Great Central Railway | 125th Anniversary Weekend - Saturday/Sunday 16th & 17th March 2024 

#steam #train #re-unification
125 years ago, on the 15th March 1899, the first passengers trains operated on the Great Central Railway between Manchester, Sheffield, Nottingham, Leicester and London Marylebone. Today there are two independent halves of the Great Central Railway preserved, the Great Central Railway between Leicester North and Loughborough Central, and the Great Central Railway (Nottingham) between Ruddington and a main line connection to the Midland Main Line, just north of Loughborough Central. The missing link is being restored, a one kilometer gap over a canal, a factory and the Midland Main Line, which when finished will create a unified railway, for more information see here... www.gcrailway.co.uk/unify/
To celebrate 125 years since the first trains ran the Great Central Railway put on an across railways event over the weekend of Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th March to showcase the best the railway offers across the full 18 mile line, with a rail replacement bus running from Quorn and Woodhouse to Rushcliffe Halt and Ruddington to reunify the railway for the first time.
At Ruddington the miniature and model railway were running and the sheds were open. Next down the line Rushcliffe Halt was open for viewing. At Loughborough Central shed tours and a miniature railway took passengers beyond the shed towards the missing gap. At Quorn and Woodhouse various stands were in the marquee and 9F no.92214 and Class 47 no.D1705 'Sparrowhawk' were available for cab visits. The Mountsorrel branch was in operation with a diesel railcar service from Quorn and Woodhouse to Rothley via Nunckley Hill and Mountsorrel. At Rothley the carriage and wagon works was open and at Leicester North the locomotive cabs were available for visits during run rounds.
An intensive steam and railcar service was in operation throughout the weekend alongside the half hourly rail replacement bus service. Two passenger sets, one dining set and one freight set were shared between 8F no.48305, Std 5 no.73156 and Std 2's no.78019 and 78018 (with Class 37 no.37714 replacing 78018 on the Sunday). DMU's no.3170 NER Autocar and M79900 'Iris' coupled to a 2 car DMU to make a three car set were also both in action.
We visited for the weekend staying overnight on the Saturday in Fosse Park Premier Inn. We had travel tickets for the Saturday and with my wife being part of the social media team for Railcam ( railcam.uk/ ) the event became a mini railcam meet up with us spending the Saturday with Jamie, Ben and Graham from Railam! Having taken the DMU down the Mountsorrel branch first thing we then had a couple of hours at Quorn and Woodhouse before then taking the train to Loughborough Central and having a couple of hours there - meeting the gentleman who runs the Great Central Railway's RU-vid channel and who produces the re-unification videos as it was his steam loco running the miniature railway north from the locomotive shed! (‪@GCRofficial‬) before finally having a round trip on the 3:45pm departure. On the Sunday we had a short while filming at Woodthorpe before moving to the Mountsorrel Heritage Center at Nunckley Hill, having lunch before a good look round the center. Finally we finished with an hour at Rothley before heading home.
My video is a compilation from all clips filmed throughout the weekend as usual, structured in rough time of day order from across both days, we had a brilliant time as we always do when we visit the Great Central. Huge thanks to all involved!
Photos...
www.flickr.com/photos/alts198...
Locations and Locos...
48305 at Quorn and Woodhouse 16/03/24.
78018 at Quorn and Woodhouse 16/03/24.
73156 at Quorn and Woodhouse 16/03/24.
78018 at Quorn and Woodhouse 16/03/24 (x2).
Iris at Quorn and Woodhouse 16/03/24.
78019 at Quorn and Woodhouse 16/03/24.
37714 'Cardiff Canton' at Woodthorpe 17/03/24.
3170 at Woodthorpe 17/03/24.
73156 at Woodthorpe 17/03/24.
Iris at Nunckley Hill 17/03/24.
48305 at Rothley 17/03/24.
73156 at Rothley 17/03/24.
73156 at Rothley 17/03/24.
Iris at Rothley 17/03/24.
78019 at Rothley 17/03/24.
3170 at Rothley 17/03/24.
Merlin at Loughborough Central 16/03/24.
3170 at Loughborough Central 16/03/24.
48305 at Loughborough Central 16/03/24.
73156 at Loughborough Central 16/03/24.
48305 at Loughborough Central 16/03/24.
78019 at Loughborough Central 16/03/24.