Great Central Photo Guide

Like the ones for the NYMR / NNR is it possible someone could do a GCR one? i am hoping to visit in a fwe weeks, and any help appreciated. i have never been before.

 

Hi Dave,

For sure. Give me a few days to knock something together. I'm no expert on the GCR, but I know a few good spots. Are you planning to get a lineside pass?

 

No im not... i'm going with my dad and for one day a year it just isn't worth it. We will be able to move about by car though

 

Photographic Guide to the GCR.

Written by: M Allen - January 2006

The following is a list of the spots that I’ve found. These are mostly possible without a lineside pass, I’ll say if any are lineside.

Areas I’ve not explored yet so others might have some ideas are Swithland sidings and anywhere south of Rothley.

Most locos at the GCR face South (Leicester) with the exception of 78019 which faces north. North facing locos give a particular problem due to the light.

Starting at Loughborough…..the station gives a few good opportunities if locos in the platforms or sidings adjacent, but space is quite tight.

The second bridge (Beeches Av or rd) south of Loughborough has an excellent signal gantry. I’ve never photographed it myself, but it’s probably easiest to walk from the platform (lineside pass only). I’ve seen some great shots of locos departing Loughborough from here.

Beeches Av

I think the next spot is called the A6004 road bridge, there are a few bridges in quick succession that give some good possibilities. This is my favourite, with shots like http://www.mattallenphoto.co.uk/forweblogo45.GIF/

http://www.mattallenphoto.co.uk/GCR-1-(26).gif/

A slightly wider shot - http://www.mattallenphoto.co.uk/peak-gcr-lowres.gif
You can just see another bridge in the background towards Loughborough. The bridge where this photo is taken from is actually on the busy ring road bridge here, videoing is probably a no go because of the noise. There is a roundabout with a lay by ideal for parking in. You can walk along side the road to get many different angles. The bridge in the background is "main st".

You can also shoot towards Quorn, but be careful crossing to road! http://www.mattallenphoto.co.uk/peak-gcr-lowres1.gif

Map here A6004 Road bridge

A real favourite of mine is the next spot. The road bridge at Quorn station. You can take pics from either the bridge or lineside if you have a permit. During galas some trains are non stop, so you're pretty much guarnateed some smoke (stoppping trains shut off just before the signal).
http://www.mattallenphoto.co.uk/forweblogo48.GIF

alternatively

http://www.mattallenphoto.co.uk/GCR-1-(2).gif

or maybe

http://www.mattallenphoto.co.uk/GCR-064-PS-lowres.gif

map at Quorn

The next spot is the infamous "Kinchley Lane", this can get really busy during galas. Pics like http://www.mattallenphoto.co.uk/GCR-103-PS-lowres.gif or http://www.mattallenphoto.co.uk/forweblogo49.GIF, again a few different angles are possible. I get here via the road alongside the reservoir, as you drive alongside the reservoir some pics are possible across the reservoir, best during late afternoon. http://www.mattallenphoto.co.uk/GCRa-016-PS-lowres.gif When you drive along the lane, just after the reservoir there is a sign that thoses "unsuitable for motor vehicles", ignore that you can drive as far as the railway bridge no problem.

Map at Kinchley Lane

Another picutre I've tried, which is OK is the viaduct (although you can't see the loco wheels) like http://www.mattallenphoto.co.uk/GCR-viaduct.gif not the best pic, but could be worth trying. Map Reservoir viaduct picture taken from "main st".

The final place is around "Rothley" station. Pics like http://www.mattallenphoto.co.uk/GCR-1-(4).gif or towards the station http://www.mattallenphoto.co.uk/GCR-1-(8).gif. Map at Rothley

I'm sure there are plenty of other places, but these are my favourites. Please feel free to PM me with any amendments or suggestions.

Apologies for the poor formatting and also some of the links not working (if you cut and paste url it should be fine), I've spent 2 hours on this and enough is enough!!

Also, how due I remove the huge map urls but provide a link?

 

give me ten mins and i will make the links shorter if ya like?

 

Photographic Guide to the GCR.

Written by: M Allen - January 2006

The following is a list of the spots that I’ve found. These are mostly possible without a lineside pass, I’ll say if any are lineside.

Areas I’ve not explored yet so others might have some ideas are Swithland sidings and anywhere south of Rothley.

Most locos at the GCR face South (Leicester) with the exception of 78019 which faces north. North facing locos give a particular problem due to the light.

