Great Central Railway Loughborough Leicestershire 5th January 2022

On this beautiful January day I joined the Wednesday lineside clearance gang and we were chopping back the undergrowth south of Rothley Brook when a distinctive chime whistle was clearly heard. LNER A1 4-6-2 60163 Tornado duly appeared light engine from Loughborough, stopped beyond the Down Home signal seen here, reversed and shot off back to Loughborough.

We missed it the first time but on hearing it again I walked up to the loco and spoke to Dave the driver. It turned out they were Human Element testing the European Train Control System (ETCS) or is that ATMS - Advanced Train Management System now we are apparently no longer European?