About SideTracked Caches
This cache belongs to the SideTracked series. It is not designed to take you to a magical place with a breath taking view. It's a distraction for the weary traveller, but anyone else can go and find it too. More Information can be found at the SideTracked Website
About Willoughby Station
Willoughby was one of the original stations on the second stage of the East Lincolnshire Railway, opening on 3rd September 1848 with two facing platforms on the south side of Station Road.
With the opening of the branch line to Sutton on Sea on 4th October 1886 the station was resited to the north side of Station Road. Passenger facilities were far better that at the original station. The new station had three platform faces, a single platform served the down East Lincs line and an island platform served the up East Lincs line with the other side of the platform being a bay for Sutton and later trains on the Mablethorpe loop line. The bay also had a run round loop alongside. There was a footbridge spanning the platforms adjacent to the crossing.
The main station building was on the island platform and comprised general and ladies' rooms, toilets, booking office, parcels office, stationmaster's office and a porter's room. with a long canopy over both platforms, with a small brick ladies waiting room on the down platform. The station was provided with two new signal boxes one on the down platform adjacent to the crossing; this controlled the crossing and access to the goods yard which remained in its original position on the south side of Station Road. The other box was north of the island platform, this controlled the junction with the Mablethorpe loop. The original station master's house, similar in design to others on the line was retained on the up side to the south of the level crossing.
The goods yard comprised four sidings to the south of Station Road, two on either side of the line. Those on the down side were used for coal traffic with a roughly built loading dock at the south end for milk. On the up side one passed through a long brick built engine shed and a long loading dock, the other shorter siding served an end dock.
On some summer Saturdays traffic for the Mablethorpe loop used the down platform instead of the bay due to the large quantity of parcels and luggage generated by the holiday traffic. Willoughby lost its goods service on 2nd May 1966. The station remained largely unaltered from opening until closure.
Both platforms remain but very degraded and overgrown withy houses built on both of them. The track bed between the platforms is still accessible and one level crossing gate survives on the south side of the line adjacent to the station master's house which is in private occupation. The long brick goods shed is in industrial use and the loading bank beyond is still extant. The station footbridge was dismantled and now spans a fishing pond at Burgh le Marsh.