Great Central Railway (preserved)
| Great Central Railway | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Great Central Railway | |
| Locale | Loughborough, Leicestershire, England |
| Terminus | Leicester North |
| Commercial operations | |
| Built by |
Edward Watkin Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway |
| Original gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
| Preserved operations | |
| Operated by | Great Central Railway Plc |
| Stations | 4 |
| Length | 8.25 miles (13.28 km) (Leicester) 10 miles (16 km) (Nottingham) |
| Preserved gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
| Commercial history | |
| Opened | 1897 |
| Closed | 17 March 1969 |
| Preservation history | |
| 23 March 1974 | GCR Reopened |
| 1976 | GCR Plc formed |
| 2000 | Double track opened |
| 2012 | Swithland Sidings opened to the public |
| Headquarters |
Loughborough Central & Ruddington |
The Great Central Railway (GCR) is a heritage railway in Leicestershire, named after the company that originally built this stretch of railway.
The GCR is currently Britain's only double track mainline heritage railway, with 5.25 miles (8.45 km) of working double track, period signalling, locomotives and rolling stock. It runs for 8.25 miles (13.28 km) in total from the large market town of Loughborough to a new terminus just north of Leicester.
Four stations are in operation, each restored to a period in the railway's commercial history, the 1950s Loughborough Central, Second World War and the remainder of the 1940s Quorn & Woodhouse, the Edwardian Era Rothley and the 1960s Leicester North.
In 1897 the Great Central Railway itself was formed, becoming the last steam mainline in the United Kingdom. Two years later in 1899 "The London Extension" was officially opened to passenger and freight traffic, allowing more direct journeys from the capital to Nottingham, Leicester, Sheffield and Manchester. The entire line was built to accommodate a European standard loading gauge and all but a few stations were single island platforms. This construction scheme was devised by chairman Sir Edward Watkin, who had envisioned his railway one day running under a channel tunnel to France, linking Britain with the continent.
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Wikipedia