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May 16, 1954 and the only through train to Horncastle ever to run from Donington on Bain and the line across the Lincolnshire Wolds via Louth, is greeted by an enthusiastic group of Horncastle station staff and the public. Photo: Wm. Woolhouse collection/LCLR Historic Vehicles Trust
For Horncastle and Woodhall Spa, it was the end of the line for a service that had begun in 1855.
Despite opposition, daily passenger services ceased on September 13, 1954.
A special service, organised by railway enthusiasts, ran 10 years later, bringing the largest steam locomotive ever seen in Horncastle to the branch. From then, only goods trains ran, with the crew opening and closing level crossing gates and changing the points on the seven-and-a-half mile run from Woodhall Junction.