Great Central Railway General Matters

Just spotted on their website that they have now (belatedly) launched an emergency project appeal courtesy of the Coronavirus effect...........
http://www.gcrailway.co.uk/emergency-project-appeal/

 

I an understand the need to do the bridge deck replacement and the fence repairs in a timely fashion, and thus the need to fund-raise for those, but I'm a bit puzzled by the yard work. Given they're asking for a rather large sum in total, I'd have expected them to explain why the yard work was equally urgent.

Noel

 

Yes, the Quorn Yard work - particularly the "classroom conversion" of the goods shed, hasn't been mentioned for a number of years now, so it is strange to see it on this "Emergency" appeal. It's quite a few years since the possible "educational" use of the goods yard was first mooted, and they got as far as some recreated livestock pens and a loading dock before it seemed to grind to a halt, other than the rebuilt "tin shed", which has come in rather handy for more "adult" education (or at least a study of Nottingham Brewery products...) since then!!
Wonder if this includes restoring the (privately owned) wooden bodied coal wagon at Quorn that still has notices attached to it seeking donations for its restoration as part of the educational scheme?

The new bridge and the fencing have been mentioned recently and are "in hand", so I can understand their inclusion.

 

There was a fair bit of clearance work going on at Quorn today. They seem to be moving tons of old PW material Chairs, fishplates, clips etc from the fence line in the Yard to out past the Yard entrance point. As the yard at Rothley is now so much better, it has highlighted what needs doing at Quorn.

 

The GCR are operating steam trains today and tomorrow as part of their "Dino Days" attraction. There are three trains per day with on-line booking. The first two are sold out (as of now). Hopefully another successful sign of further re opening progress.

 

There appears to be five different appeal targeted on their web site. Not quite as many as the WSR however. Most lines seem to need money to stay in existence, presumably the GC have money in the bank for that purpose?

 

I think the GCR has sufficient funds for day to day running at present. However they are continuing to invest in infrastructure renewal/improvements. This is being funded through the charity DCRT, and so can gain 25% gift aid. However, as I'm sure you will know, these funds are "Ring Fenced" for specific charitable objectives. Hence the "Factory Fly-over" next stage in gap project, Shed Appeal, Fencing Renewal, Bridge 341 and Quorn Yard upgrade.

 

Good to see the GC has clear objectives Phil. Makes a change from some lines who have Mother Hubbard in charge.

 

With the bridge just north of Quorn being replaced in early September, they have now confirmed that GCR passenger services will run from Nunckley Hill to Leicester, via Rothley, using DMUs on the weekends of 5/6 & 12/13 Sept..
http://www.gcrailway.co.uk/special-events/railcar-running-days/

 

Does anyone know how will these trains run between Rothley and Nunckley Hill, do they require wrong line running from Rothley to Swithland (I know the line is signalled for bi-directional running, although only seen light engine moves before doing it)?

 

I asked this elsewhere, apparently they will run right-line to Swithland then reverse over the crossover (appropriately clipped up) and reverse again to gain the branch. So they will pass on the short double track section between Rothley and Swithland.

Some rare track (the crossover) for any track-bashers out there.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

From post #276 "Autumn Steam Gala – Thurs 1st to Sun 4th October 2020"....This has now been removed from the GCR website and so we must assume is no longer happening. Sad but probably the sensible option as C-19 is proving harder to get under control than may have been hoped.
Still they are running railcar weekends up the Mountsorrel Branch whilst the bridge North of Quorn is being replaced.

 

Great Central Railway: 'Bitter blow' as lottery bid fails (BBC)

Great Central Railway, in Leicestershire, had sought £250,000 to mitigate the effects of coronavirus.

A Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) spokesperson said the bid was "outside the scope" of their support [..] The HLF said in a statement: "We were unable to support the application as it focused on costs for capital works, which were outside the scope of the programme, rather than emergency or stabilising costs".

Patrick

 

I thought those "lottery" mitigation funds were only being made available to organisations that have received Lottery Grants in the past?
Most of the things the GCR does tends to be done without Lottery cash, and I can't think of anything immediately where they received money from that source in the recent past.......

 

GCR had lottery money for the initial studies/designs for the Leicester North museum project, though which body actually applied for and received the funding I don't know (considering that it was in partnership with the City Council and NRM). They were then turned down for the full funding to actually build the thing (which, given the carbuncle of a design which got selected, I can't honestly say I was too sorry about... but that's another topic).

 

Surely this would have been clear at the start of the application? If the railway was asking for money for things which were outside the scope of the fund, then it should not be a surprise it was turned down. Reading between the lines, it seems to me to be a case of 'read the instructions' or at least ensure your bid fits the criteria.

Working in public service, pretty much everything we do is based on bids or tenders. Some companies are far better at it than others. Often the bigger firms have people employed who are skilled at putting together tenders that exactly fit what the criteria asks for. Unfortunately, it can mean the company that puts in the best bid response wins the work, not necessarily the best company for the job. However, many fail because they don't read what is being asked, which is not that different to some of my exam feedback at school!

 

I should also add the Severn Valley and Ffestiniog have had a lot of success with lottery funding. I can only assume they have people who are skilled at knowing what to put in a bid, but also likely a lot of hard work.

 

"Support will focus on heritage that we have significantly funded in the past, and that can demonstrate the vital contribution it has made to local communities."

"Can we get pre-application advice on our potential application?
Yes. You can contact your local team and they will be able to give you advice about whether or not your organisation should apply to the Heritage Emergency Fund. They will also be able to give you advice about the types of things we can support through the fund and which strand of funding might be most appropriate to help your organisation and heritage."

[Note - not the emergency fund]. They do, but for all its successes the SVR's charitable trust had two bites of the cherry for its funding of work on Falling Sands Viaduct, the first failing as "community engagement and interpretation plans were not sufficiently strong." It was 30 months later the Fund made its award after a compliant, second, bid.

Back in the day the (then) HLF said applicants shouldn't spend money for consultants to help prepare bids: as an indication how things now are the Fund awarded an interim £71k to the SVRCT just to develop their (second) bid. You're right IMO, lottery bidding and meeting the criteria doesn't seem easy, and does require expertise.

Back on thread, the Heritage Emergency Fund is now closed to new applications and they prohibited reapplying for organisations refused an award

Patrick

 

HRA members could always contact the HRA Funding Advisor for advice . . .
Contact address and some general tips are available from https://www.hra.uk.com/fundraising-advice

 

The train services for the end of September have now appeared on the GCR website and are still starting from Quorn, rather than Loughborough.
http://www.gcrailway.co.uk/special-events/september-passenger-trains-2020/

EDIT - Their FB page has now announced that their Santa and Winter Wonderlights trains will be running from 28th November 2020. They are still finalising the details though...