In some respects the final five years before closure of the LCLR were something of a golden age…except that its basic traffic of holidaymakers was declining rapidly and the fact that drastic decisions needed to be taken on its future could not be ignored. Traffic from the Sunday Market at Beacholme Holiday Camp necessitated trains requiring anything that could move being pressed into service to cope with the crowds but at other times the line was alarmingly quiet. A vigorous and enthusiastic group of volunteers worked hard to upgrade faculties, install air brakes on the trains and to make the railway better known – even so, it was a rarity when an enthusiast arrived at North Sea Lane. Traffic had migrated to Benidorm and the miners’ strike hit the economic heartland of the railway’s core trade – holidaymakers from the mining communities of South Yorkshire. After the outside broadcast there were some “classic” scenes to be seen, sadly, not to be repeated after closure in 1985.
