East Midlands Railway Trust/GCR (Nottingham)

It is good to see that the GCR(N)/NHR website has received an update (15 Jan 2022) about the A 60 bridge appeal.

 

I'm sure many people are working very hard to get operations re-started......but it would be good if there was some communication to their many supporters and people interested in the GCR(N). The website is not very helpful despite the recent (welcome) post about the A60 bridge.

 

I heard mention of two different figures for money raised for the A60 bridge at last weeks Gala - £10K or £30K raised so far, though I would think it would be the latter that is correct. I'm sure I read somewhere they raised £10K within a few days of the appeal being launched.

 

The figure is at least £30k, Friends of GCR have put in £10k this week.
Does anybody know wether they are going to replace the bridge or refurbish it? All the publicity material I have seen is a bit vague!

 

I think the confusion may be due to the "Match Funding" offer by the LNER/GC Heritage Trust. They said that they would match up to £10,000. As I was told on the "Friends" stand, over £30,000 was already in the fund before the Gala and there were lots of cheques still to count. I expect the total is nearer £40,000 now.

However it would still be good to have some "On the ground" word from, or about, Ruddington.

 

There was (at least I recieved) a Connecting Rod newsletter from the NHR just a few weeks ago, just after fundraising for the A60 bridge got underway. I share your frustration though Phil about the lack of comms, the historic situation of a magazine every four or eight months bemoaning the situation but offering no resolution is far from a distant memory and it's going to take more than a double side of A4 paper to displace that (though it's a good start, if they can keep at least regular contact with supporters).

Whilst it's perhaps unrealistic to ask for the GCR / NHR to take the GWSR's awe-inspiring approach to keeping people informed, I do feel that a project of this magnitude and potential deserves better than the occasional youtube video and magazine article.

 

There is going to be a meeting tomorrow at Ruddington with key parties (NHR Board, EMRT, other groups based at Ruddington) all contributing and opportunities for questions. One of the questions I have planned includes asking how the various organisations plan on improving communication abut what is happening.

 

That seems to be a positive approach by all concerned - I hope you will be able to let us know how it goes rsh56.

 

While no news about the return of services or what's going on in the back ground each we on the Facebook page there's an update from the team that's involved in clearing the line side vegetation and other minor repairs along the line.

It shows that there is so e work going on and that there is a department that is able to communicate. May be the rest need use them as an example.

 

As referenced above, this morning a meeting took place where all parties involved at Ruddington were invited to attend. This was mainly delivered by the board of the GCRN (Trading as the NHR)(The operating company), with input from the East Midlands Railway Trust (The Landlord of the Ruddington-Loughborough section of railway)

The meeting was constructive in many ways, it was encouraging to meet and hear from the new GCRN board and to hear their recognition of the challenges and opportunities of the position the railway is currently in. I'm not going to repeat all of my notes as written, and I'll skip over some of the specifics as I'm not 100% sure exactly how much I am at liberty to share, but here are things which are worth knowing and where I think rumours at least have already been circulated online somewhere in recent weeks/months:

-The new board took over in late December, and have since undergone a process of due diligence to ensure they understood the position the company is in. Company accounts for the year ending January 2022 should be finalised and published within the next month. Safe to say at the moment the loss of Gypsum trains has hit company finances hard, as has £86k spent on bridge works, but thanks to a grant from the EMRT and also a legacy from a supporter, the dent in company finances has not been nearly as severe as it could have been.

-The board has produced a list of company objectives to make it clear from all. Key things to highlight are that these objectives include Reuinification, working with EMRT (Landlords of the Ruddington-Loughborough North section), LNER(GC) Heritage Trust (the Membership body), GCR PLC, FoGCML and David Clarke Railway Trust, as well as other parties involved. The board has also stated that they are seeking to own as few assets as possible to enable the operation of the railway, and will look to make use of hiring locomotives/stock/materials/plant as appropriate. A reason cited for this decision was the low manpower and financial power currently available at the NHR. Elsewhere in the meeting the benefit of reuinification allowing sharing of resources was mentioned, which is also likely a factor for this decision (though this is purely conjecture on my part and was not confirmed)

-Things that the Board is currently doing include:
--Meeting owning groups on site at Ruddington
--Working out a list of priorities for moving forward
--Identifying policies for moving forward
--Repairing relationships with stakeholders
--Working towards reopening No.1 Building for work to take place as a priority
--Working towards restarting trains (emphasised that this would be a staged approach (i.e. First shuttles to Asher Lane, then 50 Steps, then on to Ruschliffe Halt and beyond) and other things needed to take place before this passenger operation could restart
--Looking towards negotiating and formalising a new lease with the EMRT
--Identifying means available to bring money in

