When taking a trip to Scunthorpe in the realistic thread, it was noted that Scunthorpe North Junction was not actually a junction. The image is here for completeness:
The origins of that sign are perhaps best explained by looking behind the camera.
During the heydays of the railway many enterprising rail leaders were trying to reach Scunthorpe. One particularly enterprising project was indeed the Clitheroe, Scunthorpe and Sussex Railway. They were a particularly enterprising bunch and planned to drive straight through Middlesex way before the notion of a Bedford to Brighton Thameslink was an apple in the Bedpan's eye.
Construction on the line started in the 1850s, having gained royal approval the year previous. The plan was to approach Scunthorpe from the north as there were rich opportunities for biomass freight to Drax power station (I mentioned that the project was enterprising). Sadly for the CSSR, the biomass flows did not generate quickly enough and the growth of cement in Clithroe needed the land from the CSSR station there. Clitheroe Central was built, but annexed by the Lancashire and Yorkshire railway for their route to Victoria.
Relations between the CSSR and the Uppingham, Scunthorpe and Adwick were really strained. The result is North Scunthorpe Junction. The bridge being built without the connection for the incoming CSSR line was a real affront. The stub for the CSSR was constructed to complete the move.
The subsequent battles and the building of the lucrative Scunthorpe North battery cell development plant on the south side of the river was a further two fingers to the CSSR.
Many will have studied this in school I am sure
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