Great Central Railway
The Great Central Railway runs from Loughborough south to Leicester North (originally Belgrave & Birstall) Its most famous attribute is the section of track between Loughborough to Rothley that’s now double. Train movements are allowed to reach 25mph during public running, the twin track gives the photographer a unique experience to photograph trains passing, which can be common especially on gala weekends. Whilst the backdrop isn’t exactly stunning like Llangollen for example the long straight sections of track either side of Quorn station are just wonderful with dozens of great line side locations. The most famous being Woodthorpe & Kinchley Lane. Quorn & Rothley are wonderful, Loughborough has the feel of a classic 1960’s station & Leicester North is having a overhead canopy built to improve facilities there. Coaching stock & frieght are good with the windcutters the highlight, locos are very good with many being large Mixed traffic or passenger express types. The GCR has suffered with debt for a number of years, but under careful management is now profitable & really exciting to photograph at, if they get the funding to bridge the gap over the midland mainline @ Loughborough it will effectively link Nottingham to Leicester again…………..
My first charter of 2010 was with the fantastic Stanier Mogul on a visit from the Severn Valley. Designed by William Stanier she's the sole survivor from a class which numbered 40 built between 1933-34 at Crewe. With more tractive effort than the bigger Black5's she always seems to perform for my camera....The weather for the charter was pretty damn awful so convention went out the window, Russ concentrated on black clag and bridges. I feel this is some of my best work to date, theres bags of atmosphere and gritty monos in here if you like that sort of thing!
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The GCR had assembled a monster Midland region lineup for their 2010 Winter Gala, amongst the home fleet were no less that 2 black fives ( 45231 & 44767) + plus the magic Leander. Add the newly restored Jinty, 8F, Cromwell & the 78xxx and it was a very good lineup. I could only manage the Friday evening due to family commitments plus a change of heart towards the big gala's. Im spending my efforts on charters and the odd day over on the SVR this year. The locos wern't lined up particulary well for the evening with Cromwell & the 2 black fives tucked up in the darkest siding possible, the jinty was in very poor light aswell. The railway had stipulated it wasnt a night shoot, so i guess you take your chances......Anyhow got some Ok shots to add to the site.
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A very quick visit to Loughborough shed to give Fireman Rory Capell some prints, allowed me to have a browse around the shed and take my first proper look at the Jinty....i do hope its ready for the winter gala. On the way home i dropped in to Kinchley Lane to shoot the 78xxx on the diner service. Merry Christmas and thanks to all at the GCR for 2009. Cant wait for the action to start in 2010!
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A fairly small gallery from a Russ Hillier all day charter with the Britt 70013 Oliver Cromwell. Unfortunately for me i had to work all day! So i could only manage the night shoot....Night shoot supremo Simon Hopkins took over from Russ for the evening and arranged some superb recreations and lovely lighting. Many Thanks to the crew and the porter for staying still whilst we got the shots! As for the weather...? Well it was a cracker all day, fellow photters Rick Eborall & Michael Bonser got some crackers, but im not jealous one bit.......
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Right then let's set the scene for this gallery......Take last Saturday afternoon add the first real storm of the Winter, add some crap light & mix these with the GCR Winter timetable and what do you get?? Yeah i know what your thinking its not going to set world on fire!! But just hang on to that scene for a jiffy... If you were to add 1 fireman, 1 driver and a footplate ride on 63601, things start to sound alot better dont they?? Well thats exactly what happened to me last Saturday when my Good friend and GCR fireman Rory Capell & driver / inspector Ray Martin invited me onto their footplate for the 14:15 off Loughborough! Bingo i had just been given the ideal opportunity to have a crack at some shots stored away in the back of my mind for sometime.... I wanted natural shots of the crew going about thier business as if i wasnt there, for example the blurred shovel with the coals flying off into the fire, both driver & fireman sharing a joke & the glowing face gazing into the firebox, plus anything else that made a photo and captured the emotion and work these crews put in that you dont always see from the linside. I also took the opportunity to take a few shots of Rory disposing of the engine as day turned to night & was joined by fellow photter Michael Bonser. What a cracking day and priviliege. I hope i did the crew proud! A massive thank you to Ray & Rory.
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This years Autumn Gala was probably the best i have ever witnessed for motive Power...The Guests this year were Fairburn 42085 still on loan from Lakeside, David Sheppards 9F 92203 & Keithley's Dub-dee 90733, backed up by 30777 Sir Lamiel, 70013 Olliver Cromwell, 8F 48305, 04 36301 & Br 2mt 78019 also put in a late appearance on sat pm after some repairs. There was the usual blend of passenger & freight movements roughly every 15mins, making it very difficult to move between shots! (a pleasant problem to have...)The lineside is getting very congested on the gala weekends but with a little knowledge you can still get away from the crowds. The weather was a bit hit & miss, with some sun but it was generally a cloudy day. The chance of any sillouette's was lost with ever increasing levels of cloud in the evening, so the twilight experience was watched for a change! The day was spent in the company of Rick Eborall & my father, and the occasional appearance of the crazy Welsh man Mark Bowen & Steve Bottrill. All in all some nice shots but i left feeling the best ones got away.........
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A small gallery from a quick visit to the night shoot on the Autumn Gala, which this year had a heavy metal theme about it. There were 100+ton engines everywhere you looked....I thought the engines were lined up Ok given the 78xxx had failed at 5pm that evening, the fall-out from this resulted in a large scale shunt to get Sir Lamiel to the front to replace the 78.....I can imagine the night shoot was the last thing on the their minds at that point! The evening also had a rain shower which added extra interest to. Well done to the MPD crew for laying it on again for the photters.......I even got a pint out of Rick Eborall @ Manor House next to Quorn station - Result!!!
