Immingham (Eastern Jetty) railway station was a special excursion station built along the port's eastern jetty[4] to cater for traffic to passenger ships on cruises to the North Cape, Norwegian Fjords and the Baltic.
The station was not much more than a long wooden platform along the jetty. It was only used for the transfer of the passengers and luggage from train to ship and vice versa so little in the way of facilities was needed or provided. The critical provision was numerous staff to guide travellers and handle their belongings.[5][6][7]
Traffic
The cruise ships sometimes berthed in the dock itself,[8][9] but usually they moored at the seaward side of the jetty where they were adjacent to all-First Class, Restaurant Car special trains.[10][11][12] These operated along two routes:
Visits by such ships drew crowds of sightseers and passed into local folklore, none more so than the vessel SS Arandora Star which was torpedoed in 1940 with heavy loss of life.
Closure
The cruises terminated in 1939, just prior to the Second World War. Although the platform remained for some time, the station was effectively closed. One source suggests GCR passenger vessels plied between here, Antwerp, Hamburg and Rotterdam.[6]
Afterlife
By 2015 the tracks on the jetty had long been lifted, but the structure remained well used, handling oils, spirits, and liquid chemicals.
Grainger, Ken (2012). Gellatly, Bob (ed.). "Immingham Dock Centenary Souvenir 1912-2012". Forward. Holton le Clay: Brian Bell for the Great Central Railway Society. ISSN0141-4488.
King, Paul (2019). The Railways of North-east Lincolnshire, Part 2: Stations. Grimsby: Pyewipe Publications. ISBN978-1-9164603-1-7.
Ludlam, A.J. (1996). Railways to New Holland and the Humber Ferries. Headington: The Oakwood Press. ISBN978-0-85361-494-4. LP 198.
Ludlam, A.J. (July 2006). Kennedy, Rex (ed.). "Immingham-Gateway to the Continent". Steam Days (203). Bournemouth: Redgauntlet Publications. ISSN0269-0020.
Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2017). Branch Lines North of Grimsby, including Immingham. Midhurst: Middleton Press (MD). ISBN978-1-910356-09-8.
Mummery, Brian; Butler, Ian (1999). Immingham and the Great Central Legacy (Images of England). Stroud: Tempus. ISBN978-0-7524-1714-1.
NotRecorded, X (Summer 2002). Bell, Brian (ed.). "Not recorded". Forward. 50. Holton le Clay: Brian Bell for the Great Central Railway Society. ISSN0141-4488.