Great Central Railway General Matters

Replacement confirmed as 46521

 

Ivor the Engine is more on point, Ivor had birds nesting in a biscuit tin in his cab... (I did watch Ivor as a kid, but this is from watching it with my son...)

 

Didn’t he also have a dragon nesting in his firebox?

 

indeed. First port of call when seeing a steam engine with my son is to ask nicely if we can see if there's a dragon in the fire (I thin he's grown out of it now).

I hope the GCR have checked for this eventuality.[1]
(I'm surprised about a blackbird nesting there. Robins are notorious for nesting anywhere, but AIUI it's unusual for a blackbird)

[1] obv I'm joking. It's only Welsh dragons that nest in fireboxes, and it's too far for them to fly to the GCR

 

Another visit to Rothley yesterday and I was surprised to see trains running - I had missed the diesel running day on the timetable!

D123 was on the service train and Class 37 no 37714 in its smart grey livery running light engine. There were also coaches being shunted using the 08, so it was quite busy.

 

Interesting to see this on the GCR website.....
The Roaring Riddles – Friday 4th June 2021
An evening with British Railways Standard Class 5 73156 on Friday 4th June 2021, with the popular "Standard 5" hauling two non-stop trips of the line from 7pm.
.....departing from Loughborough and with a fish and chips option.

 

There are some more changes to the outlook from GCR trains as the line opens up at Loughborough. A new collection of houses are being built on the field to the East of the line and South of the A6 road....let us hope the new residents do not complain about smoke and noise!

 

What has happened to the plans to rebuild Workington shed on a new site?

 

Hi 61624
The plan for Workington shed was to use the land to the North East of Loughborough Loco shed, close to the council recycling plant. However ground investigations have revealed major problems and so that was off. In fact not that much of the shed was able to be saved and I believe the bits are still stored somewhere.

 

Its a shame that the considerable difference in elevation / the lack of space for a dedicated access line parallel to NR, makes access to the soon to be closed ' Brush' works so difficult - as there is a ready made shed there already ...

 

I strongly suspect there'll be a developers' feeding frenzy for that land. The railway may be better advised to ponder the best advantage to be had from possible outcomes.

As an aside, with the sad demise of Brush, are the Hughes and/or Falcon brands now up for grabs, perhaps by Keefes and/or the folks at Corris/Talyllyn? Thinking here of acquisition of the historic Manning Wardle name by the those behind Lew.

 

Dont think ' Brush ' Per se is finished, the owning group ( wabtec?) will no doubt hold on to the ' Brands' i think its just the loco. plant in Loughboro ( Falcon works) that is set to close...

 

.......Well, looking at Google Earth there is a line from the MML going into and around the Brush site......and there is the chord line from the MML to the GCR(N).....and that will join with the GCR when the "Gap" is finished! Mind you having to get NR access every time a loco moves off shed might be a slight disadvantage.........
PS This is not a serious suggestion.

 

Unless you can persuade NR stop being so greedy and to 'Make do' with just two or three lines (come on, surely wont need em all when HS2 happens)

 

From the GCR website for today......

Class 25 D5185 is due to work six round trips of the line, a total of 96 miles, with trains departing from Loughborough Central, beginning in the early afternoon.

We're offering tickets for compartments of up to six people, and also for tables of two.

Tickets must be booked in advance.



Times:

Trains will depart from Loughborough Central (LE11 1RW) at 12:30pm, 2:00pm, 3:30pm, 5:00pm, 6:30pm, and 8:05pm.

 

Is this any specific date?

 

Sent from my SM-A125F using Tapatalk

 

My bad, read it quickly as 'From the GCR website today" as in it was posted today!

 

All the GCR stations are reopening for business from this coming weekend.....
https://www.gcrailway.co.uk/timetables-and-fares/

 

There were trains running today, this was carrying a large party of school children. Another train was moving stock around.