Our thanks for assistance in the production of this article go to : Mr I.Fyvie, Mr. S. Smalley, Mr. A. Wood (Watercress Line), and our sponsors, Mr C.G. Stirling and Mr. R. Black (Strathspey Rly), and Mr. B. Denton (North Norfolk Rly.) for inclusions to our articles.

In our last offering, I made mention of the closure of a complete main line following the invocation of the "Beeching Axe", and would like to touch on this subject in greater depth. I refer, of course, to the Great Central Railway, which ran from Marylebone station through to Sheffield and beyond. This railway had been borne with a tunnel to the continent in mind, long before the existing one was even designed, and built with a continental loading gauge in mind.

Marylebone station itself was originally intended to be much larger than it is; but the days of railway expansion were at an end, and it remained as it was with just four platforms. Of the twin access tunnels, only one was ever used. Probably the only existing Railtrack terminus to possess a turntable and an olde worlde style about the station, it has been subject to a plethora of film makers, and a popular venue of steam specials since the closure of the original main line. The station has recently undergone a major re-vamp however, so it's allure may well have gone by now.

The route of the line ran from the suburbs of London through High Wycombe and Aylesbury through Buckinghamshire to Brackley in Northamptonshire via Woodford Halse. From there, it crossed the midlands through Rugby and followed the route of the M1, crossing the M1 to pass through Leicester on it's way to Nottingham via Loughborough, Ruddington, and East Leake. From there, the line joined with the Great Northern line for access to Sheffield and the north, and though the line has long since gone, evidence still remains in the form of station buildings, still there for those with an architectural interest to enjoy.

Loughborough Central Station

The G.C.R. was the last main line to be built in Britain, and came at a time when the main infrastructure of railway operations had been well established. Highly unusual in the respect that it passed through far more open countryside than any other mainline, and was reasonably straight in it's path, the G.C.R.'s customers were treated to some very fast timings indeed. These became a form of "trade mark" of the line, and provided some spectacular standing starts for the enthusiasts in to the bargain. Moreover, the fast freight services known as "Annesley Windcutters" were something near legendary.

9F working a freight

These fast freights ran between Annesley and Woodford Halse employing Ruddles 9F class 2-10-0's, due to the heavy loads involved (about 1000+ tons of coal per train), and were a financial mainstay of the line. The sight of one of these was quite spectacular, to say the least! Complete villages grew around these freight services to accommodate railwaymen working in large complexes, but this proved to be anything but beneficial at the line's closure. The result was villages full of railwaymen but no railway, and a frugal bus service!

The G.C.R. was taken under the wing of the London and North Eastern Railway fairly early in it's lifetime, providing an interesting mixture of locomotive stock, including B17's, A1's etc., and special workings provided the additional interest of Halls, Castles etc. from the G.W.R. and the occasional Southern region loco. To this extent, the G.C.R. was a magnet for enthusiasts along it's length, and has provided a home idyllic for preserved steam locos. Three small sections of this once proud main line still remain, Ruddington (recently acquired from Railtrack), Loughborough to Leicester, and a stretch in the Aylesbury area, all of which are home to preservation societies. In it's latter years, the G.C.R. came under control of the L.M.S., a previous rival, and it's subsequent fall from grace was started.

The L.M.S. had little love for the G.C.R., indeed, if anything, this was the opportunity to eradicate the opposition. Freight haulage costs escalated, resulting in less business. Freight traffic started to drop in volume, and overheads increased. The rot had already started, but for no good reason, as nationalisation was just around the corner, when all became one. The effect of the L.M.S. action, however, continued to smother the G.C.R., and the optimization plans of Beeching for the railway network further compounded the situation, leaving the G.C.R. in an extremely vulnerable position.

Diesel traction was the new fad now, and steam locos were beginning to show the effects of minimalistic maintenance from 1939 on - the G.C.R. ended it's days with the stigma of being a steam loco's graveyard with long lines of disabled locos destined to be broken up for spares, or removal to the scrap yards. The timings of trains was still tight, and this proved fatal to a great many locos. It also created a factor of unreliability with the scheduled services, which only lent itself towards the eventual partial, then complete closure, of the line.