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A Russ Hillier organised charter with KWVR Dub-dee 90773 on a mixed freight. The weather forecast was good with any cloud moving South...in reality the cloud moved North during the morning! We had some glorious light in the morning, but by early afternoon the light went and it became very dull. The engine performed superbly and the crews laid it on for most of the day. A superbly turned out engine and a lovely recreation of classic GCR scene.Well done to the GCR & Russ!
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Dropped by the GCR on the way home from a family day out to see the Fairburn leave Loughborough with the 4:30. Then having bumped into many friends along the lineside i decided to wander up to Quorn for Lamiel on the 7pm TPO. For a change i stayed North of the station to take the going away shot as she accelarated to towards the station. A good puff of Clag at the right moment helped with the compostion no end!
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With a spare morning on my hands i decided to have a bash at some arty work in & around the shed @ Loughborough. I hadnt seen the N2 to date so was hoping to get some interesting shots including shiny motion & the paintwork.....Hasten to say the 78xxx provided more interest, with its grimy oily motion providing some interesting opportunities. The connecting rod on the ground provided a nice lead in aswell. I must admit the heat beat me in the end and i packed up without getting what i really wanted, but hey thats life! Heres a small selection to browse over, i know its not everyones cup of tea but theres alot more to trains that 3/4 front shots especially in the summer when the lights harsh & the exhaust effect is minimal. Let me know what you think.
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A Don Bishop organised charter with the on-loan Q6 from the NYMR with a rake of windcutters to recreate a 1960's North East region colliery train. Weather was dull and grey to begin with allowing some gritty mono work, followed by some lovely winter lighting in the afternoon. Into the evening we had 2 hour night shoot to round off a great day.......Added 9thJan2009
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The Great Centrals first main gala of 2009 didnt dissapoint.The theme was 1968 "the end of steam" 8F 48305 was renumbered into 48773 as one of the infamous IT57 engines alongside Cromwell which had its name plates removed to reveal the painted names... Weather wise Saturday was pretty good with a brisk Easterly wind and glorious sun allowing for some great shots on the east side of the railway. The cloud thickened up during the afternoon allowing some nice subtle light for mono & arty work. Motive power was in the form of 70013 Oliver Cromwell, 30777 Sir lamiel, on loan Q6 63395, 04 63601, Large pararie 4141, 8F 48305 (renumbered as 48773) & BR2mt 78019...........Added 16thJan2009
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The big event "year of the express engine" for the GCR finally arrived.....No less than 4 major express engines were in steam, backed up by some of the home fleet. It was Tornado's last main appearance before she left GCR metals to start life on the BIG railway, 70013 Cromwell's first major gala on the GCR since restoration, Southern LN class 850 Lord Nelson, & the beautiful Ex LMS Jubilee Leander and you had the steam fraternity licking their lips. For the first time the gala was held over 3 intensive days with a night shoot around the shed on Friday. Weather for the event was pretty good with Friday & Sunday the best for the sun. Other locos in steam were 78019, 4141, 63601. For the last few years now exhaust effects have been hard to get due to the warm October ambients.
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Another Milestone event for the GCR & the A1 trust occurred on the 22ndSept2008. The brand new Peppercorn A1 60163 Tornado Hauled its first public passengers from Loughborough. Ive never seen Loughborough Ticket office so swamped...A very successfull event and im glad i witnessed to occasion. The 04 was also in steam, not that anyone noticed. Weather wise it wasnt great and got worse as the morning progressed.....But who cares when you can put them into Mono?
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June2008 on the GCR saw a very special Loco arrive..... One of the 2 Fairburn Tanks from the Lakeside Railway near Windermere arrived for a light overhaul & new Water Tanks. It had always been common knowledge that these engines were NOT for loaning out....It was agreed that before the overhaul was to commence the Tank would be allowed to stretch its legs for 1 weekend only. Once the overhaul is complete the loco will stay with the GCR till June 2009 before returning North. The mentioned weekend became the windcutter gala with Ex GWR large pararie 4141 & BR 2mt 78019 with the class 45 Peak (D123) as supports acts. The weather was glorious if not a little to strong being early Summer. I stayed around Loughborough in the best chance of getting any exhaust effect due to the warm ambient.
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This Gala never quite lived up to the billing for me....It was supposed to be a Somerset & Dorset theme but disaster struck when Bullied Light 34101 Hartland's cab was destroyed due to a stray spark which ignited some kindling left in the cab overnight at another railway before she arrived at the GCR. So we were left with just the 4F 44244 and at the last minute they brought in 4953 Pitchford Hall. So the S&D theme became a Hazy shade of Oxford in the 50's when you added Sir Lamiel in to the mix! Anyhow i got some good images and the lighting was wonderful, but brisk westerly winds played havoc with the exhaust all weekend. I look forward to seeing Bullieds back on the Railway soon.....
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A small number of shots that were taken on normal running days on the Great Central railway during 2008. Of interest in the shot of the Fairbutn Tank 42085 @ Kinchley Lane...This was the first run down the line on the Friday before the Windcutter Gala in July.
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The 2007 Autumn Gala Saw the arrival of the infamous IT57 Black 5 45110 from the Severn Valley Railway and ex GWR 56xx 5643 from the Lakeside railway. These 2 visitors were backed up by 30777 Sir Lamiel, 48305, 4141 & 78019.The weather was OK with long spells of sunshine but became ever hazy with high level cloud forming as the day progressed......
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A selection of my favourite 35mm slides that have been scanned with a Nikon Coolscan 5000ed. i have to admit im never really happy with the quality of scanned slides when compared to digital images, but they deserve their place on the website for loco types and to remind me of pleasant days along the lineside........
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