Leicester London Road 14th May 1977

View north from Leicester station. Peak class diesels 45159 & 45114 slowly draw a train towards the station although the signals seem to be against them. In fact that's the signalman hurrying back to his box to clear the Inner Home.

Meanwhile a dmu is heading northwards under clear signals on the Down Main.

45159 had failed within sight of the station & fortunately 45114 was on hand in the station & was dispatched to retrieve it. The whole episode only took half an hour or so. I wonder how long it would take today if a Midland Mainline train failed here? There are only very few locomotives around, if any, & those would be EWS or Freightliner owned so difficulties with insurance, liabilities, etc would make it a long drawn out procedure I'm sure.

Until the 1980s Leicester Midland before modernisation was an interesting place with a definite steam-age atmosphere. Leicester North's Midland Railway signal box, a forest of semaphore signals, the loco stabling point behind the box and, off shot to the left, the LNWR & MR Goods yards all added their bit.

Interestingly, the loading gauge post on the extreme left has lost its hanging gauge hoop which could still be seen on a 1975 photo I posted elsewhere. A clear indication of the further loss of freight business in the intervening two years.