A brief history of the line
The line was opened as the Manchester-Sheffield-London
(Marylebone) main line of the GCR on 15th March 1899. The route was
built in a southwards direction, through the Nottinghamshire
coalfields to the city itself. The GC built the impressive
"Nottingham Victoria" station in the heart of the city, carving out
a huge cutting to accommodate the station (with both north and
south approaches in tunnel). Surprisingly, traces of the station
still exist today, but are often unrecognised: The Victoria
Shopping Centre has been built on the site of the old Victoria
station itself, but for those that care to look, the clocktower
looks a lot older - and that is because it is the old station
clocktower. Also, the north tunnel portal can still be seen from
the north carpark, accessible off Mansfield Road.
South of Nottingham Victoria, the line emerged at "Weekday Cross
Junction" and proceeded south on a huge brick arch viaduct which
also included a large girder bridge over the centre of the
"Midland" railway station (the present main line station within the
city). The NET Tram system actually uses some of that old GC
viaduct and formation north of Midland station. The GC route
emerged from the city over the Trent, through Wilford and towards
Ruddington. Much of the formation is still extant south of the
Trent and is earmarked for extensions to the NET Tram system.
At Ruddington, the GCR built a station on the Clifton-Ruddington
road, and this is the northern limit of the railway land owned by
today's GCRN. The station originally had sidings on land that is
now new housing. South of Ruddington, the present link to our
facilities within the Country Park existed, but the whole area was
a huge MOD depot, primarily used for disposal of assets after WW2.
Rail traffic to this depot ceased in the late 1980s.
South of Ruddington the railway crosses Gotham Moor and begins the
climb to East Leake. The rock here includes Gypsum, used for the
manufacture of plaster and plasterboard used in today's building
industry. There were and are gypsum mines here too. The plant at
East Leake is served by incoming Gypsum freight trains (which come
primarily from Drax Power Station - Gypsum is a by-product of the
process which cleans-up flue gas in coal-fired power stations),
these trains arriving off the Midland Main Line at Loughborough
where GCRN is reached. GCRN is the only Heritage Railway in the UK
to support a regular freight flow, and we therefore significantly
contribute to reduction of HGVs on local roads.
East Leake is a pretty, thriving village. The old station platform
still exists here, and we would like to re-open the station (for
passengers on-foot only). See also websites for East Leake: Village
Website; Parish Council Website
Travelling further south, we reach Loughborough. Here the line
originally crossed the Midland Main Line and proceeded southwards,
but the bridge was removed in the 1970s and the present GCRN line
now curves south-eastwards to join the present national railway
network towards Leicester. Our line here passes by the BRUSH works.
Some of our collection of diesel locomotives were designed here,
and many include BRUSH equipment. We hope to create a station here
to enable easy access to East Midlands Trains services.
Services that used the railway when it was open and part of the
national network included: London-Manchester and Liverpool,
York-South Coast and Yorkshire to Bristol expresses, as well as a
host of local connections centred on Nottingham Victoria.
The GCR route finally closed as a through route on 6th September
1966. While it remained serving the former ordnance depot at
Ruddington until the early 1980's, no passenger services traversed
the line. Once the ordnance depot closed, the railway became
disused until bought by enthusiasts who volunteer their time and
re-opened almost exactly 100 years after it's first opening. It now
serves as a key attraction in South Nottinghamshire.
For photographers, there is a guide to locations along our line HERE. The guide
shows example views as well as links to the Streetmap website for
OS Landranger map excerpts to help reach desired locations. Also
check-out our view of the seasons to see how your images can be
exiting each and every month through the year.
