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Great Central Railway
-particularly the London extension, and including the preserved bits.
Ken Strachan
![These flats at Freemen's Meadow have covered almost all of the site of Leicester GC shed. Notice the uncompleted flats left of centre. The photograph was taken from the new football stadium. The canalized River Soar in the centre of the picture has had the last laugh, as it has probably changed little in the last 100 years.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 1/10/2009]](/images/26000/26097.jpg "Leicester Central MPD")
![The GCR Leicester North station slowly thawing out on a quiet January Friday. Notice the brick cutout for the now demolished signal box on the right and the bricked-up entrance to the former Belgrave and Birstall station on the distant overbridge see image [[31066]].<br><br>[Ken Strachan 15/01/2010]](/images/27000/27229.jpg "Leicester North")
![A bricked up entrance, a chimney and a storage space within the bridge pier are all that remains at this former suburban station on the North side of Leicester; although one track has been relaid. The awning of the more recent Leicester North station can just be seen over the parapet to the left of the entrance.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 15/01/2010]](/images/27000/27246.jpg "Belgrave and Birstall")
![The lattice fence used to stop passengers falling down the gap between the platforms, which were separate spans of an accommodation underbridge. Now you can see through the fence to the arch of the bricked-up pedestrian entrance.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 23/04/2010]](/images/30000/30827.jpg "Lutterworth")
![This well preserved gangers' hut is just South of the A4304, West of Junction 20 on the M1. Going by the graffiti, it is now used by quite a different sort of gang.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 12/05/2010]](/images/30000/30813.jpg "Lutterworth")
![Two bridges from different centuries photographed in May 2010. The far bridge is over the M1, the near one over the North end of the former GC station. The wall on the North side is original blue brick, but on the South side - disguised by grassed-over piled-up earth - there is reinforcement by an SGB concrete beam. Notice the gap in the beam for the station entrance doors.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 13/05/2010]](/images/30000/30825.jpg "Ashby Magna")
![Old telegraph insulators steadfastly refusing to biodegrade, just South of Lutterworth. <br><br>[Ken Strachan 14/05/2010]](/images/59000/59975.jpg "Lutterworth")
![The sign at Lutterworth says 'all routes' - but I can only see one - to Marylebone. Bit of a comedown really - intended as a through route from Manchester to Paris, now apparently used as a BMX track.<br><br>[Ken Strachan /06/2010]](/images/36000/36695.jpg "Lutterworth")
![A caption contest? Man in uniform: 'shedmaster said I should give you a Rocket' Driver: 'can I have mayonnaise on it?' The replica Rocket at a GC gala on 5th June 2010. See image [[26951]]<br><br>[Ken Strachan 05/06/2010]](/images/30000/30801.jpg "Loughborough Central")
![The twin arches of the former railway bridges to the north of the station site at Woodford Halse have their safety markings lit up by the setting sun on 4 February 2011. Figuratively speaking, the sun set on the Great Central some 43 years ago.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 04/02/2011]](/images/32000/32791.jpg "Woodford Halse")
![Looking North over the station site at Woodford Halse from the GC road overbridge in 2011. The link connecting with The S&MJ line ran off to the west just beyond the pond on the left. See image [[34070]]<br><br>[Ken Strachan 04/02/2011]](/images/32000/32799.jpg "Woodford Halse")
![Unlike the station see image [[32799]], the station master's house at Woodford Halse is in fine condition in February 2011. It's a fair bet that the bit on the left wasn't a double garage in Edmund Watkin's day.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 04/02/2011]](/images/34000/34070.jpg "Woodford Halse")
![The lower and plainer bridge parapet on the left belonged to the Stratford-on-Avon and Midland Joint; while the blue brick and dressed stone on the right was Great Central. Perhaps this was why the MS&L was nicknamed the 'Money Sunk and Lost', and the GC the 'Gone Completely'. The S&MJ trackbed is now a nature reserve.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 04/02/2011]](/images/50000/50494.jpg "Woodford Halse")
