The big layout in the Main room this year is Five Mile House from the Lincoln Club. a superb slice of East of England. Here’s what the owner Sean says about it
Five Mile House was one of several stations between Lincoln and Boston, following the course of the River Witham. It served the village of Fiskerton which had a very small population and took its name from a pub popular with operators of horse-drawn packets up and down the river. Two timber-built staggered platforms were provided either side of a crossing which linked the village to a small ferry across the river. Passengers from Fiskerton wishing to use the train would have to cross the River Witham by the ferry to reach the station, which deterred many.
This history of the station is interesting as it opened on September 15 1858 and was closed two years later due to the lack of footfall. It was then reopened at the request of a local farmer so that he could get his livestock to the cattle markets or slaughterhouses. In 1919, the original wooden station burnt down and only the signalbox was rebuilt.
Regular passenger services were withdrawn on 15 September 1958, but the station remained open until 6 September 1964 for anglers’ specials on summer weekends to and from Rotherham Central, Sheffield Victoria and Wadsley Bridge. By September 1964, only one train each way called at the station. In 1957, the ferry was replaced by a footbridge over the river.
Officially, the last person to use this station before the line was taken up in the 1980s was Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on November 14 1980. The Sustrans cycle/footpath runs along the former trackbed and through the station site, of which no trace remains.
In its day though, the Loop Line was very busy with traffic ranging from non-stop passenger trains to East Coast Main Line diversions, fish trains and those aforementioned angling specials.