A fundraiser for the Prostate Cancer Research Charity has visited the Lincolnshire Coast Light Railway in his quest to visit each of the 41 narrow gauge railways in the British Isles.
The railway's Walls Lane station in the Skegness Water Leisure Park was number 27 on fundraiser Rob Nicholls list of narrow-gauge railways. His criteria were they must operate steam trains and have a track gauge of at least 60 cm (1' 11?”). At each railway that Rob visits he awards himself “points”, and then uses them to encourage people to convert his progress to donations to the charity through a Just Giving page he has set up: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/robert-nicholls9
Rob is being supported on his challenge by his wife Wendy. Ironically, he lives at Tamworth very near to the Statfold Barn Railway which has the UK's largest collection of narrow gauge locomotives.
During Rob's visit to the Lincolnshire Coast Light Railway, Rob was invited onto the footplate of veteran steam locomotive Jurassic, which was built in 1903 by Peckett & Sons Ltd in Bristol for Kaye and Company's quarries in Warwickshire. It was acquired by the Lincolnshire Coast Light Railway in 1961 and with the help of a grant from the National Lottery's Heritage Fund, it was restored to running order in 2017.
Before travelling to Skegness, Rob had visited the Isle of Man where there are five narrow gauge railways, a horse tramway, and a miniature line, for its recent Vintage Transport Festival.
Rob said: “I have recently retired and I have always liked narrow gauge steam – there is so much variety, nowhere else is there so much.
“What I find at smaller lines like the LCLR is the friendly welcome – here I was allowed to stand on the footplate of Jurassic while she waited for her next trainload of passengers”.
Lincolnshire Coast Light RailwayHistoric Vehicles Trust (owner of Jurassic) chairman Richard Shepherd said: “One of the many pleasures of operating our railway is meeting the variety of people who visit and their reasons for doing so. We were very pleased to welcome Rob and hope people will donate to Prostate Cancer Research as he continues his tour to complete the challenge.”
