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 ?