Great Central Railway

On its way from Lancaster to Seascale the Class 101 diesel multiple unit pauses by the signal box at Rothley! During the Railways at Work Gala the dmu ran a shuttle between Loughborough & Rothley. Here it was waiting to return north at 10.16 having just reversed at Rothley Brook.

Caught in the act! It took this squirrel quite a while to decide that we were no threat so he could continue along the parapet of GCR Bridge 334 on Beeches Road to bury his acorn somewhere! It certainly made the wait for 3802 to depart more interesting.

We were on the shed road 2 ash pit at Loughborough while prepping Southern Railway N15 4-6-0 777 Sir Lamiel for the Wartime Weekend. I have posted shots of a steam engine's fire from the footplate before but this shot of the fire is from underneath through the damper door showing the ashpan and firegrate ! Not for the fainthearted... The firebars in the grate are not really aligned in parts & there is a gap on the left. This is to a certain extent the legacy of using Welsh coal which burns very hot & has distorted them. The grate was later replaced with new bars. The curved pipe on the left is actually the hose pipe I had introduced through the damper door & used to damp down the ashes before raking out the pan so no loose abrasive particles get into the bearings, etc.

No mistaking where this was taken... British Railways Standard 9F 2-10-0 92214 arrives in Rothley station heading for Leicester. The station is preserved in early 20th century condition complete with gas lamps. HFF and have a great weekend.

Great Western 2884 Class 2-8-0 3802 arrived in platform 1 before our train and here Rob & Lee have got the shunt signal to cross over to shed road 1 and take water before running round their train. HFF & have a great weekend.

By 07.47 daylight is breaking out over Loughborough shed but no beautiful dawn this! Brewing up in the rain is British Railways Standard 9F 2-10-0 92214 alongside Standard 5 4-6-0 73156 not in service on this day. The front end of our loco, BR Standard 2-6-0 78018, comes into the right of the view.

The former Leicester Central station Up Home gantry towers over Stanier Black 5 4-6-0 45305 as it drops back into platform 1 at Loughborough prior to taking out the 12.50 train to Leicester North. HFF & have a great weekend!

British Railways Standard 2 2-6-0 78018 passing through Rushcliffe Halt on the northern section of the GCR with the 12.30 Santa Special. 78018 has just come off the single track section from Ruddington and is passing the disused Hotchley Hill signal box. These days we use smokeless fuel so no more dramatic skies and less pollution! HFF & have a great weekend.

We had crewed the 13.00 dining train to Leicester and back with Stanier 8F 2-8-0 48305 and then spent 1 hour 45 mins steam heating the stock in Loughborough station prior to its later use on the Winter Wonderlights trains. Finally at 16.30 we uncoupled, took water and came on shed where we waited for our relief to arrive at 17.00. Cue time to take some night shots. It may be only a chain fence but it is a fence... HFF & have a great weekend.