Great Central Railway Last Hurrah Gala Saturday 15 & Sunday 16 November 2025

Loco Lineup

Steam
6990 'Witherslack Hall'
68067
73156
78018 - one of it's final appearances before expiry of it's boiler ticket early in 2026
78019

Diesel
Class 27 D5370 - final GCR appearance. Appears courtesy of the Caledonian Railway Diesel Group
Class 35 Hymek D7018. Appears courtesy of the DEPG & West Somerset Railway

DMU
Blue Class 101

Event Details

Three passenger sets in use along with the DMU: A set conveying griddle car serving full cooked breakfasts, B set conveying refreshment car serving real ales & C set diesel hauled hopefully including the steam heat van.

First departures both days as follows:

Loughborough at 0910 (last arrival 1753)
Quorn & Woodhouse at 0919 (last arrival 1745)
Rothley at 0900 (last arrival 1736)
Leicester North at 0915 (last arrival 1710)

Demonstration Box Van and Mineral Wagon trains between Loughborough and Rothley throughout each day.

Double headers and non-stop express services through Quorn in the Down (Loughborough) direction.

Timetables (including freight movements) and further details now available on the GCR website (note D5370 will work services currently allocated to D123): https://www.gcrailway.co.uk/visit/events/20251115-last-hurrah-gala/

All attractions subject to availability & all the usual caveats etc. Hope to see some of you there!

 

No EMR main line trains to Loughborough again, same as Autumn Steam Gala

 

Timetable now changed to show D5370, there will be a bus link from Leicester London Road to Leicester North to connect into and out of trains during the day.

 

May be a bit early to know but any ideas what directions the locos will be facing at this Gala. Cheers.

 

73156, 78018 & 78019 all face South

6990 starts North but gets turned to face South on Saturday morning

68067 faces North

 

Cheers, much appreciated.

 

Thought 78019 was at Dean Forest? Their FB post says it is.

 

Yes...and its coming back for the gala over 15th and 16th before heading to Nene Valley.

 

OK but that must make any statement about which way it is facing null and void, surely?
(Appreciating that @waterbucket has some insider knowledge... but he wrote the statement in the present tense, not the future tense.)

 

Jeez pmh_74, talk about being pedantic

Sincerest apologies for missing the word *will* out of my previous post!

 

D5370 and D7018 face north and south .

 

Hopefully, they will turn one of them so they both face the same direction when they diuble-head.

 

Does the Brake Tender get a run out on Gala Days?

 

But doesn’t that mean they’ll be double heading nose to nose? I hate it when that happens.

 

Will platform ticket be available for this event?

 

No ,you’re safe they’ll be cab leading and cab to cab when double headed .

 

GCR web site shows standard day ticket at £33 if purchased online. Can anyone tell me the price if paying on the day? Definitely intend to visit but not sure which day. Might be a late decision.

 

Past experience is usually £2-£4 more at the ticket office

 

I've always been able to buy online the day before, and then use a printed ticket or add the eTicket to my phone wallet.