The Great Central Railway

The Great Central Railway of today was started by the Main Line Steam Trust. Its goal was to run a double track main line and have the spectacle of two trains passing each other. One train perhaps a main line passenger train with ten coaches and the other with 40 mineral wagons.

People thought that this was to grand and would never come to foliation.These no hopers and those of little faith have all been proved wrong.Two track running is now common place. Steam trains with 40 wagons one way and passengers trains on the other line

The Great Central Railway today (2014) runs from Loughborough to Leicester North station close to the Leicester outer ring road. This railway is one of the better railways and is well worth a visit.There are also stations on the line at Rothey and at Quorn & Woodhouse. The head quarters of the railway is at Loughborough were the engine shed is and the main shop ect.. The railway has a large collection of steam and diesel engines. The railway is open weekends and bank holidays and daily from June to September

The part of the railway which the present Great Central runs on was mainly double track with island platforms for the stations, a road bridge placed over the platforms then gave access to the stations. The present railway station at Loughborough is a perfect example of Great Central stations at a small town and Quorn & Woodhouse and Rothey are good examples of a small village station. The present Leicester North is all new but is only yards away from a station that was called Belgrave & Birstall. This new station was be made to Great Central design but local planing laws and site excess has halted as quick and as large a station as might have been built here

The part of the railway which is now being run on will soon be even longer than it is now. The railway now has a second Railway. This is called Great Central Railway North. This will come south to join up with the southern railway. The engine sheds at Loughborough were built on the track bed of the old main line these may have to be removed

The small obstacle of a canal a main road and the Midland main line all of which need bridges befor the railways can join. This will not come cheap . With modern planing and safety laws the cost will be high but if past efforts are any thing to go on it will be done.

The Bridge to the Future page of the Great Central own web site has full details of the bridge over the Midland Main line that had to be built be for the overhead wires came to the tracks near Loughborough main line station in 2015, were the Great Central bridge was to cross over.

The Bridge over the Midland Main line is now in place (2019) with no track or and embankments in place yet. The overhed wires on the MML were cancelled north of Market Harborough. The Canal bridge is being repaired in 2019. None of these jobs are cheap and quick but will be done.

This website is Ukrailways1970tilltoday.me.uk it is on railways but it is not just on trains but all things railways, with photos, which I have taken from the 1970s till now. I take photos of all things railways, steam diesel and electric trains, signal boxes, wagons any thing that is on the National Rail network, which was BR when I started taken photos.