Great Central Railway, Last Hurrah Gala. Saturday 18th November 2023.
It was the Great Central Railways Last Hurrah gala and it was on my hit list to attend, I had however gone down with a stinking cold on the Wednesday, but managed to sneeze my way through work for the rest of the week, so needed a break away. I was feeling better by Saturday morning, but couldn’t decide if I should drive down to Loughborough, or take it easy and take the train. Faced with a 2 hour plus Motorway drive with the usual road rage and dodgy drivers, (I’m probably one of them), I opted for the train, to take the strain.
With the alarm set for 03.30, and I was soon driving down to Manchester Piccadilly for the 05.05 Avanta Pendolino down to Crewe, with a change for an East Midlands class 170, via Derby to Beeston, but the train was 25 minutes down by the time it arrived into Derby and I had just missed an East Midland Meridian direct to Loughborough, so stayed on the class 170 until I arrived at Beeston, and waiting in the opposite platform, on arrival, was a Loughborough bound Meridian, which had left before I could cross the footbridge. The next train was a stopper to Leicester, another class 170, but this was also 15 minutes down and I eventually arrived into Loughborough just after 09.00. In retrospect, I should have gone via Sheffield and caught a Meridian direct to Loughborough, but never mind, it’s all part of the fun.
On arrival into Loughborough, a heritage bus was waiting in the station car park to take visitors to the event. Still struggling a little from the cold, I walked down to Tesco to buy some Lockets, Tunes or similar, but they had nothing in, neither did any of the local shops I passes, so I made my way to central station and settled for a hot coffee instead.
The station bookshop was the first port of call, and £40 later, (I really should avoid such places), and I was boarding a ex BR standard 5 to the bottom of the line, at Leicester North.
The event coincided with the Great Central Railways 50th Anniversary. To put things into prospective, British Railways only operated for 49 years, 1948 to 1997, and the original LNER only operated for 25 years, 1923 to 1948, just think about that for a moment. Ironically, I see the new LNER are presently running a publicity stunt claiming the LNER is celebrating 100 years, forgetting to mention that the original LNER ceased to exist after 1948, talk about trying to change history, by manipulation of a few words, but still, never let the truth stand in the way of a good story, as we journalists say.
I digress, I returned up the line to Rothley and had breakfast in the café and then took a variety of photographs from various locations around the station environment. I later travelled up the line to Quorn and Woodhouse for similar location photographs. The railway was quite busy with some excellent workings, including freight box vans and tankers. All credit to the Great Central railway for hosting some very innovative galas.
Locos and railcars rostered included, BR Derby Lightweight Railcar - 'Iris', 1903 North Eastern Railway Electric Autocar 3170, BR(W) Modified Hall 6990 "Witherslack Hall", BR Standard 9F 92214, BR Standard 5, 73156, LMS 8F 48305, BR Standard Class 2 78019, and Class 37 D6700 Built by English Electric complete with break tender.
I finally returned to Loughborough Central and when I was ready to leave, a single decker Midland Red bus was waiting to take me back to the railway station and I didn’t have long to wait for an East Midlands Meridian direct to Sheffield, with a change for a Transpenning class 185 back into Manchester Piccadilly and the short drive home.
I caught up with several friends on the trip and had a good day out, a big well done to the Great Central Railway and all responsible, A great gala to end a season as always.
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