![<I>'And quite where Rugby Central is, does only Rugby know'</I> ...according to Betjeman. Fans of consistent transport policy will be pleased to know that, more than 40 years after the end of rail services, you can still catch a bus at the site of Rugby Central. The station passenger entrance was by the lamppost; the houses are built on the former goods yard.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 29/03/2011]](/images/33000/33444.jpg "Rugby Central")
![Looking South from the road bridge at the former Rugby Central station in March 2011 we notice, left to right: the foot/cycle path; the edge of the old down platform; murky green stagnant water very similar to that at Lutterworth; and the former support wall for the station building.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 29/03/2011]](/images/34000/34265.jpg "Rugby Central")
![Marvin the Paranoid Viaduct Pier: I used to support the Master Cutler, now I'm just a lampstand (notice the yard lamps facing the camera and to the right). One of the surviving piers of the former GCR 'birdcage' viaduct standing on the north side of the main line at Rugby.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 24/04/2011]](/images/33000/33960.jpg "Rugby")
![This is the former Great Central wagon works on Upperton Road, Leicester, in March 2012. The building is currently - and appropriately - in use as a machine shop. See it soon - as it may shortly be demolished and replaced by student flats.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 11/03/2012]](/images/38000/38121.jpg "Leicester Central MPD")
![The Southern end of the platforms at Woodford Halse returning to nature in March 2012. Being very much a railway community the closure of the junction station, the yards and the large locomotive shed had a devastating effect at the time see image [[31459]]. But that was over 40 years ago, and the town is now 'back in business' - unlike the GCR.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 28/03/2012]](/images/39000/39114.jpg "Woodford Halse")
![A forgotten main line perhaps? Hardly. These robust piers carried sidings from the Leicester and Swannington Railway over the River Soar towards the Great Central (the white semi-circles in the right background are arches under Central station). The sidings actually passed under the GC, but stopped short of the Midland. This view in September 2012 seems to have been opened up by demolition - I remember a splendid Victorian building on the far side of the river, with external plumbing - a prototype for the Pompidou Centre in Paris, perhaps.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 09/09/2012]](/images/40000/40312.jpg "Pringle Wharf")
![The stuff of dreams. Back in the 1980's, when misguided folk wanted to turn Marylebone into a coach terminus, what odds would you have given on seeing a choice of loco-hauled trains there in 2012? Trains for Banbury (L) and Kidderminster (R) await departure on 9th September. I chose the latter train over staying in the City for a lecture on quality of patents - good call!<br><br>[Ken Strachan 09/09/2012]](/images/41000/41185.jpg "Marylebone")
![How ironic that a railway intended to offer services to France should now be closely attended by some rather homesick-looking Renaults. View looks slightly East of South at Leicester Central in September 2012. Much of the GC in Leicester has been demolished - see it while you can!<br><br>[Ken Strachan 09/09/2012]](/images/42000/42373.jpg "Leicester Central")
![This is the refurbished interior of Chiltern's loco-hauled coaches. Very nice - especially as there is neither noise nor vibration from underfloor engines - but the armrests are fixed, and there is no destination indicator. Nonetheless, Sir Sam Fay would most likely approve.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 09/11/2012]](/images/40000/40971.jpg "Marylebone")
!['Well it might be bright and sunny for those two, but I'm always kept in the dark.' More Clubmans than British Leyland at Marylebone (platforms 4-6) on 9th November. <br><br>[Ken Strachan 09/11/2012]](/images/41000/41122.jpg "Marylebone")
![The grand entrance to Marylebone Station in November 2012. The lady on the left appears to be happy taking up 50% of the available seating - though it doesn't look very comfortable to me.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 09/11/2012]](/images/41000/41262.jpg "Marylebone")
