Volume 8 Number 9 GREAT CENTRAL RAILWAY WEEKLY NEWSLETTER February

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1 Volume 8 Number 9 GREAT CENTRAL RAILWAY WEEKLY NEWSLETTER February From the General Manager Last weekend, despite the bitterly cold weather, we had an excellent turnout of visitors for the Golden Opportunities weekend. Thank you to everyone who visited and also to those of you who volunteered. Moving on rapidly, this weekend sees our diesel running event and, just a week later we have our Peppa and George event. Details of the above may of course be found on our website, as will our Easter Vintage Festival over four days. The latter was staged in 2012 for the first time in many years. Besides all the steam traction engines, we're catering well, I hope you'll agree, for steam rail enthusiasts: not only will we have the Blue King in steam, we'll also be welcoming Gervase onto the railway (for which our gratitude to Mike Hart OBE). Just a little later, at the last weekend of April, we'll have our Swithland Steam Gala. This event is really beginning to take shape now. Amongst the locomotive attractions will be the Webb Coal Tank (courtesy of Bahamas Loco Society and the Heritage Lottery Fund) and Alfred and Judy (courtesy of Bodmin & Wenford Railway). Richard Patching We've Done It! - Mountsorrel Railway Reaches the End Of the Line On Saturday February 23rd 2013 the final panels of track were laid along the Mountsorrel branch line to reach the proposed location of the new Mountsorrel Halt at Bond Lane. Over 75 project volunteers turned out to help lay the final panels and we were joined by representatives from Mountsorrel Parish Council and Lafarge. A film crew from Central News were also there filming a news item for Saturday evening's broadcast and their should also be coverage in this week's Loughborough Echo. Last May when we launched our appeal to raise the funds necessary to secure the rail we needed to complete the project, we set ourselves the ambitious tasks of having track laid through to Mountsorrel Halt by February At the time many doubted that we would Page 1 / 7

2 achieve this and if it hadn't have been for the support of those who donated and the hard work and dedication of everyone involved, we certainly wouldn't have done so. There is still much to do before the line can open for public trains to operate. Full details will appear in the next issue of Main Line, due out at the end of this week. Please see our project website for pictures from the day. Steve Cramp EASTER VINTAGE FESTIVAL Fri 29th March through to Mon 1st April Join us as we celebrate the good ol days of steam. Experience a country fayre at Quorn station with steam powered gallopers and big wheel, traction engines, live music & beer tent, craft stalls and visiting locomotives. It s good old fashioned family fun and for just 30 for a family of 5, it s good old fashioned value too! Friday Night Live Gig with The Roosters On Friday night Quorn gates open again at 6.30pm with a knees up in the real ale tent with live music from The Roosters, playing no-nonsense covers of classic songs from the golden age of pop music, the sixties, the seventies and the eighties. To purchase tickets ( 5pp or 10 for 40) please call into the marketing office (opposite the booking office) or call The vintage fairground rides will also operating into the evening and we will be serving hot food. Join us for a boogie, a pint and a ride on the gallopers! For more information visit GCR Extranet The GCR has launched a new information tool for staff and volunteers called the Staff and Volunteer Extranet, and this is available to anyone with an internet connection at the following url: All staff and volunteers are invited to register for access by using the link above. For registration you will need certain information to hand from your FoGCML membership, as your identity is validated against this information during the registration process. Your type of FoGCML membership is checked at the same time, and registration is only permitted for those people with a valid working membership. If your FoGCML membership lapses or you change your membership to a non-working membership, access to the extranet will be revoked automatically. If you have a "life" FoGCML membership rather than a working membership, please extranet@gcrailway.co.uk before registration. If you encounter any issues during registration or when using the extranet, please contact: extranet@gcrailway.co.uk InterRail Pass Scheme 2013/2014 Page 2 / 7

