skegness of fresh bracing air in which to work”.
Richard pointed out: ”To volunteer on the line, you must be a member of our charity – fee £10 a year. We follow a rule book to ensure safety and our Method of Operation and Safety Cases are agreed with the management of the company, the Water Leisure Park and most importantly, the Office of Road and Rail (ORR). You'll be given a Rule Book on becoming a volunteer and must learn and abide by its contents. Safety is paramount”.
