Steam hauled services along the Great Central Railway from Ruddington have again been withdrawn after the embankment fire at East Leake on Sunday. The blaze came only a week after GCRN’s resident steam loco was reinstated on the heritage line between our village and Loughborough.
Planned trips using Hunslet 2890 had been suspended since early July due to concerns about the risk of trackside fires during the long, dry heatwave. But after the recent wet and cooler weather, it was thought they could safely be reintroduced.
These photos taken soon afterwards by John Akinin (top & right) show the section of scorched embankment near Rushcliffe Halt which caught alight just after the vintage locomotive had steamed past on its 13:00 departure from Ruddington on September 2nd. It’s thought a spark from the engine’s chimney may have been to blame.
GCRN Director Phil Stanway told RUDDINGTON.info: “The fire started on the outward journey and was reported at 13:35. The train was held in the platform at the old East Leake Station so passengers could alight and stretch their legs until clearance to pass was given by the incident commander. While arrangements were being made to send one of the heritage buses to collect the passengers, the permission to proceed was given and all passengers were brought back to Ruddington by train, finally arriving back an hour later than scheduled at 15:35.” The usual 15:00 departure had to be cancelled.
Several fire engines using crews from East Leake, Loughborough, Nottingham and Castle Donington raced to the scene, to put out the blaze – with Rushcliffe Police assisting them with nearby road closures until the embankment was completely extinguished at about 4pm.
{Were you a passenger on the train and, if so, did YOU take a picture of the embankment fire? If so, please share it with us on social media. Thanks!}
Investigations into the specific cause of the fire are ongoing. GCRN says all services will now be diesel hauled until that investigation – and any remedial works required – are completed.
Meantime, this weekend, it has been decided not to run any replacement diesel services on Saturday (8th September) due to the Tour of Britain traffic and road closures. But the 125 Group will be running its restored 41001 prototype High Speed Train on Sunday (9th) as scheduled.
