Bridge that Gap: Great Central Railway News

Thanks for posting Ilvaporista, with good fundraising we will get some more "start up" foundation prep pictures by the end of the year!

 

The fundraising for the "Factory Flyover" is going well with nearly £1.5M raised so far. There is to be another "Money Match" March, with up to £150,000, pledged to match funds donated in March. It is hoped to start construction later this year.

 

It is the start of "Money Match March", which could see another £300,000 go into the fund for the Factory Flyover section to be built.

 

Anyone know if the chord line track has been relaid over the new A60 bridge yet?

 

I don't think that track has been laid over the A60 bridge yet. The PW team will have been busy on the Quorn bridges.
There is a new video on the GCR reunification website detailing the "Money Match March" fundraising for the next two sections ....The Factory Flyover". They hope to start construction later this year.

 

According to the latest GCR "Rail Mail" nearly half of the £150,000 has been donated so far this month. This is being "Matched" by another donor so doubling the money that goes to bridge building. This match offer ends on Easter weekend.

 

There is an online fundraising talk about the San Francisco cable cars on 9th April for Money Match March just in case anyone on here might be interested......
https://www.gcrailway.co.uk/unify/

 

Well "Money Match March" is now complete following the Tom Ingall zoom talk, so hopefully we should hear soon how much has been raised.

 

£1.78 million to hand now.

 

So nearly £300,000 added in the last few weeks! Thanks for all the donations and the Money Match benefactor.

 

In the latest 'Forward' (the Great Central Railway Society's journal), there's a piece by Tom Ingall that says something interesting. "As the golden spike between the railways creeps closer it's now time to make decisions about track layout, signalling and operations. There is already a signalling scheme in development for Hotchley Hill box at Rushcliffe Halt. Even better the signal and telegraph teams from both halves of the line are working together and after years of slumber there's a floor in the box, a lever frame and even a lever, number 2, which will control the first colour light home signal encountered by northbound trains."

Just reading that goes someway to allaying my concerns (caused by someone no longer involved with the GCR) that the Gap project is primarily about a mainline connection. I'm looking forward to seeing if there's any more light thrown on this in the next few issues of Mainline and Driving Wheels, if it looks like there's a plan or agreement in place as to how the link-up is going to be operated I'll be reviewing my decision from a few years ago to stop donating to the project.

 

Hi J Rob't
The Gap project has always been about joining the two sections of the GCR together. This will give several benefits and the mainline connection has always been just one of those benefits.
It is fantastic that progress has been maintained and it is said that the next stage "Factory Flyover" could be started later this year.
There have been many meetings between the GCR and GCR(N) teams to ensure that the link up will operate successfully. True there have been some less than helpful comments and articles - and there will be difficulties and compromises to come in the future....but we will have trains running from Ruddington to Leicester North well before 2030 I'm sure.
Forward the GCR!

 

Now that both MGs have chosen to leave the railway the muddying of waters around whether it was a mainline connection or a proper 18 mile railway has been cleared once again. I think it was only the pound shop version of Hoskins who wanted it to be purely a main line connection.

 

There would be more financial opportunities from hiring the line to manufacturers etc, for testing etc, if it was a 18 mile railway, and even more so for testing main line locomotives at speed , as part is already able to carry out testing up to 60 mph, and a longer line would certainly be a benefit for getting mileage under their wheels after overhaul.

 

TBF though it's never going to be an 18 mile 60mph railway, not when the railway has to snake past the sheds just north of Loughborough, or the speed restriction just north of Barnstone Tunnel due to the state of the ground. But Tornado has done 60mph testing between 50 steps and Rushcliffe, so you could potentially have 2 locos on test at the same time at different ends of the line...

 

Didn't know that!

Isn't parts of the GCR cleared for 75mph with diesel?

 

It’s been done in the past, I’ve always wondered how the locos and stock are certified for this, do they have to be maintained to the same standards as those that operate on the mainline? Or during these tests is it counted as a private test track?

 

Private test track I believe.

 

Reading the lastest Mainline is encouraging, but I was surprised, if I'm honest, to read that a project board is being established. I would have thought, given the nature and cost of the works, and the number of stakeholders involved, and the potential impact upon the whole Railway should something go south, that such a board would have been a prerequisite right from the initial decision to proceed with reunification - not something to put together with the project a decade old and several big-ticket items already procured. Maybe that's just me speaking as someone who is involved with major civil and structural engineering projects in their professional life.

Although maybe the previous absence of such a board goes some way to explaining exactly how one or two individuals were able to attempt to recast the project as being purely about a mainline connection. And some of the other odd discussions that have since been resolved - for example those surrounding whether to refurbish one or both decks of the canal bridge.