Lincolnshire Infrastructure Questions

Hello all,

I visited Lincolnshire at the weekend for the first time properly and really enjoyed seeing all the traditional railway infrastructure - Heckington in particular looks like it hasn't changed bar signage for over a Century! I've got a load of queries and I'd be delighted if some people with more expertise than me could help me out.

1. I read a thread on here from 2015 that listed all the manual gated level crossings on the "Poacher Line" between Grantham and Skegness and was delighted to discover they were still all in operation. Is this mainly because there are no additional staff needed as they are all operated by a signaller from a box that still controls single track sections? Is there any firm plans to replace them? How are the colour light signals which are in between the semaphore sections controlled - by the same box or from further afield?
2. I was told a while back that the the Lincoln to Peterborough line had a reduced service between Spalding and Sleaford because there were many manned level crossings and costs were saved by only paying one shift. I was expecting to see lots of men in orange jackets, but all the level crossings appeared to have been upgraded. Is this correct, or was there another reason all along for the rudimentary service? If the line has been upgraded, why hasn't EMR put in extra trains, or at least spread the service out into more useful times of day and are there any plans to do so?
3. Hubbert's Bridge station is missing it's Westbound platform and a poster at Sleaford said two replacement buses would be running Mon-Sat from December to mid-May. This seems an awfully long time to rebuild a platform. Does anyone know what the structural problem involved? Am I being too cynical in thinking that they might drop the Westbound trains completely in the May timetable change, a la Polesworth?
4. I noticed the train slowed down for many half barrier crossings, but sped through others. Why is this? Does the driver control the signal/crossing from his cab? At one crossing the lights were working but the barrier hadn't come down (it was probably connected to Storm Ciara, I saw lots of level crossings being worked on en route). The conductor stepped down onto the trackside and fiddled with a small box on a pole. Then he got back in, the signal was still flashing red lights and the train continued through with the horn sounding continuously. Does this mean these crossings can be overridden/operated manually by train staff, or was he just contacting the signaller for permission?
5. Skegness was a very elegant station, but somewhat faded to say the least. Does anyone know why there are still 6 full length platforms in place when many other seaside resorts have had them taken out/truncated? Every train I saw only used Platform 4. It is off-season, but regrettably I can't see how more than two or three platforms would ever be used, even during disruption. Are there any plans to reduce the number of platforms? One more strange thing: The first platform was labelled 2 and so on. There didn't seem to be a 1 and I couldn't see any evidence of a bay platform. What happened to Platform 1, if it ever existed?

I look forward to reading some replies and sorry for the length of the post. As you can tell, I found the area absolutely fascinating!

Hello,
I actually live in Heckington and will try my best to answer your questions !
1) The boxes are open from about 06.00 to 22.00 so 2 shifts. there are plans to replace the boxes in about 2024 nut could have been changed now.
2) extra trains on the Spalding - Sleaford will be from the timetable change at the end of the year i believe .
3) The platform at Hubberts Bridge was discovered to be sinking into the nearby drain !
4) Regarding the barrier crossing they are usually taken at line speed so what happened was maybe weather related? There is one such crossing half way between Sleaford and Heckington on single track where westwards it is at line speed of 60 mph but east bound is at 55 mph. This I believe is due to sighting
5) Skegness i believe has 4 platforms that are in use. In the summer there are at times 2 x HST`s plus a 156 at the same time (Saturday mornings). There could be an excursion at any time.

I appreciate I haven`t answered all your questions, hopefully someone else will know better than I

class26 said:

4) Regarding the barrier crossing they are usually taken at line speed so what happened was maybe weather related? There is one such crossing half way between Sleaford and Heckington on single track where westwards it is at line speed of 60 mph but east bound is at 55 mph. This I believe is due to sighting

Click to expand...

That’s interesting (to me at least ). How do directional variations in speed limits due to sighting work when it’s dark?

It`s single track so i can only guess the sighting isn`t as good for the crossing in one direction.
There`s a speed restriction sigg to 55 mph about about 400 - 500 yards before the crossing going eastwards and it is back to 60 immediately after the crossing. Going westwards there is no speed restriction sign other than the 60 after Heckington station, the next sign is for 25 mph for the approach to Sleaford . Maybe drivers on here can tell you better than I ?

1. There are no plans that I'm aware of to abolish any of the remaining boxes. Lots of signal boxes and crossing boxes were closed thirty years or so (?) ago, with their crossings automated, and what remains is presumably largely dictated by a combination of block section length, the single line sections and crossings unsuitable (at the time) for automation. The automatic colour light signals at Havenhouse (down direction) and Swineshead (up direction) are provided solely in connection with the stopping/non-stopping controls for the adjacent crossing (so that the barrier sequence can be delayed, protected by signals, for a stopping train) and, IIRC, 'set' by the box in rear in each case.

4. There are a number of locally monitored crossings north/east of Boston - the ones with the red/white flashing lights. The permitted speed over them is often less than the ruling linespeed, dictated by the need to be able to confirm that the crossing's working *and* clear at the 'decision point'. If they're not working, the driver has to press a plunger (if provided) which, in some circumstances, will activate the sequence, but either way the train then needs to pass over the crossing at caution. The signalman has no control over these crossings.

The driver has no involvement in the operation of the other automatic crossings (AHBs), such as those between Sleaford and Heckington, so there's no need for any sort of sighting distance. In this case, the slightly reduced speed on the approach is possibly related to the timings of the barrier sequence, but that's just a guess!