(There will be a suggestion with the Nottingham and Leicester reunification) The world’s only Mainline Heritage railway is in ‘The Heart of Rural England’ and ‘Robin Hood County’ otherwise known as Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire. The most popular part is the from Loughborough to Leicester North as 5.25 miles of that is Double Track which causes a sight of Heritage trains passing at a speed of up to 25MPH (on a regular basis). A verity of locos and DMUs race along The World’s Only Main Line Heritage Railway. (I have already done a suggestion on this railway but I don’t think they’re good so I’m trying again) Steam (Yes I do have that much spare time to make this) 9F N:92214 when preserved was based at the North Yorkshire Moors Railway (NYMR) and painted in BR Lined Black with a late crest. 92214 was also given the name ‘LOVE o’ The North’ and stayed at NYMR for 3 years (probably wrong) and then in 2014 moved to GCR and has stayed there ever since and has went out on loan to other heritage railways but this means next year 92214 will probably go into overhaul. At her time at GCR she has been painted into BR Brunswick Green and several names like Cromwell (to hold the crest of owner Mike Gregory's company, Cromwell Tools), Central Star, Leicester City (after the football team won the Premier League title in 2015/16) and City of Leicester but has been in Brunswick Green without a name and now in BR Black like she would have been in her working life. BR Standard 5 N:73156 has spent most her life (if not all her life) in BR Lined Black and has spent her working preserved life at the GCR and on loan to other heritage railways but mainly at GCR. DMUs BR Class 101s ‘unique surviving 111 buffet in the middle and is presented in British Railways green.’ ‘a 117 centre car and is presented in British Railways blue.’ Diesel BR Class 50 50017 ‘Royal Oak’ was designed to haul express passenger trains at 100mph. The loco operated on the main line until late in 2018 and was purchased by GCR after becoming available for sale in early 2019, and subsequently arrived by road on 18th February 2019. Layers 8F 48305 BR Class 33 D6535 (BR Blue) Packs BR Standard 2 ‘78018 & 78019’ Based of Ivatt 2MTs the BR standard 2 look almost identical 78018 became famous by getting stuck in a snow drift during February, 1955, which resulted in the film Snowdrift at Bleath Gill. Since 78019’s return to steam it has undergone routine maintenance but has generally proved to be a capable and economical locomotive.
6990 Witherslack Hall 6990 is a Modified Hall of the GWRs Hall Fleet (49xx) In normal service, 6990 was mostly stationed at Old Oak Common, the main GW shed for Paddington, with the exception of a year at Oxford and the last two years when it operated from Bristol. It was used on most of the duties for Old Oak Halls, including one recorded occasion in 1958 when it took a 490 ton load non-stop from Reading to Taunton - 106.9 miles in 114 minutes - on a relief to the 13:30 West of England express, but, in its latter days, it was used particularly on the Worcester services. At one time, the 4.00pm up fromWorcester to Paddington had the fastest booking on the Western Region - from Oxford to Paddington 63.5 miles allowed 60 minutes. No. 6990 was a regular performer on this service and it is on record that the distance was frequently covered in under 56 minutes. At Bristol, it was employed on cross country services from Weymouth and Salisbury to Bristol and South Wales. Witherslack Hall returned to traffic in 2015 and is now in regular service at GCR. Witherslack Hall was also named ‘Swithland Hall’ for a couple Galas after a sister ‘6988’ Stations Loughborough (Central) Quorn and Woodhouse Rothley Leicester North (Belgrave and Birstall)
DTG need to make another heritage railway. As it is a double track railway it would make scenario planning a lot less difficult.
Yes the only difficult bit to scenario plan would be from Rothley to Leicester North because that was rebuilt as single track
IMHO the Great Central would be better set when open as a proper railway. Something like Annesley to Woodford which would include the iconic Catesby Tunnel and covers the territory of the famous Windcutter fast freights, usually 9F hauled. 9F would be the new loco, with the Jubilee although not strictly correct covering express passenger workings with the 4F on local and trip workings. The problem with Heritage lines, as we know from WSR is much as we love them the pernicious 25 MPH speed limit precludes any opportunity to open the locos up and thrash them. Of course any new steam route is accompanied by the caveat that DTG must sort out steam physics first.
It would be an idea from Leicester Central to Sheffield Central and then extend the MML to Sheffield we could have a comparison between LNER (GCR) and LMS (MML)
It was basically impossible to scenario plan well with the WSR, you would always end up at an unavoidable red signal. I'd also prefer to see this as a heritage railway.
As far as I know that incident wasn't necessarily to do with their TPO operations, but a 37 and TPO coach being left stabled inadequately and quite literally running away into a rake of MKIs! This were 2013/14 I think and I am sure they have done TPO stuff since then. I think Nene Valley and perhaps Didcot are the only others doing it: Nene Valley did one last summer.
Yes because the name of 92214 in 2015/16 was ‘Leicester City’ and the video Shows she was with the nameplate ‘Leicester City’
Okay never mind that it says ‘Winter Steam Gala 28/01/18’ so 4 years after the Class 37 I do remember in 2023 I did see them lying in a siding
Excellent idea overall if you want something like Code T petrol try these from Top Gear series 17 Because your route suggestion is the same one as this episode of Top Gear. Layer wise owners of Jaguar XJS TGV 12 and Audi S8 Caravan DLC can run them on West Somerset Railway be aware crashing onto a Class 45/47 locos results in a service failure.
I don’t think we would be able to drive them but even if it’s the Mastery Challenge Reward (if people still do them) to have them appear at Swithland Sidings.
