We are on our way to Yorkshire and I have dropped Jackie in Central Loughborough which means I am free to ride the current Great Central in full. On our last visit we took the Mountsorrel branch and on a previous visit only travelled between Quorn and Birstall and Belgrave which has adopted the name of Leicester North having been moved about 100m south and within the boundaries of Leicester, the original station was demolished but they were very close. Today is a full fat run!
I arrive in plenty of time for my service and have time to walk past the line up of diesels including the Deltic which is due to return to service in the near future. I suspect I do not have enough time to visit the loco shed which sits astride the line and will be removed prior to be reconnected to the line northwards.
We are awaiting the return of the first service and it is steadily getting later and later. No announcement as to the cause of the delay and eventually it arrives. 73156 runs around and we are advised that the time at our destination will be cut to enable the timetable to be recovered. 73156 is a BR Standard 5MT entering service in 1957 working over the Great Central at various times before withdrawal in 1967 when it was consigned to Barry. It returned to steam and service in 2017 so will soon be reaching the end of its boiler certificate probably in 2028.
On our return journey we reach Rothley (pronunciation is questionable but locals seem to use something like Roathley) we stop but do not restart. It seems that the loco is unable to create a vacuum on the train and some fitters attend (the line’s carriage maintenance is undertaken at Rothley). The youngest (and female) member of the team makes several trips to and from the shed to obtain bolts (and presumably nuts) of the right size to effect a repair. After nearly an hour we are on our way once again.
The line is of course part of the London Extension from Nottingham to London opening at the end of the nineteenth century and consequently built to standards current at the time to ensure easy working. In preservation days the line was initially single and shorter and was slowly extended and part double tracked to provide a feeling of a main line – which of course the line was.
The railway has achieved much over the last 50 or so years and has great plans to link up the missing section and reconnect nearly back to Nottingham. The sums involved are eye-watering and to be honest I doubt that I will live to see it achieved. Green Signals have looked at the project in detail and you can watch a video of their investigation.
Reasonable passenger numbers for a midweek train not in the holiday season. Potentially excess passenger capacity today. It is a lovely run through the countryside and across the Swithland reservoir which was built in a couple of years prior to the railway being built through the area.