For the very first time in 60 years, the Lincolnshire Coast Light Railway has operated all eight of its Simplex diesel locomotives, in a convoy at the Skegness Water Leisure Park.

Due to coronavirus, the line has been kept closed in its 60th anniversary year, with only working volunteers able to participate.

With the railway closed, volunteers have completed a 30-year project to restore Skeg Simplex, which worked at the resorts brickworks and survived the 1953 East Coast Floods. It survived, seawater and sand removed and was put to work helping to strengthen the sea defences in Mablethorpe.

After withdrawal and numerous sales, it was purchased in poor condition by a member of the LCLR’s Historic Vehicles Trust, who donated it to the charity.

In September, the railway announced it had received £10,000 from the Heritage Emergency Fund to help organisations survive the coronavirus pandemic.

In the locomotive cavalcade was “Skeg Simplex”, “Nocton”, No. 1 “Paul”, “Wilton”, No. 8622,  No. 8874 “Major J A Robins RE”, No. 8738 “T3” and No. 8825.

Railway spokesman John Chappell said: “It was a truly remarkable sight to see these eight locomotives working together on our track in the Skegness Water Leisure Park; a tribute to the hard work, tenacity and skill of our volunteers. They have worked under frequently difficult conditions during and before the pandemic, to make it possible to bring our entire collection to working order.”

John Raby has kindly allowed us to include his video of the day which you can see below.

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