• Our booking engine at tickets.railforums.co.uk (powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!

GCR/GNR through Nottingham

Status
Not open for further replies.

jonhewes

Member
Joined
8 Oct 2008
Messages
99
Having lived in Nottingham for a number of years, I have become very interested in the Great Central and Great Northern lines and stations which used to exist within the city.

Judging by some of the photos I’ve seen of Nottingham Victoria and the structures which carried the railway lines through and over the city, there must have been many magnificent sites to behold.

Having done quite a bit of exploration of the city to find relics of the GCR still existent, there is very little to be seen by the uneducated or unenlightened eye.

It seems shameful that there is nothing to commemorate the wonderfully engineered pieces of architecture and infrastructure which used to pass through the city and formed very prominent landmarks.

While attending a GCR Steam Gala in October, I was told that the original intention was to run from Nottingham Arkwright Street to Leicester Central. This would have actually made quite a useful railway line for enthusiasts and commuters alike! Does anyone know what ultimately stopped the GCR from achieving this aim? Was it purely lack of funds?

I’ve found a few photos of the GCR/GNR railway lines prior to closure in the 60s, and then in the 1970s after Nottingham Vic was demolished while the line South of the Station was being used for freight manoeuvres.

Does anyone have or know of any decent on-line photo collections of the GCR through Nottingham, and has anyone on here done any exploration of the old tunnels and viaducts?

I am particularly interested to know whether or not it is still possible to access the Thurland Street/Weekday Cross Tunnel.

I also read somewhere that during the late 1990s, parts of the line through Nottingham were surveyed with a view to being reopened as part of the Central Railway project. Is/was this really being considered despite the development and demolition of the line through Nottingham?

Cheers

Jon
 
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R

RailUK Forums

Joined
9 Feb 2009
Messages
807
The best website for photos of the GCR in Nottingham & Leicester seems to be unavailable at the moment but if it does reappear it is www.gcrleicester.info .

While attending a GCR Steam Gala in October, I was told that the original intention was to run from Nottingham Arkwright Street to Leicester Central. This would have actually made quite a useful railway line for enthusiasts and commuters alike! Does anyone know what ultimately stopped the GCR from achieving this aim? Was it purely lack of funds?

The first suggestion was in fact Rugby - Leicester which would have been great for me! When the Main Line Preservation Group was formed (or may have been the Main Line Steam Trust), the intention was for Loughborough - Abbey Sidings in North Leicester.

The Thurland Street tunnel is accessible from a door in the Victoria Centra but is obviously permitted personnel only. The arts centre that has been blocked the southern entrance to the tunnel is hideous! The public park that was next to the tunnel mouth was lovely though - nice place to relax for lunch and admire the remains of the GCR. Alas, no more:cry:

Nottingham has never been a part of the Central Railway project however, the Nottingham tram was at one point proposed to go from Carrington St. to Midland Station travelling through the tunnels, under the Victoria Centre and over Weekday Cross viaduct.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top