£350,000 for study into bridging the gap

well lets hope after spending 350K its feasible

No sorry guys not feasible, but thanks for the cash anyway

 

At least there's some news to report on the gap - I hope the study goes well.

Is there any news on the Loughborough Locomotive Works? Their web page hasn't had any News items for over 2 years now - looks like a dead website 8-[ - I sincerely hope the project isn't dead too!

(Seeing as I wasn't around when "real" steam ended, I was really looking forward to being able to seee the closest possible recreation of a big shed in action [-o<)

 

I guess if all these projects had all the money they needed they would all be going ten to the dozen!
Thats the bottom line, lack of money.

 

I expect the study will be looking at all options, including extensions north to the NET, south to Leicester Abbey as well as the loco shed, which is something of a neccesity if your 'bridging the gap'.

The bridge by itself, around £10m according to the website, i think is unlikely to produce enough extra revenue to make it financially viable as a stand-alone project - but spend a few million more for a shed complex and museum, and a northern link to the Nottingham tramway and the benefits stack up substantially, creating a city-to-city tourism corridor - hopefully attracting substantial grants

Chris

 

Jimbo, spot on, there's no cash.

I think I can guess the results of this £350,000 study already:

1. Of course it's feasible to connect the GCR back up again, what's the matter with you, your predecessors built it all from scratch!
2. It will cost a lot of money, more than you will ever have.
3. The Interest Rate is now 0.5% so if you have any savings, tough.
4. Heritage railways are a hobby and there's no money for hobbies at the moment so go and find a real job at the nearest car plant. (er, well perhaps not)
5. This gap should have been bridged years ago instead of just talking about it.
6. Like what you have because no longer can you have what you like.

When is it Friday 13th again? Oh yes, a week tomorrow. Groan.

 

It goes without saying that if they didnt think the scheme had merit, they'd hardly be granting £350,000 for a study! Of course it will be harder to find money in a recession, thats why the GCR are putting so much effort into looking for grants rather than launching an appeal to enthusiasts - an appeal which wouldnt be succesful and would likely cause more problems than it would solve by diverting funds and attention from the rest of the line.

Be happy people, its a step nearer an inter-city heritage railway

Chris

 

In the very long term are they still planning on increasing the speed limit to 45mph once the two lines are joined ?

I read this somewhere a few years back and personally I'd love to see that happen as it would feel more like being on a main line. However not sure what loops would need to be jumped through to get it all passed off.

 

The requirements under ROGs become more onerous when you want to operate above 40 kmph (c25mph). For example, you will requiire a Safety Certificate as well as a Safety Management System (SMS). The SMS should be tailored to fit the size & nature of the railway but ORR see 40kmph as being a threshold between a simple SMS and a full blown SMS. There is also a requirement to produce an annual safety report. The GCR may already have all this paperwork in place because they operate at above 40kmph for certain things and I don't think that the Regulations make a distinction between passenger and non-passenger operations. They may get away with lesser infrastructure and operational requirements for non-passenger operations, though. Such things as secondary door locking and TPWS start to raise their head at higher speeds, even though it is not Network Rail. I can see ORR looking carefully at these and other things.

 

Nothing to add.

 

Following on from Andy's excellent posting above, and as one of those guilty of an initial throwaway comment about the cost of the feasability study, perhaps I could suggest that if anyone is intending to visit the GCR in the near future you pop into the Emporium and purchase a copy of "Mainline" No 136, the Autumn 2008 back issue, for the modest sum of £1. I bought a copy during a recent flying visit, and the mag contains an absolute wealth of detail about the plans being looked at for the "Greater Great Central", ie the possibilities for the whole line once joined together. East Midlands Development Agency is, by the way, contributing two-thirds of the cost of this study, which will look at much much more than just the bridging of the Midland Main Line.

Andy, whilst I havn't trawled through all the links you have given, can I say that there really is a nead for all the information mentioned about the future of the GCR/GGCR to be posted somewhere on a dedicated website, for all to read, given that it is in the public domain. As others have said, some of the existing websites are rarely updated. The Bridging the Gap website has a brief announcement about the feasibility study, but nothing like the detail printed in Mainline, This looks like the first update on that website since 2007. Maybe one of those websites could be taken in hand and kept uptodate regularly, or a new one started. Thankyou!

Regards

46118

 

Please don't get me wrong, I really want to travel from Nottingham to Leicester on the Great Central, but unless the Government decides to spend a lot of money on it (which I think would be excellent as it would create work and therefore employment for businesses) then it will not happen at all in the current financial situation. I'm no economist but I see no investment opportunity in the project at all - which doesn't mean to say of course that there isn't one! After all, if enough wealthy people think its a good investment, then it will happen, which I guess is how the original GCR extension to London got built in the 1st place.

 

Nothing to add

 

Not possible without huge chunks of new alignment, the route through the centres of Nottingham & Leicester at least have been obliterated.

 

Andy , thanks for your comprehensive post above. You are obviously on the ball with this, afraid i'm out of touch with GCR matters, although I have an interest in the Eastern side of things as I was born in Lincoln, though now infected with copper cappery!!
I left the GCR in mid 90's & I seem to remember they've been doing those sort of speeds for years!!

 

Pie in the sky and would never happen, but if it were to happen and it was spearheaded by the preserved railway as an extension to Rugby (Banbury? Aylesbury?) then I'd see nothing wrong with demolishing industrial units, blocks of flats and houses to make way for the railway. How do you think the railway was built in the first place? Leicester Central station alone ate up over 50 houses and made over 150 people homeless, as well as burying one or two streets.

 

i believe that is legally refered to as a 'precedent'.

with regard to this mountsorrel railway project, is the idea that they run trains from the GCR onto their branch line, in effect for part of their line a private TOC operating for a bit on someone else's steam railway? it would certainly be a good location for the smaller engines from the Nottingham centre to be based. will elizabeth definately be returning from rutland to its original home? it's certainly an intriguing concept- an industrial railway within the structure of a mainline railway.

 

Nothing to add

 

Since when have E-on had power cables installed in any of the bores, old or new ?

Flip

 

Nothing to add

 

That would certainly be your perogative. To save time can I assume that the same level of research and attention to detail applies to the rest of your posting ?

Flip