Great Central Railway : Attraction of Leicester

The Great Central Railway (GCR) is a heritage railway in Leicestershire. The Southern section runs for 8 ½ miles from Loughborough to the northern outskirts of Leicester. The former Belgrave and Birstall station was demolished and the terminus (named Leicester North) built nearby. It is the only heritage railway in the UK to have double track. North of Loughborough, at Ruddington, is the Nottingham Heritage Centre, a smaller railway. In the future the two railways will be connected by means of a bridge which will be reinstated at Loughborough to cross the Midland Main Line.

History of Great Central Railway

The Great Central Main Line was built in 1899 connecting Sheffield to London via Nottingham and Leicester. It was the last main line to be built in the country, and was built to a continental loading gauge, with flat gradients designed for speed.

The line was transferred to the London Midland Region of British Railways and listed as duplicate of the Midland Main Line. Apart from the most Southern section into London, the line was closed as a through route in 1966 as part of the Beeching Axe. Although a section of the line between Nottingham and Rugby remained open until 1969. Local groups opposed the closure, and a small preservation concern was started at Loughborough.

In 1976 a shortage of funds saw a public limited company, the Great Central Railway (1976) plc formed with the intention of selling shares in the line, which would be bought by enthusiasts and former railwaymen, and thus generating revenue. The charitable body, Main Line Steam Trust (MLST), supports the GCR with grants for specific projects, and also provides volunteers to maintain and run the line.

In the 1990s, a campaign was launched to fund the double track project. Apart from aesthetic benefits, the double track enables good timekeeping.

Loughborough section

Loughborough Central Station Grid reference SK543193 is a medium-sized station set in the 1960s and has an extensive canopy. It also has a small museum. Loughborough shed SK543198) is to the North, and is open to the public.

Travelling south from there, the first station is Quorn and Woodhouse (SK549161), where there is better car parking than at Loughborough and disabled access (Loughborough only being accessible via stairs). Quorn is laid out to appear as it would in the 1940s. Near Swithland, the railway crosses Swithland Viaduct over Swithland Reservoir (SK558137).

At Swithland Sidings (SK564130) there is a small freight yard but no station (though one was originally planned). This is just north of Rothley (SK568121), set the 1900s, just after completion of the line. There is a carriage shed at Rothley but it is not open to the public.

At Rothley, the double track ends but the line continues single-tracked to Leicester North, (SK587082), where the line terminates. Leicester North was built in the 1990s, and is just south of the site of the former Belgrave and Birstall station. There is a tourist bus that runs from Leicester North to Leicester and the National Space Centre.

Nottingham Section

Nottingham Heritage Centre is located in Ruddington (SK574323), situated on a former Ministry of Defence site off the main line. A chord joins the Heritage Centre to the main line, but trains have to reverse to travel south. After passing the site of Gotham sidings and the trackbed of the Gotham branch, the first station is Rushcliffe Halt in Rushcliffe (SK551276), which is as far as trains normally travel. East Leake (SK546262), the only station with an underbridge rather than an overbridge, is further south but this has not yet been reopened. Continuing South Fox Hill tunnel (SK535235), Stanford Viaduct (SK542216) over the River Soar. The line then approaches Loughborough across the floodplain of the River Soar on an embankment before ending at the A60 road bridge, from which a chord connects the line to the Midland Main Line (SK545204).