Barnetby le Wold

Railway[edit]

The village as it stands today is a direct result of the coming of the railway in 1848. Originally part of the Trent, Axholme & Grimsby Railway, the station later passed into the hands of the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway, thereafter becoming part of the Great Central Railway. In the 1923 grouping of railway companies the Great Central became the London & North Eastern Railway and finally in 1948 becoming British Railways before becoming Railtrack and ultimately the present-day Network Rail.


Although Barnetby had a small amount of rail freight traffic originating from it, most of the trains were passing through on the way to Immingham or Grimsby. In the other direction, freight trains such as the "Banbury fish" passed through. However, most of Barnetby's rail traffic was involved with the steel works at Scunthorpe, which was taken over by Corus. Although Lincolnshire has a reputation for being flat, this part of the county has several steep inclines and many freights required extra locomotives in order to cope with the gradients. For this purpose, a locomotive depot was built at nearby Wrawby junction – together with a turntable. Today, all that is left of the depot is the remains of the turntable pit which can just be seen in the undergrowth between the Brigg and Lincoln branch lines.