![Locomotive sandwich at Marylebone on 9 November 2012. Classes 165 and 168 stand on either side of 67015, which had just arrived from Birmingham Moor Street see image [[40968]].<br><br>[Ken Strachan 09/11/2012]](/images/41000/41773.jpg "Marylebone")
![Looking South to High Wycombe town in April 2014, the outbuildings and gable end of the third and current (1906) station can be clearly seen. The building in the background is less well known. The near section with roller doors was an engine shed - more recently a car tyre fitting centre - while the larger building beyond it was the original 1846 train shed, used until 1864. The station entrance and offices are hidden behind the train shed, which is listed Grade 2.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 26/04/2014]](/images/47000/47130.jpg "High Wycombe")
![A down Clubman leaves High Wycombe station on the former four-track GC and GW joint section on 26 April 2014. That creeper on the cutting wall, which contains 1.2 million bricks - give or take a dozen - looks rather tenacious. [compare to image 49508]<br><br>[Ken Strachan 26/04/2014]](/images/47000/47255.jpg "High Wycombe")
![Amazing what you find when you take down a few old posters. Seriously outdated station sign at High Wycombe in April 2014. The connections to Marlow and Maidenhead were severed some 44 years ago.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 26/04/2014]](/images/47000/47441.jpg "High Wycombe")
![The former station at Brackley, Northants, on the Great Central Railway's London Extension, seen here on 14 August 2015. This view looks East from the road side, well above track level. The building was first converted into a car dealer, Sprinzels; whose name was displayed in white bricks on the North (left) end of the building; and is now a car tyre fitting centre. [Ref query 42301]<br><br>[Ken Strachan 14/08/2015]](/images/52000/52362.jpg "Brackley Central")
![The tyre fitting centre at Brackley see image [[52362]] is more recognizable as a former station from track level - despite the brick structure built on the down platform. Notice the abbreviated footbridge, top right.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 14/08/2015]](/images/52000/52448.jpg "Brackley Central")
![Here is a closer view of the bricked up entrances and exits see image [[52448]]. The upper one was the footbridge, the lower one would be to the platform, and the one on the right... also to the platform!<br><br>[Ken Strachan 14/08/2015]](/images/52000/52730.jpg "Brackley Central")
![If only: Sam Fay would surely have been proud to see HST's heading for all points North from Marylebone. That on the left, sadly, had struggled in from Banbury on a single working power car. Paddington station was closed for two days (the 27th and 28th, due to Crossrail works), so services to and from Swansea were diverted, and reversed at Banbury, non-stop to London. Booking clerks were not well informed: we were met with a blank stare at Bath Spa, and advised to use Chiltern trains at Banbury. The train manager's announcement leaving Marylebone was apposite, including the classic comment: 'This train has been diverted. We're glad you all found us'. Trains from Devon and Cornwall were diverted to Waterloo. see image [[19063]] for a similar situation 50 years ago.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 28/12/2015]](/images/53000/53774.jpg "London Marylebone")
![It's nice to see Marylebone looking busy see image [[53774]]; but also nice to see it looking peaceful.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 28/12/2015]](/images/53000/53909.jpg "London Marylebone")
![Another 'if only' see image [[53774]]. This is the prototype HST power car 41001, arriving at Rushcliffe Halt to pick up passengers from a BLS DMU charter. Could HST's have saved the GC? Discuss.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 27/02/2016]](/images/54000/54338.jpg "Rushcliffe Halt")
![Down in the carriage shed, something stirred - the mystery being, why would the GC have a Southern Region coach? See image [[12077]] - the answer, apparently, being that this is a DMU coach, and the Southern green is an undercoat for a dark green final coat.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 27/02/2016]](/images/54000/54405.jpg "Ruddington")
![No rush, mate. We can wait. The prototype HST set on the Great Central (North) has to wait for a staffer to finish his lunch.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 27/02/2016]](/images/72000/72963.jpg "Rushcliffe Halt")