There's a saying that "What goes around, comes around". How laconic it is to discover that now we have a channel tunnel, an enterprise wishes to re-instate the line of the G.C.R.; maybe we still possess men of vision in our country, I'd rather like to think so, for I consider the construction of another railway elsewhere as being a fools paradise.

I'd like to share an experience of a G.C.R. fireman with you all from the earlier days of the railway, so here it is - enjoy !

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Night Excursion

"He was a funny old chap" (said the fireman)," one of the many drivers I had not then met since my transfer to the shed a few months earlier. Why they had picked me to fire on a through-the-night excursion train to London I don't know, except of course that there were a lot of mid-week-excursions being run at that time and most sheds were using all their spare men.

I am not sure where the train started from or how many portions it had, but we waited for it at Sheffield Victoria and we found we had a 'Sir Sam'. There were only a few of these on the whole line and I had never fired one and so I was not sure what to expect. The 'Sir Sams' were big hefty-looking engines that ought to be able to pull anything, but I had not heard any good reports about them. There was not a lot to worry about, as we only had six on and plenty of time allowed to get to London.

I asked my mate what he thought of the prospects. Would we be all right with this class of engine? He said we could do the job just as well with a 'Pom-Pom'. In fact we would be better off with a 'Pom-Pom'. Nothing like a good 'Pom-Pom' for getting away from stations or for getting up a hard bank. When he was young, 'Pom- Poms' ran London excursions as often as not and nobody asked for anything better. Still the 'Sir Sam' would do at a pinch. It all depended how much ash the coal made. If it was bad she'd probably not be steaming by the time we were on Wendover bank, but we'll get through somehow. But don't put too much in the back of the box up the banks; if you do it won't burn right and so she won't steam. If you want to put plenty at the back, wait till you get to the top of the bank. You can do with a lot at the back when we're going down, because the fire'll shake itself to the front if she's a bit rough. Anyway there's nothing to bother about just yet. And off we struck at 1.24 of a fine morning.

My mate didn't hurry her and I didn't hurry either. She started to blow off after a mile or so and I gave her a round of coal with plenty at the back. This took us over the hump at Darnall and my mate let her roll with the regulator a shade open down to Beighton, where I started firing to get her up through Killamarsh to Eckington, where we were booked to stop. My mate said, "We might as well pick up at the trough" and we did, just before he shut off for Eckington. You would wonder whether it could be worthwhile to stop at twenty to two in the morning at a place like Eckington, but that's how it was.

As we stood my mate said, "There's a pub just here called the "Sitwell Arms" but they tell me it's nothing to do with the seats. It's just the name of the local gentry. One or two writers among 'em I believe."

Off we went after a couple of minutes on a bit of downhill and then a mile or so of climbing to Staveley Town. We did not stay long this time, and we turned to the right to get to Chesterfield. So far as I could judge from these short runs she seemed to be steaming all right, and after leaving Sheepbridge I put a heavy round on the fire to build it up for a bank from Chesterfield up to Heath.

About a couple of minutes was enough for each stop (more than enough, you would think, for passengers without luggage) and after Chesterfield I could hope to see what sort of condition the engine was really in. My mate thought so too and he blasted her out of the station and under the Midland line as if he was trying to wake everybody up. He kept her at it up the bank and I gave her every chance by firing four shovelfuls in a round on a pretty white fire. She seemed all right, steam keeping up to the red mark on the gauge even with the injector going. What more could we want? My mate seemed pleased with the engine and with me and said it looked as if we were going to have a good trip. He made her cough pretty hard on the last bit up to Heath and she threw a spark or two, and so I took a careful look in the box and covered a couple of thinnish spots near the front. She steamed all right and when he eased her a bit after passing Heath she blew off for a bit. If she would keep like this all the way we'd nothing to complain about.

At Pilsley my mate eased the regulator right back and said "She'll run to Nottingham now. Look at the scenery now if you like and if you can.""

Next time out, we'll be taking a look at catering (with an anecdote from our very own Mr. Ian Fyvie) and some of the stranger designs and oddities of the railways in a pictorial format. Until then, stay well.

Baz.