3 The annual two person passes are again available to staff and volunteers at a cost of 25. These can be used at the majority of heritage railways, and a list is supplied with the passes, although there are usually restrictions on Gala Days and special events. To apply please forward to myself a cheque payable to Heritage Railway Association (or HRA ) together with an SAE unless you wish to collect from Loughborough Booking Office. Passes will be valid from March 1st. Steve Saunders MEET PEPPA & GEORGE - 9th & 10th March Join Peppa and her little brother George for an exciting day out for all the family. This is the sixth time that Peppa and George have come to the railway and they loved it so much they re coming again. You can meet Peppa and have your photo taken with her and then meet George and have your photo taken with him too! There are lots of lovely things to see and do, funfair rides to play on, a miniature railway and to keep you nice and dry we have even put up a special marquee where you can magic and tricks with Mr Twister. Take a ride on the big steam train, choo choo, and for an extra special treat why not get your face painted just like Peppa s, OINK OINK BOOK YOUR TICKETS ON LINE NOW, VISIT: Branch Line Society/ GCR Track Visit - 17 March 2013 Our friends at the Branch Line Society will be chartering a special train on Sunday 17th March Departing at 08:00, and due to conclude by 12:00, they are delighted to offer what is believed to be the most comprehensive track bash of GCR infrastructure. It is intended that either a 2 or 3 car DMU formation is used. The proposed route is as follows: Depart Loughborough Central Platform 1 - Quorn and Woodhouse Up Reception North - Quorn and Woodhouse Up reception South, via North crossover - Quorn and Woodhouse turntable road - Quorn and Woodhouse cattle dock road - Swithland Up Loop - Swithland head shunt - Swithland Up Loop - Swithland Up Main, via double slip - Rothley Up Platform - Rothley C&W yard - Leicester North platform to EOL Leicester North Bay platform, via South end of loop - Loughborough Down Loop via Swithland Down Loop - Loughborough Shed Road 1 - Loughborough Platform 1 North Loughborough Shed Road 2 - Up Through siding South - Carriage siding 1, via Down loop - Loughborough Platform 2 North via Shed Road 1. As usual a track map, stock list and souvenir ticket will be provided to aid enjoyment of the day. Note that passengers will be required to sign a short disclaimer as a condition of participation in this event. The event will operate at a fare of 22 per person for members of the Branch Line Society, 27 non-members. To book your place, please forward a cheque payable to Branch Line Society to Kev Adlam, 53 Kemble Close, Wistaston, Crewe. CW2 6XN, providing an address where possible. Any queries should be addressed to Kev Adlam preferably Page 3 / 7

4 by to or by telephone 20:00 to 21:00 Monday to Friday on The fixture is expected to fill quickly so do please book promptly if you are interested. An opportunity for a supporting fixture in the afternoon is being pursued, and if successful further details will be provided. Richard Patching FORTY YEARS OF MEMORIES 23 March Forty years have passed since the first Open Day at Loughborough Central. David Putt looks back at a random collection of pictures taken over these amazing years. The people, the locomotives, the rolling stock, the stations, the track and the signals have all played a role in creating the Great Central we know today. This presentation will take place at Lovatt House, Wharncliffe Road, Loughborough on Saturday 23rd. March 2013 at 7.30pm. Admission is free but a collection in aid of the Loughborough Canopy Fund will be taken. AWARD WINNING SWITHLAND SIDINGS COMPLEX OPEN TO VISITORS AT SPECIAL GREAT CENTRAL GALA Visiting Engines to star at three day event 26th to 28th April It s the three day steam dream railway enthusiasts have been waiting for. For the first time since the completion of the award winning signalling at Swithland Sidings, the Great Central Railway is opening the area to the public. With guest locomotives and a super intensive timetable, the unique spectacle of steam locomotives passing each other, running into loops and shunting in sidings will unfold. There won t be a dull moment! The gala will feature passenger and freight running on the award winning Leicestershire heritage line, and also the first few yards of the newly laid Mountsorrel branch line. Visitors will be able to stay all day in a special viewing at Swithland, closer to the action than has ever been allowed before. Such intense action was once common place on Britain s Railways but can now only be seen on the GCR. The list of locomotives expected in action is also impressive. After an extended stay, GWR King class No King Edward II will put on a farewell performance. As the railway waves goodbye to one visitor, it welcomes three others for the first time. London and North Western Railway Webb Coal Tank No 1054 will feature on the GCR s freight trains (subject to contract). Meanwhile the sidings at Swithland will be shunted by two diminutive locomotives. Bagnall 0-4-0s Alfred and Judy were built with very low cabs and short wheelbases to cope with low bridges and tight curves on the Cornish branch lines they once worked. Completing the motive power line up are engines from the GCR home fleet including Ivatt 2 No 46521, Red liveried LMS 8F No 48624, LMS Jinty No and BR Standard 2 No In all, eight locomotives are expected in action. Page 4 / 7