![To paraphrase Betjeman: very straight, the GC see image [[10962]]. The GC trackbed actually diverges to the left of the tram tracks in this view at Ruddington Lane in April 2016 - notice the trees on the embankment in the distance.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 23/04/2016]](/images/56000/56454.jpg "Ruddington Lane")
![Something I honestly never thought I would see in my lifetime - work starting on restoration of the bridge carrying the GCR over the MR at Loughborough. This is the North side of the MR.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 03/08/2016]](/images/56000/56066.jpg "Loughborough")
![-and this is what it looks like in daytime see image [[57193]]<br><br>[Ken Strachan 03/08/2016]](/images/57000/57366.jpg "Loughborough Central")
![A couple of miles South East of Brackley see image [[52362]], this determined-looking girder bridge carried the Great Central over the LNWR line from Verney Junction to Banbury. The bridge is very rusty; so if HS2 comes this way, they will need to replace it. View looks along the bridlepath to Fulwell and Westbury station site.<br>
<br>
Current plans for the HS2 route take the line on a new alignment slightly further east.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 13/08/2016]](/images/56000/56233.jpg "Brackley Central")
![Another fine example see image [[56233]] of artistry in steel girders on the Great Central Railway London extension. There is a small preservation scheme to the North (left) of this bridge, but it is liable to be demolished when HS2 comes through. View looks East.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 13/08/2016]](/images/56000/56512.jpg "Finmere")
![There was this nasty crunch as I was reversing.. an unusual blend of bus, Tube train, and EMU provides a publicity vehicle for the Epping and Ongar Railway see image [[37369]], seen here at Finmere (notice the NSE style sign, which tells you where you are once you are on site). Anyway, perhaps this vehicle is a case of Ongarmented reality.. or Ongar-demented, as the case may be.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 13/08/2016]](/images/56000/56643.jpg "Finmere")
![A surreal scene at Helmdon in August 2016, as a line of sheep appears to be forming the up Ovine Cutler. Notice the branch feeder services to the left and right. See image [[53909]] for their optimistic destination.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 13/08/2016]](/images/56000/56668.jpg "Helmdon (GC)")
![Conventional wisdom has it that there is no track on the GCR trackbed between Claydon LNE Junction and Leicester North. However, the Network South East Railway Society has a base at Finmere, where 73.130 is seen showing off its Scharfenburg coupler (intended to couple up to Nightstar stock before that scheme was abandoned). See also image [[56512]]. HS2 is likely to pass this way.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 13/08/2016]](/images/56000/56782.jpg "Finmere")
![Coach 930206 is one of eight vehicles of the class 416 EMU which are preserved at Finmere. see image [[56782]] It may look ready for traffic, but they'd have to clear out the interior first. Oh, and install a third rail and power. View looks South.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 13/08/2016]](/images/57000/57844.jpg "Finmere")
![<I>'I'm not coming out, it's raining'</I>. 45041 seems reluctant to rejoin its train at Leicester North after running round at the GCR Autumn Diesel Gala.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 10/09/2016]](/images/56000/56531.jpg "Belgrave and Birstall")
![Looking North along platform 1 at Loughborough on 10 September 2016. The Diesel Gala crowds had gone home and the staff were closing up.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 10/09/2016]](/images/56000/56549.jpg "Loughborough Central")
![How about it lads? I'm up for Marylebone. 37714 gets a bit more enthusiastic than 45041 at Leicester North on 10 September 2016 see image [[56531]].<br><br>[Ken Strachan 10/09/2016]](/images/56000/56623.jpg "Leicester North")
![The space under the road bridge at Quorn station has been turned into a NAAFI canteen for Forties weekends. The gent at the centre of the shot may appear a little waxen, but was very much alive. View looks North.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 10/09/2016]](/images/57000/57050.jpg "Quorn and Woodhouse")
![That 'end of gala' feeling. Sadly, it was time to go home.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 10/09/2016]](/images/57000/57193.jpg "Loughborough Central")
