Great Central Railway General Matters

I'm actually hoping to attend the GCR AGM the following weekend to that (13th) and was going to bring up the website issues and the much more restricted advance information that seems to be available now, compared to previous years.
The advance notice aspect is the biggest failing at the moment and could well be losing them customers.....

 

Thanks to all. I eventually managed to speak to someone in the office, and when i mentioned the website he heaved a huge sigh. So i guess its not just me. Anyway, it turns out that that they are running every wednesday, thursday and weekends in July.
They have published dates for June, even though many oif them say "timetable to be confirmed". You might thunk they would know by now...
There is no real clue as to what trains are actually running that weekend 6/7 or on 10/11 July, so i guess we will just have to turn up and hope for the best.
I suggest that the website does need an urgent overhaul.
It looks like now we will be visiting on 10/11 July. Whats the best advice for someone who has not visited before to get well soaked in the line? What kind of itinery and places not to be missed are there?

 

I was hoping to take my family to the Night Rail event (See post #993) but didn't go in the end, because there was no clear information about it on the website until it was too late for us to book accommodation.

 

I think part of the problem for the night rail event is that, in the original events plan I believe it was to be a 1940's/WW2 event, then due to the official 80th Anniversary of D Day events, many enactors would have been elsewhere, so it became a general 1940's event.....then a night rail event....so all changing. Plus many staff are having changed roles with the redundancy challenges.

 

so looking at our visit - we have not been to the GCR ever before. We are staying in Leicester. I am wondering what sort of itinery we should use.
There doesnt seem to be much at Leicester North, so i guess we would not start our day there - even though its handy for the hotel and the station seems to have parking.
But at Loughborough, there doesnt seem to be any parking (the website just says to park along the road).
So where is best to start a day on the railway, and what are the "not to be missed" things. We are going to be there on a Thursday in July, so the website gives no indication of the timetable - we are a bit in the dark and would appreciate some help and guidance.
Ian C

 

There isn't really anything at Leicester North, and it's in a pretty miserable area.

There's reasonable amounts of street parking in Loughborough within easy walking distance of the station.

Quorn and Rothley are both nice, and have ample parking.

Chris

 

Thanks for that. Is it worth going to Ruddington or is the northern section totally dead?
And is it possible to do any kind of exploration north of Loughborough station towards the sheds and the mssing link?
Ian

 

You should be able to walk down to beyond the signalbox and view the shed using the provided walkway from the north end of the station platform. That will take you as far as the road bridge just to the south of the shed building, though a chain has been preventing access to the shed area itself on most of my recent visits. Your visit may correspond with one of the shed visit sessions arranged by Flying Phil though he'll most probably message on here about those.
No access has been available to the north of the shed for quite a while, but the canal bridge can easily be viewed from the canal towpath and the other completed works and the future work sites can all be viewed from public roads - just have a look at the Google maps satellite views beforehand to work out likely spots.
Information from the "North" is fairly sparse, but the Ruddington site is open to the public and the cafe is worth a visit there, plus there is the Model Engineers minature line and the bus preservation operation.

 

Thanks, that's really helpful.
Ian

 

As you said you're going on a Thursday, most likely it'll be a single train up and down all day, at a guess probably three round trips, so I would factor that into your thinking as you'll have some long waits at the intermediate stations if you choose to break your journey there. With that in mind, from Leicester I would drive to Rothley and park there, get the first southbound train, the run-round at Leicester North gives enough time to look at what little there is, and then head north to Loughborough. On the way past look at Quorn out of the window and decide if there is enough there to stop off and see on the way back (it's good if you like wagons; there is also a decent cafe). You could break journey at Loughborough and again at Quorn, or pick one or the other and spend more time on the train. You're not likely to get things like shed tours and the garden railway running on a Thursday, unfortunately.

People closer than me to Ruddington keep hinting at trains resuming 'soon' but I haven't seen anything official. In any case I'm not sure if they even open the site on a Thursday. There is stuff to see at the weekend though.

 

The Ruddington site might be unlocked on Thursday but, it will be a skeleton set of volunteers there who will be focused primarily on their own work.

I know some on site would give you a quick tour, others are 'less accommodating', so it is pretty much pot luck. That said a general walk around, staying in the public areas, would generally have no issues.

 

Hi Ian
I can confirm that the "Boscastle Shed Tours" are being offered to visitors on the weekend of July 6/7th. They take place at regular intervals from 10.30 until 3.30 (The shed is closed at 4 pm). They take between 30 - 40 mins and are free, but a donation towards the overhaul of Boscastle is appreciated . You just need to walk up to the signal box and join the next tour.

 

Reading through the latest copy of Main Line which appeared yesterday, the General Managers report does contain the magic words "A new website will also be coming soon too!", so perhaps they have realised that the current incarnation isn't really fit for purpose!

 

Perhaps a unified website covering north and south?

 

I think it's a bit too early in the reunification process for that. I could be wrong, but it might well be

 

There is also the opportunity to see the latest progress on Tornado, 70013 Oliver Cromwell, 777 Sir Lamiel and the other locomotives in the shed.

 

For those who have commented about the current GCR website, it was mentioned at yesterdays AGM that it is on the list of things to be changed/upgraded, but, like most mainly voluntary heritage operations , they are struggling to cover some posts at the moment which isn't allowing things like the website to be dealt with as quick as they would like.
That was the first one I'd attended and came away with a very positive feel about the way the line is heading now and some of the comments made were fairly forthright about the lines recent history.
They are apparently going for a push in the number of GCR Shareholders in the near future and a number of benefits have been introduced, and in some cases re-introduced. Having received a "Silver Pass" in the post a month or so back (first time I'd had one), I was surprised to find out yesterday that it is valid at Galas as well as normal days, the only exempt events being Santa and Bonfire Night! Not only that, it's also valid for a second person accompanying the holder......
Thats a significant benefit once you reach the level of 5000 shares (£1250) in the GCR.

 

Thank you for your suggestions. We pretty much did that: parked at Rothley and had a cup of tea before heading south. The unexpected bonus for us was that the DMU was running to Mountsorrel so we did the branch too. Excellent stuff. It was good at Leicester that we could visit the footplate. Nice breakfast on the train back to Loughborough too.
The "area for improvement" was around the motive power. We had steam on the first run but when we got to Loughborough it was taken off and used on the dining train. The class 46 was then put on the service train that had been advertised as steam. Given that the dining train was preplanned, it was a pity that a second steam could not have been put on for it. So although we went up and down a few times, only had one way behind the steam.
Apart from that disappointment, we had a great day with the branch being a bonus. A fantastic line, very well looked after and excellently maintained. The staff at Rothley were very friendly and answered all of our questions,including demonstrating the gas lighting! We were told that public access to Swithland was being considered which would be interesting. It's also good that you can walk down almost to the sheds at Loughborough.
After the railway we went to the Mountsorrel Heritage Centre. They have a very small railway museum, but it is mostly a cafe. Good job it was only £2 to get in.
Really enjoyed the GCR, it's a great line and we will be back.

 

Glad that you liked our line Ian and your detailed summary is appreciated. When you return, hopefully, it will coincide with our Boscastle Shed Tours and you will get to see even more.