A railway line crossed the Austerby until it was closed in 1959 but the route it took can clearly be seen along the street today. This was the Midland and Great Northern line from Melton Mowbray to King's Lynn which opened in 1866 and running south of Bourne station on its way to Spalding and then into Norfolk. A level crossing together with a pedestrian footbridge over the Austerby formed part of the railway installations and the picture below from circa 1950 also shows the crossing keeper at that time, Edward Garfoot.

The Austerby in 1908 (above) and again circa 1910 (below), both by Ashby Swift. The shops we see here were occupied by a family firm, Collins and Company, one dealing in fancy goods and toys and run by Miss Mary Ann Collins, and the other premises occupied by Robert Arnold Collins, plumber, painter, glazier, paperhanger and decorator, who had moved there from his previous premises in Willoughby Road.