42015
Loughborough Central Station the current end of the line of the heritage Old Great Central Railway (GCR). In Loughborough, Leicestershire.
The origins of the old GCR may be traced back to the earliest days of railways in and around Manchester. What was to become identifiable as the Great Central Railway was the amalgamation on first of January, 1847 of the Sheffield, Ashton under Lyme & Manchester, the Sheffield & Lincolnshire Junction, the Great Grimsby & Sheffield Junction Railways and the Grimsby Dock Company. The area of operation of the MSLR is clear in its title and its reason for existence and principle traffic was the movement of coal and other goods across the harsh Pennine moorland and through the Woodhead Tunnel.
Little change in the system took place until the appointment, in 1854, of Edward Watkin as General Manager.
A bill was put before Parliament in 1891 for the line from Annesley through Nottingham, where the great Nottingham Victoria station was built with the Great Northern Railway, Leicester, Rugby and to an end on junction with the Metropolitan at Quainton Road. A short spur, going under Lords Cricket ground, was built from Metropolitan tracks at Canfield Place to the new terminus at Marylebone. It has since become known as the London Extension. It is on this line on which the present day Great Central Railway is based.
Construction of the line started in 1894 and was opened to coal traffic on 25th July, 1898 (to bed in the line) and to passenger and goods traffic started on 9th March, 1899.
The nationalisation of the railways in 1948 led to the Great Central metals becoming part of the Eastern Region of British Railways. In 1958 the ex-Great Central was re-allocated to the Midland Region of British Railways and so were sown the seeds of its decline as a main line to London. Country stations such as those at Belgrave & Birstall, Rothley and Quorn & Woodhouse were closed in 1963. In 1966 the line closed as a though route to London and the line was severed just south of Rugby while the proud station at Nottingham Victoria was demolished. Until 1969, when the line was finally closed, a DMU service ran from Rugby to Nottingham Arkwright Street.
A group of enthusiasts was determined to keep the line alive for the running of main line engines. The Main Line Preservation Group (MLPG) was formed to begin the mammoth task of preservation and restoration. Fund raising was always a problem so in 1971 the Main Line Steam Trust was formed and registered as a charity in order to raise funds through covenants. This too proved not to be sufficient to raise funds for the purchase of a short section of the line so the Great Central Railway (1976) Ltd was formed to raise funds through the sale of shares.
Since then the volunteers and staff have re-instated a double track section from Loughborough Central to Rothley and opened a single track to Leicester North, just south of the old Belgrave & Birstall station (and built a new station there) and have restored stations, signals and signalboxes, carriages, wagons and steam and diesel locomotives.
Information Source
www.gcrailway.co.uk/brief-history/
42015
Loughborough Central Station the current end of the line of the heritage Old Great Central Railway (GCR). In Loughborough, Leicestershire.
The origins of the old GCR may be traced back to the earliest days of railways in and around Manchester. What was to become identifiable as the Great Central Railway was the amalgamation on first of January, 1847 of the Sheffield, Ashton under Lyme & Manchester, the Sheffield & Lincolnshire Junction, the Great Grimsby & Sheffield Junction Railways and the Grimsby Dock Company. The area of operation of the MSLR is clear in its title and its reason for existence and principle traffic was the movement of coal and other goods across the harsh Pennine moorland and through the Woodhead Tunnel.
Little change in the system took place until the appointment, in 1854, of Edward Watkin as General Manager.
A bill was put before Parliament in 1891 for the line from Annesley through Nottingham, where the great Nottingham Victoria station was built with the Great Northern Railway, Leicester, Rugby and to an end on junction with the Metropolitan at Quainton Road. A short spur, going under Lords Cricket ground, was built from Metropolitan tracks at Canfield Place to the new terminus at Marylebone. It has since become known as the London Extension. It is on this line on which the present day Great Central Railway is based.
Construction of the line started in 1894 and was opened to coal traffic on 25th July, 1898 (to bed in the line) and to passenger and goods traffic started on 9th March, 1899.
The nationalisation of the railways in 1948 led to the Great Central metals becoming part of the Eastern Region of British Railways. In 1958 the ex-Great Central was re-allocated to the Midland Region of British Railways and so were sown the seeds of its decline as a main line to London. Country stations such as those at Belgrave & Birstall, Rothley and Quorn & Woodhouse were closed in 1963. In 1966 the line closed as a though route to London and the line was severed just south of Rugby while the proud station at Nottingham Victoria was demolished. Until 1969, when the line was finally closed, a DMU service ran from Rugby to Nottingham Arkwright Street.
A group of enthusiasts was determined to keep the line alive for the running of main line engines. The Main Line Preservation Group (MLPG) was formed to begin the mammoth task of preservation and restoration. Fund raising was always a problem so in 1971 the Main Line Steam Trust was formed and registered as a charity in order to raise funds through covenants. This too proved not to be sufficient to raise funds for the purchase of a short section of the line so the Great Central Railway (1976) Ltd was formed to raise funds through the sale of shares.
Since then the volunteers and staff have re-instated a double track section from Loughborough Central to Rothley and opened a single track to Leicester North, just south of the old Belgrave & Birstall station (and built a new station there) and have restored stations, signals and signalboxes, carriages, wagons and steam and diesel locomotives.
Information Source
www.gcrailway.co.uk/brief-history/