Starting at Loughborough…..the station gives a few good opportunities if locos in the platforms or sidings adjacent, but space is quite tight.

The second bridge (Beeches Av or rd) south of Loughborough has an excellent signal gantry. I’ve never photographed it myself, but it’s probably easiest to walk from the platform (lineside pass only). I’ve seen some great shots of locos departing Loughborough from here.

Beeches Av

I think the next spot is called the A6004 road bridge, there are a few bridges in quick succession that give some good possibilities. This is my favourite, with shots like clicky and http://www.mattallenphoto.co.uk/GCR-1-(26).gif you can just see another bridge in the background towards Loughborough. A slightly wider shot clicky
The bridge where this photo is taken from is actually on the busy ring road bridge here, videoing is probably a no go because of the noise. There is a roundabout with a lay by ideal for parking in. You can walk along side the road to get many different angles. The bridge in the background is "main st".

You can also shoot towards Quorn, but be careful crossing to road! clicky

Map here clicky

A real favourite of mine is the next spot. The road bridge at Quorn station. You can take pics from either the bridge or lineside if you have a permit. During galas some trains are non stop, so you're pretty much guarnateed some smoke (stoppping trains shut off just before the signal).
clicky

alternatively

clicky

or maybe

clicky

map at clicky

The next spot is the infamous "Kinchley Lane", this can get really busy during galas. Pics like clicky or clicky, again a few different angles are possible. I get here via the road alongside the reservoir, as you drive alongside the reservoir some pics are possible across the reservoir, best during late afternoon. clicky. When you drive along the lane, just after the reservoir there is a sign that thoses "unsuitable for motor vehicles", ignore that you can drive as far as the railway bridge no problem. Map at clicky

Another picutre I've tried, which is OK is the viaduct (although you can't see the loco wheels) like clicky not the best pic, but could be worth trying. Map clicky picture taken from "main st".

The final place is around "Rothley" station. Pics like
clicky

or towards the station. Map at clicky

I'm sure there are plenty of other places, but these are my favourites. Please feel free to PM me with any amendments or suggestions.

Apologies for the poor formatting and also some of the links not working (if you cut and paste url it should be fine), I've spent 2 hours on this and enough is enough!!

Also, how due I remove the huge map urls but provide a link?

 

sme of the url's arnt working

WHY ](*,) lol

 

I think its because some of the phot file names have - or _ or ( ) in them. I've edited the orginal post best I can.

Thanks for that guide Photomatt.

So who's going to do the next guide and what line are you going to do?

 

only thing you can do is take out the http:// to make it look neater and thats it lol

 

Thanks guys, you did a great job of tidying it up! You'd never believe I work in IT!

I'm game to do one for the MHR and maybe the PD&SR, how about one for Swanage or South Devon Railway any takers?

PS This has the start of an excellent collection of guides, we could end up with the Nat Pres guide to photographic locations on Heritage Railways!

 

lol ive been thinking would it be worth doing a booklet for all the railways listed and selling it to help raise money for the fourm

p.s thinking about money when are we gonna get to vote on where all the speare money is going (eg a railway/loco)

 

I think some railways might have an objection to all their good spots being put in a book! The one i done for the NNR contains a few spots that i no are very rarely visited by photographers, so i would definetly wantto delte a few before anything like that was considered. But i'm sure there is some way that we could make a 'compilation' of electronic or other form.

Oh and since i asked 4 it, thanks matt

 

After my dreadfully bad formatting I decided to redeem myself by putting all this into a PDF document. That way it can be printed out with all the pics and maps, ideal to take with you on a visit to the GCR.

I'm trying to keep the file size as small as possible, when it's ready I'll put a link to it (on my webiste) and anyone can download it. If anyone has got a slow connection, let me know and I can post you a copy.

Watch this space!

 

OK, I think this works, but can someone try it and let me know! It's about 1.6mb so beware if you have a slow connection.....

If anyone does have a slow connection and wants a copy, send me a PM and I'll post you a copy.

http://www.mattallenphoto.co.uk/gcrguide.htm

 

Some photos with locations pinned to Flickr map
Woodford 50th Gala
https://www.flickr.com/photos/66957213@N00/albums/72157654630501282

Winter Steam Gala 2016
https://www.flickr.com/photos/66957213@N00/albums/72157661810630504

Railways At Work 2015
https://www.flickr.com/photos/66957213@N00/albums/72157649787959244