East Midlands Railway Trust/GCR (Nottingham)

The description of the loop being three quarters of a mile long was rather interesting... And seems rather unnecessarily long. Hell, there are several preserved railways who have running lines shorter than the length of that loop.

From an operational point of view I feel a crossover between the up and down main beyond number 10 points, basically opposite the signal box itself would be more useful for running round trains at the halt.

Unless the GCR is still thinking gypsum trains might be a thing, in which case a run round loop that long might be useful?

 

I assumed it was in relation to getting line speeds up. If you have a longer loop can you approach it that bit more quickly as you've got longer to stop in?

 

It should not be difficult to lay out a turnout suitable for the 25 mph line speed.

 

Might part of the thinking be in relation to tours coming off the midland main line, a long loop will enable an engine to run round and head for Leicester north, because the lack of signalling will restrict anything running towards Nottingham to one engine in section, which might affect timetabled operations,

 

Even so a 1/4 mile would accommodate even the longest charter train ?

 

Yes, but is that the critical factor? Surely if you enter a loop, you need to be able to stop before the other end of it. With a long loop, both trains can enter at line speed and not be at risk of not being able to stop in time?
(What is the allowed braking distance of a the slowest-braking train likely to be on the line?)

Where was the gypsum loaded? Could it be you can then "hide" a gypsum train at one end of the loop, receive a terminating train, and have a through train? (Or is this signalling WIBN?)

 

Assuming that the single-line sections are controlled by Staff or Token the distance walked by the Signaller to collect / issue same is going to dictate station dwell times, and thus the timetable. ¼ mile seems a lot.
Pat