It was confirmed that parties involved are looking at an arrangement which would see the GCR PLC leasing the 5.5 mile section of track from Rushcliffe Halt to Loughborough junction, and taking advantage of the greater resources this organisation has to improve the standard of this section of track to allow commercial operations over it again (whether this was heritage passenger trains, Gypsum trains of other. The prospect of gypsum trains returning is currently up in the air). It was acknowledged that the size of the NHR means managing a 10 mile line in the state it is in would probably be too much on their plate, so it makes sense to reduce the scope of what the NHR is responsible for to ensure that can be looked after well

Fundraising for the A60 bridge at the southern end of the line is going well. A work order may well be placed this month and it is hoped that work will start within a few months. Thanks were given for those who had contributed, and people were encouraged to consider contributing if they hadn't already. If you would like to contribute to this fund, this can be done at https://www.gcrailway.co.uk/unify/?...XFO1xPPBXZRM7vNKPdavF0bfRnr3RAwIvCWeH_MdJimJw

People were also encouraged to consider contributing to the EMRT's Forward Fund (see https://emrtrust.co.uk/donate/)

When I queried what would be done about communications moving forward, the response was that the current channels (MailChimp newsletters for members, Driving Wheels membership magazine and other communications currently in place) would be continued, and they were looking to add other ways. Hopefully this will be on a Board Meeting agenda soon.

Some questions still open, but I certainly feel encouraged by the things that were said and that the board will take this seriously and will be open and transparent as they are able to ensure those outside the board are kept up to date with what is happening

 

I've just received the latest copy of "Rail Mail", which says the following:

 

Thanks for that detailed report rsh. I'm sure we all hope that this is the start of a steady growth of the GCR(N). It is obviously worrying about the lack of volunteers, but, as more things happen, and are seen to happen on site, more people will get involved.

 

TBF I think Ruddington has always had a small volunteer base, especially considering they ran 10 miles of line. In a way understandable - 10 miles to the south is a much larger heritage railway with the prospect of a greater variety of more interesting locos to crew and services to operate. It will always have been a challenge to encourage people to give their time to Ruddington and not to Loughborough, not to mention the range of other heritage railways all accessible within an hour's drive of Nottingham - take your pick from Ecclesbourne, Peak, Butterley, Shackerstone, even Nene Valley is doable

 

It was very good to read this from the GCR(N) S & T website......
"A frozen foggy morning, and an excellent turn-out from the massed forces of the Loughborough and Ruddington S&T departments. The collaboration is very much welcomed by both groups, as well as being essential to greater unification down the line.

Our mission: To thread five hundred yards of optic-fibre cable through the network of ducts and chambers under the Ruddington Fields site. This will allow a substantially improved system of CCTV cameras to be commissioned, guarding more of the site against intruders.

We started out well, pulling cable through from the gatehouse, through one chamber and the next to the childrens' play area, and then into No.1 shed, to be connected to the comms room.

After an early lunch, we made a start on the longer run, all the way along platform 1 to the signalbox. We found this rather more challenging, as the chambers get progressively deeper along the run, and the duct is relatively small. Still, after extracting a few errant roots, making use of the rodding set, and applying a little blunt force, we succeeded. As night fell the last few metres of cable were coiled-up in the new brick chamber outside Ruddington Fields signalbox.

This leaves the little job of bringing it in on cable tray to the racks at each end. To be continued!"

However it was dated 15th Jan 2022 and I don't know why this sort of collaborative work is not being better publicised. It shows the doubters that the various parts of the GCR are working together.

 

I didn't even know there was a GCRN(NHR) S&T Website, and I'm a volunteer! I guess they do weekly updates on facebook, not sure why those aren't duplicated on the website and the website isn't better publicised. But yes, great to show collaborative work!

 

Home - GCR(N) S&T (gcrnsat.org.uk)

 

Thank you 34015, that looks well worth browsing.

 

Is a (planned) signalling diagram for Ruddington available online anywhere?

 

Having just bought the current edition of Trackside, I discovered there is a 4 page article on the A60 bridge in it, with several photos showing the state it is in....

 

On the GCR(N)/NHR website it now talks about a 6 mile ride so, presumably, reflecting the suggestion that responsibility for running to East Leake from both the MML and eventually GCR will now be handled by the GCR. Incidentally, I hope that the website soon gets a make-over!