![Bet the trees weren't that lush in steam days. But the class 31 in original butterscotch livery looks very 'sixties'. View looks North, from the road overbridge.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 10/09/2016]](/images/57000/57199.jpg "Quorn and Woodhouse")
![With apologies for the grain, you would think the 'Moon and Three Signals' would be a railway pub; but it's an end of gala view at Loughborough see image [[57193]]<br><br>[Ken Strachan 10/09/2016]](/images/57000/57500.jpg "Loughborough Central")
![A bit of a mixture of eras with modern cars and 1940's window shatter protection visible, but feast your eyes on that Deltic with a down train from Marylebone, er, Leicester ... See also image [[57050]].<br><br>[Ken Strachan 10/09/2016]](/images/57000/57511.jpg "Quorn and Woodhouse")
![Steam giving way to diesel on the GCR at Loughborough Central on 10 September 2016.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 10/09/2016]](/images/57000/57870.jpg "Loughborough Central")
![I find it rather sweet that the older party is introducing the younger chap to the things that really matter in life - such as BR Standard 2MT 2-6-0 78018. I also find it reassuring that he clearly has a very firm grip on the little man.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 25/06/2017]](/images/60000/60089.jpg "Quorn and Woodhouse")
![The new GCR branch terminus at Mountsorrel is both basic and forbiddingly secured when not in use. But it allows the Great Central to be one of the few preserved railways with an active branch line. The original line, which was built to transport stone from the Mountsorrel quarries, fell into disuse in the 1950s and was lifted in the 1960s. <br><br>[Ken Strachan 25/06/2017]](/images/60000/60113.jpg "Mountsorrel Bond Lane")
![92214 is appropriately heading for its namesake, the City of Leicester, hauling the GCR Sunday luncheon train South on a breezy 25th of June.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 25/06/2017]](/images/61000/61058.jpg "Quorn and Woodhouse")
![A dramatic difference see image [[56066]] from the empty space of the last 37 years. These two girders, in modern Rail Girder Green, were installed over the Midland Main Line in the early hours of Sunday 3rd September. The train passing underneath is the 17.58 to Nottingham.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 09/09/2017]](/images/60000/60933.jpg "Loughborough")
![Maybe Leicester City Council learned something from the cafuffle over the demolition of the Bowstring girder bridge? The Upperton Road wagon works has been skilfully restored and updated see image [[38121]], and now houses not only student flats but also a bike shop, a coffee shop, and an equipment supplier to professional caterers. the bike shop, ironically, includes a workshop area. View looks South on 16th January 2018.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 16/01/2018]](/images/62000/62665.jpg "Leicester Central Wagon Repair Shop")
![If you want to know what the station at Woodford Halse looked like, you could do worse than climb up to the attic of the Social Club, and inspect this wonderful model.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 28/07/2018]](/images/65000/65584.jpg "Woodford Halse")
![Many major railways would ignore smaller lines crossing their main line. The GCR so welcomed the Stratford-on-Avon and Midland Joint that it put in curves heading both North and South from the 'Slow, Mouldy, and Jolting'. This is the South spur, which produced so little traffic that it closed after just a year. View looks South East through a substantial overbridge. The area is publicly accessible as part of a 'Pocket Park'.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 28/07/2018]](/images/65000/65783.jpg "Woodford Halse")
![Two advantages of Railway Ramblers walks are the ability to cover private ground; and the facility to have relics pointed out to you which you might miss when walking alone. This is a case in point for the latter: the low brick wall in the centre of this shot once supported the track side of the water tank for Charwelton troughs. View looks West from the South end of the troughs.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 28/07/2018]](/images/65000/65983.jpg "Charwelton Watertroughs")
![This location West of Staverton is where the GC crossed the A425 between Daventry and Leamington. The road seems to have been built up since closure of the railway. I am amused that the builder of the fence seems to be keener to separate up from down traffic, than to discourage people from either falling off the abutment, or climbing up it. View looks South, and a bit West. Staverton Viaduct is a little to the south.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 28/07/2018]](/images/66000/66529.jpg "Staverton Viaduct")
