Looking back on final rail journey

“The signal clanks down, a cloud of smoke belches from the 80-years-old engine, hands wave from a single carriage crammed with passengers to a platform probably more crowded than ever before and Paddy, the Southwell-Rolleston train, begins its final journey.”

This extract from the Advertiser in June 1959 describes the last journey of the Southwell Paddy, the passenger train that travelled the track between Southwell and Rolleston Junction.

The line ran along what is now Riverside and Racecourse Road before joining the Lincoln to Nottingham line in Rolleston.

The 21/2-mile line opened in 1847 and closed for the first time in 1849. It opened again in 1853 when a horse-drawn bus was used to take passengers from Southwell to Rolleston Station.

Passengers protested against the closure of the line in 1959 but British Railways, which was responsible for the track, said it had no alternative but to close the line because of a lack of passengers.

Tickets on the Paddy cost 6d, but each ticket was being subsidised by four shillings.

The final train, driven by Mr C. Kirby of Lincoln with Mr Bernard Lake, of Eton Avenue, Newark, began its journey at 9.20pm.

About 100 passengers were on the train and many people were on the platform to cheer and wave it off.

The service was replaced by a bus service between Southwell and Fiskerton.

The last paragraph of the Advertiser extract describes the final moments of the evening.

It said: “Paddy has completed its last journey and disgorged its last passengers, the little engine has slipped its carriage, returned to the station to make a brief farewell bow to the waiting crowds and puffed off into the night, hooting sadly all the way. The platforms are emptied and for the last time station master Mr A. L. Lowbridge locks the gates.”

The founder of the Southwell Railway Club, Mr John Meredith (69) of Upton Fields, Southwell, who gives talks on the history of the railway, said losing the line would not have had a big impact on Southwell at the time.

He said: “The service wasn’t being used all that much so the closure was brought about by British Railways.

“It was nothing to do with the later shut downs in the 1960s.

“A replacement bus service was put in place so passengers who did use the train just took the bus to Fiskerton instead, so I don’t suppose it made a difference to the town. The line was still open for a while as a freight service.

“There were people who were sad to see it go but they never used it when it was there.”

Mr Meredith said having a passenger line might have made a big difference to Southwell today.

He said: “With the traffic on the roads now, of course it would be a useful thing.

“People could take the train to Rolleston and commute into Nottingham or Lincoln that way.

“There was talk of reinstating the line and creating a park and ride station on Upton Road, where the old people’s home is now, but that never materialised.”