5 Kate Tilley, Great Central Railway marketing manager said, We ve started to see the potential of the new signalling at Swithland Sidings at our recent major galas. However, we know people want to be allowed on the ground there, to see the true theatre of the railways for themselves. It s going to be a very exciting event and with the King, some guests, and so much to see, it is certainly not one to be missed. Children will be delighted by Alfred and Judy and they will right at home shunting at Swithland. Hot food will be available at Swithland during the three day event. Passengers will be able to reach Swithland using a complimentary shuttle bus from Quorn and Woodhouse station. When changing trains at Quorn, look out for demonstration high speed mail drops and locomotives being turned on the new turntable. On additional unusual attraction is a narrow gauge locomotive. Tallyllyn Railway No. 3 Sir Hayden will be on display at Quorn and Woodhouse station. Usually found running trains in Wales, the locomotive is coming back to Leicestershire where it was built at Henry Hughes Locomotive and Tramway Engine Works Ltd in Loughborough (the site is now occupied by the Brush Works). The locomotive will be posed alongside two large diesels also built locally as part of a Made In Loughborough display. The railways family tea rooms and bistros will all be open during the event. Timetables and fares will be available at the Great Central Railway s website closer to the event. All locomotives and attractions appear subject to contract and availability. No.3 SIR HAYDN GOES BACK TO ITS BIRTHPLACE Talyllyn Railway s Locomotive No.3 Sir Haydn is going on its travels in April, when it is due to be moved to Leicestershire to appear at the Great Central Railway s Swithland Steam Gala between 26th and 28th April Here it will be displayed in the yard at Quorn and Woodhouse station along with a Talyllyn publicity and sales stand staffed by volunteers from the railway. This is an appropriate venue for the locomotive to visit as it is very close to the original works where it was built in These were the works of Henry Hughes Hughes s Locomotive & Tramway Engine Works Ltd. in Loughborough, which later became the Falcon Engine and Car Works. This in turn was taken over by the Brush Electrical Engineering Company in the early twentieth century. No.3 was the third of three identical s built by Hughes for the 2ft 3ins gauge Corris Railway, being rebuilt as an in It continued to serve the line until it closed in In 1951 it, along with Corris No.4, was purchased by the embryonic Talyllyn Railway Preservation Society for the Talyllyn where it has worked ever since, although it has returned to the Corris on two occasions in the last few years. It was named Sir Haydn on the Talyllyn after the long-time owner of the line before it was preserved, but often appears as its alter-ego Sir Handel from the Skarloey Railway. Page 5 / 7

6 Currently No.3 is based at the Corris Railway where it has been displayed since its boiler certificate expired last year. The Corris Railway Society have agreed to release the locomotive early from a leasing agreement in order for this visit to take place. While the locomotive is away from Tywyn it is also planned to visit other venues, details of which will be released in due course. Richard Patching, Great Central Railway s General Manager said Although it will not be in steam it should prove to be a unique attraction during the gala, along with, hopefully, another standard gauge diesel Loughborough locomotive, plus the other attractions at the station including the working turntable. All Talyllyn members are also entitled to privilege ticket rates during the gala, upon production of a valid membership card. A spokesman for the Talyllyn commented Our thanks must go to all those who have made this visit possible and enabled No.3 to return to its birthplace. Particularly we would like to thank the Corris Railway Society for being so gracious in releasing the locomotive to us. We hope that it will prove to be a great attraction during the gala. Leicestershire area group March 8 Steam in the Snow Les Nixon Wintry scenes from pre-60 s to the present century in the U.K. and worldwide. All meeting are held at St. Bartholomews Church Hall, Church Lane, Quorn, near Loughborough, starting at Free admittance, although donations welcome to defray costs. Refreshments available during the interval. Any enquiries to John Calton on , Keith Satterly or Peter Hack Northamptonshire area group March 6 Last years of BR steam Roger Jones Slide show from the last 5 years of BR All meetings are held at Weston Favell Parish Hall, junction of Booth Lane and Wellingborough Road, Northampton, NN3 3EP, starting at 19:30. Free admittance, although donations welcome to defray costs. Refreshments available. Any enquiries to Tony Hemmings Shed News We are having a well needed clear out at the shed. No, don't get excited, not throwing away all those piles of useful engineering parts that we are sure to need one day. It is the locos themselves that are starting to leave, with the N2 first to leave about ten days ago to the East Lancs, and it is scheduled to stay away for most of the spring. Next this week was the Standard 2, off to the North Norfolk for their standards gala, Chris Reed and I just managed to fit the first two brackets into the smokebox that form the spark arrestor gear before it had to be sealed up. The loaned GWR heavy freight 3803 is off next week, and Sir Lamiel is due to the Mid Hants any day. After that it will be Cromwell to the main line, and sadly the King. Page 6 / 7

7 Cromwell has had all its tubes in and beaded, so will be getting near steam test, but still needs the valve liner to be completed and fitted. One that certainly will not be going for a while is the Standard , but this week should see the copper welding of the replacement rear firebox laps done, then they need patch screwing. Meanwhile at the front end I am ready to fit the first half of the screws that are replacing wasted rivets, when in I will take the second half out. We are even starting to consider the purchase of small and large tubes! Conveniently in the middle of the shed is the 'new' Standard , which is having its smokebox adjusted to the same diameter as the boiler barrel and rigidly attached to it. No doubt the boiler will have to come off again, but at least doing it now ensures that the two parts are correctly aligned. In the LMS corner the Sentinel Gervase is lined out and varnished, awaiting steam test. Behind it the boiler of Austerity 3890 now has its new copper firebox inserted, and Kermit is busy drilling out the inner box to accept stays. The loco for the weekend is the King, only having to do the diners as it is a Diesel Gala. David Mathews Work in progress on the motion of Boscastle last Saturday. Ian Loasby If you have any news or photos you d like included in the weekly newsletter, please forward to martin.ward@gcrailway.co.uk by 10.30am Wednesday. GCR Plc Page 7 / 7