MINI SideTracked - Cleethorpes Reborn Traditional Geocache

After the original Mini SideTracked Cleethorpes was archived a call was put out to local cachers to help reincarnate this cache as it was the only Mini SideTracked in the UK. There are now 3 - all in Lincolnshire. The cache is in a high muggle area close to the Railway so stealth will be required. Cache is not on the trainline so no need to trespass!!!

This cache is located in an extremely busy area close to the Railway. The cache is a small cliplock box in a camo bag which will be well visited and will be big enough for small swaps and trackables. It is situated between the Cleethorpes sand pit and the Cleethorpes paddling pool (seasonal opening times 10am until 1pm and 2pm until 5pm) which are free facilities so you could happily spend a few hours in this area with the kids.

The Railway is a 15 in (381 mm) railway built in 1948 operating between the Leisure Centre and behind a local theme park and Buck Beck. It was originally built to a slightly smaller 14.5 inches (370 mm) gauge.

The line was built in 1948 as a tourist attraction by Cleethorpes Borough Council.

Trains run from Kingsway station, which is next to the Leisure Centre, over a 40 yards (37 m) viaduct and along the sea wall, turning west to run past the shed and museum at Lakeside station. Over the 2006/7 winter off-season, the Line was extended a further 900 yards (823 m) south-east to a new station at North Sea Lane, close to the Meridian Line car park and the Buck Beck estuary. This brought the total current running length to 2 miles (3.2 km).

The railway used to be operated by a pair of Severn lamb locomotives. In the 1960s, the line used diesel trains, followed by petrol-driven engines with a steam outline, though genuine steam locomotives are now in operation. A lottery grant enabled the railway to acquire stock from the long-dismantled Sutton Miniature Railway in Sutton Park, Sutton Coldfield some of which is housed in the old Sutton Miniature Railway locomotive shed, including Bassett-Lowke Class 10 Little Giant 'Mighty Atom'. On guest weekends, visiting engines from other 15 in (381 mm) lines make an appearance.

The railway also held the Olympic Torch on Day 39 of the 2012 Olympic Torch relay with BMR locomotive 'Mountaineer' hauling the Alan Keef 'Council Rake' carriages, taking it from Kingsway station to Lakeside station.

2013 marks 65 years of the CCLR and its operations (serving the area and tourism since 1948).