An afternoon on the Great Central Railway

Siting on the diesel line at Loughborough station on the Great Central Railway is 50017 Royal Oak. The type 4 wears a faded Network SouthEast livery and whilst I have photographed many class 50s in BR days this is my first of 50017.

Class 25/1 type 2 loco D5185 was built at Darlington in May 1963 and withdrawn in March 1987. I photographed it at Crewe in May 1986 on an engineers train as 25035.

37714 is immaculate in Railfreight livery with Metals subsector markings. It has recently been sold by DRS to the Heavy Tractor Group, based at Loughborough, who have been looking after it for a while. I have photographed this loco twice before with its previous number 37024. Firstly in March 1982 whilst stabled behind Kings Lynn station and on 19th March 1985 it was running light through York station.

The unmistakable class 55 Deltic built by English Electric. 55019 Royal Highland Fusilier is sadly no longer passed for mainline running. I first photographed this loco in BR service on 15/5/1981 at York with a northbound working. Other photos include on the NYMR, on mainline railtours and the 2013 Swanage Diesel Gala.

D6535 is in a very shabby condition externally and is part of the National Collection, I do not know if it is a runner or not. I have photographed this as 33116 twice on Weymouth to Waterloo trains, first at Wool on 27/2/1984 and two years later at Wareham on 18/2/1986.

The main reason we are here is because Ross wanted to come here and it just so happened that on this day D123 was going to haul six round trips in the afternoon and evening with, for those who ordered it, a fish and chips supper. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

D123 became 45125, a class 45/1 ETH fitted Peak, and I have photographed it twice before. Firstly at Holgate Junction on 26/5/1986 on a Scarborough to Liverpool train and on 20/12/1986 at Kirkham Priory on a train from Liverpool to Scarborough.

Class 08 shunter 13101 was built at Derby Works in 1955 and was initially allocated to the Southern Region. It was transferred to the London Midland Region in 1973 and came to the GCR in 1984.

BR Standard class 9F 2-10-0 92214 carries the name City of Leicester. It was built in Swindon and outshopped in October 1959 and during its brief 6 year career it worked over the Somerset and Dorset Railway. It was withdrawn in August 1965 and sent to Barry for scrap. It left there in December 1980 first to Buxton and then sold on going to Butterley where it returned to steam in 2003. In 2010 it went to the NYMR and worked for three years until an overhaul in 2013. In 2014 it was sold and came to Loughborough for use on the GCR. It has carried several names in preservation including masquerading as, with permission, 92220 Evening Star.

Another BR Standard is class 2 2-6-0 78018 which was hired to the Swanage Railway earlier in the year. 78018 was built and Darlington in 1953 and withdrawn in late 1966. After nearly 12 years at Barry it was bought in November 1978 and returned to Darlington where it could be seen for many years beside the ECML just north of the town's station. In 2012 it was moved to Loughborough to be assembled and returned to steam on 8/10/2016.

There was one steam hauled service train running on the railway this day and former LMSR Black Five 4-6-0 45305 was rostered. Here it runs round its train in the sun.

As the loco moves forward, the driver whistles up for the foot crossing at the platform end. The loco no longer carries the name Alderman AE Draper, the Hull scrap merchant who bought nearly 750 locos including this one on their withdrawal. But as 45305 was clean and looked good on arrival he decided not to cut it up but keep it instead. It was restored by the Humberside Loco Preservation Group who are now known at the 5305 Locomotive Association who look after the loco on behalf of the Draper family who still own it.

I have photographed this loco many times at work on the mainline in the 1980's on the Marylebone circuit, Mallaig extension and the West Highland main line. I've had railtour haulage from Tulloch to Fort William in December 1989 behind it as well. It is a cracking loco.

With 45305 clear another move can take place and 08 shunter D4137 brings BR Standard class 5MT 73156 out from in front of the loco shed.

D4137 was built at Horwich Works in 1962 and became 08907 under TOPS and I have no photos of it. 73156 was built at Doncaster outshopped in December 1955 and is one of a class of 172 class 5 mixed traffic 4-6-0 locos.

73156 is very much at home at Loughborough as it would have worked through here whilst shedded at Neasden, Woodford Halse and nearby Leicester Central during its 11-12 year service life. It was withdrawn in early 1968 with some 325,000 miles on its card. It went to Barry and languished there until 1985 when it was bought and went to the East Lancs Railway. It was finally returned to steam at Loughborough in October 2017.

D4137 moves 73156 back towards the loco shed.

Whilst all the shunting was going on, the crew for the Peak were busy prepping their charge and starting it up. Now it moves off to collect its stock.

Looking north towards the loco shed and workshops beyond the road bridge as D123 has the road into the station platform. The sheds straddle the former running lines and will have to be demolished and relocated when the railway is extended to join up with the northern section on the other side of the MML. The Loughborough signalbox is an original from the London Extension of the Great Central Railway and controls all the station activity. It is listed Grade II.

D123 was built at Crewe Works and entered traffic in October 1961 working express traffic on the Midland Main Line. It was withdrawn in May 1987 from Tinsley shed, Sheffield. It survived for three years as a dead load vehicle for testing the new class 60 locos. It was bought in late 1991 and moved to Hull Dairycoates in March 1992. It arrived on the GCR in April 1998 and entered traffic shortly after. It is owned by the 5305 Loco Association. It carries the name "Leicestershire and Derbyshire Yeomanry" a name that was previously on class 46 Peak 46026. It was bestowed on D123 on 22 June 2000.

This is the only photo I took during the six round trip we had. D123 runs round its train after the first round trip and is running between the two Down starter signals. I didn't take any at Leicester North as Ross and I had a compartment to ourselves and we wanted to keep it.

Parked up at Loughborough is class 20 D8089. It was built by English Electric/Robert Stevenson & Hawthorns Ltd at Darlington in 1961. It became 20098 under TOPS and never photographed by me. Its first shed was Eastfield in Glasgow and was withdrawn from Thornaby in June 1991. It arrived on the GCR in May 1992 and has been in green livery since late 1993.

Immaculate 1705 "Sparrowhawk" is a rare survivor with a unique back story. It carries is preTOPS number without the "D" prefix. It started its life in 1965 being outshopped from the nearby Loughborough Works of Brush and was one of five locos fitted with a VEE Sulzer 12LVA24 2,650hp powerplant and became a class 48. In late 1970/early 1971 it received a standard 12LDA28 2,750hp powerplant and became a class 47 and renumbered to 47117 under TOPS. It was withdrawn in July 1991 and bought for preservation in July 1991. As 47117 I have photographed it twice at York in November 1984 and March 1985.