![This cattle grid is located uphill from the site of the extensive wartime marshalling yard at Woodford Halse, and is built using rails from the marshalling yard - notice the welded joint on the fourth rail from the camera. 28th July 2019.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 28/07/2018]](/images/69000/69981.jpg "Woodford Halse")
![The S&MJR can be seen in the distance crossing the trackbed of the late, great Great Central. The bridge abutment on the left has been demolished to make a ramp suitable for tractors. It was all a lot clearer when I first explored the Woodford Halse area in 1985.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 28/07/2018]](/images/71000/71079.jpg "Woodford Halse")
![Looking South from Preston Road, Eydon, a concrete signal post can be seen standing perfectly upright by the down line near the skyline. There are two ways to look at this picture. Logically, rationally, and objectively, concrete signal posts are heavy, so they must be securely planted; and have no scrap value, so there is little point in removing them in open country. A more romantic analysis admires the stoicism of this post in waiting patiently for 50 years for common sense to return to British transport policy. I know which view I prefer. See also image [[33960]].<br><br>[Ken Strachan 31/08/2018]](/images/65000/65618.jpg "Woodford Halse")
![Looking South towards Quainton Road, the trackbed from Verney Junction can be seen trailing in on the left. <br><br>[Ken Strachan 22/09/2018]](/images/66000/66132.jpg "Quainton Road Junction")
![Looking North towards Finmere, the trackbed from Calvert looks very colourful. The photograph is at Twyford (Bucks) with Calvert Junction and the Buckinghamshire Railway behind. The trackbed is, more or less, the projected route of HS2.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 22/09/2018]](/images/66000/66875.jpg "Calvert Junction")
![A comprehensive view of the Quainton Road preservation site from the North-West, including the transplanted Oxford Rewley Road station on the left. Ironically, a similar structure may now be needed at Oxford to shelter Chiltern Trains passengers arriving from London.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 23/09/2018]](/images/72000/72589.jpg "Quainton Road")
![I think there might have been track here quite recently. The view looks west, with the junction behind the camera. Calvert sidings are now approached from the south.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 27/10/2018]](/images/66000/66823.jpg "Claydon LNE Junction")
![A very sensible rewording of the old Junction sign see image [[47441]]. I'm not sure what the steps in the foreground are for, but I'm sure someone can enlighten me.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 02/02/2019]](/images/67000/67894.jpg "High Wycombe")
![Up (right) and down (left) trains crossing at High Wycombe on a snowy and slippery February Saturday.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 02/02/2019]](/images/69000/69903.jpg "High Wycombe")
![Marylebone was always on the small side as London termini go. This view looks (East) across the end of all the platforms. It was a bit quiet on 23rd March 2019, even though there was an anti-Brexit protest rally that day.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 23/03/2019]](/images/72000/72546.jpg "Marylebone")
![Looking north on an abandoned main line. Just North of the M6 and A5, this is the trackbed of the GCR, accessible as a footpath only. How is the mighty fallen.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 18/04/2019]](/images/70000/70090.jpg "Lutterworth")
![This is the GCR trackbed looking south in April 2019 near Shawell Quarry, which is in turn near Lutterworth. A few years ago, I photographed an excavator parked here, and feared that the cutting would be filled in. Now all you would need to walk this section would be strong secateurs and a great deal of patience.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 18/04/2019]](/images/72000/72044.jpg "Lutterworth")
![Like a Rover K series engine, Torksey viaduct is held together by long vertical bolts. Unlike a K series, Torksey viaduct does not comprise a cantankerous cylinder head gasket. Notice the River Trent below.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 01/02/2020]](/images/72000/72233.jpg "Torksey")
