Great Central Railway (heritage railway)
Heritage railway based in Loughborough, England / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Great Central Railway (GCR) is a heritage railway in Leicestershire, England, named after the company that originally built this stretch of railway. It runs for 8.25 miles (13.28 km)[citation needed] between the town of Loughborough and a new terminus in the north of Leicester. It has period signalling, locomotives and rolling stock.
Great Central Railway | |
---|---|
BR Standard Class 7 70013 Oliver Cromwell leaving Loughborough | |
Locale | Loughborough, Leicestershire, England |
Terminus | Leicester North |
Commercial operations | |
Built by | Edward Watkin Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway |
Original gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
Preserved operations | |
Operated by | Great Central Railway Plc |
Stations | 4 |
Length | 8.25 miles (13.28 km) (Leicester) 10 miles (16 km) (Nottingham) |
Preserved gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
Commercial history | |
Opened | 1897 |
Closed | 17 March 1969 |
Preservation history | |
23 March 1974 | GCR Reopened |
1976 | GCR Plc formed |
2000 | Double track opened |
2012 | Swithland Sidings opened to the public |
Headquarters | Loughborough Central & Ruddington |
The GCR is currently the only double track standard gauge mainline heritage railway in the world with 5.25 miles (8.45 km) of working double track.[1]
Four stations are in operation, each restored to a period in the railway's commercial history: Loughborough Central (the 1950s); Quorn & Woodhouse (Second World War and the remainder of the 1940s); Rothley (Edwardian Era); Leicester North (the 1960s).