Tag: reunification

Trouble on the Tracks!

Graham Wright

Just as everything seemed to be moving forward very nicely at Ruddington’s transport heritage centre, it’s emerged that the two groups responsible for running the site – and the services from it – are at loggerheads over a section of track. After the Board at GCRN decided to rebrand its railway as NHR – Nottingham Heritage Railway “with immediate effect” just a week ago, this morning it has issued a terse public statement saying it will not “surrender running rights” to East Midlands Railway Trust (EMRT) from a point just north of Rushcliffe Halt…

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Forward Thinking at Ruddington’s Railway

Graham Wright

A brand new fund to develop one of Nottinghamshire’s leading heritage attractions has been launched in our village today (Friday 9th July). ‘The Forward Fund’ aims to provide new visitor facilities, including a new station building at ‘The Nottingham Transport Heritage Centre’ in Ruddington. It will also raise money to upgrade tracks and bridges on the nine mile section of the historic Great Central Railway through the county. Guest of honour for the launch was Rushcliffe MP, Ruth Edwards – who is a patron of The East Midlands Railway Trust (EMRT), the…

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Heritage Railway’s ‘Money Match March’

Graham Wright

Whilst villagers and visitors eagerly await the reopening of Ruddington’s Great Central Railway (Nottingham) attractions post ‘lockdown’, which is due to start on April 12th, there’s a major fundraising drive this month to rejoin the tracks between Ruddington and Leicester North. As the Reunification Appeal continues, during March, every pound you give, either online, by existing or newly established standing order – or by cheque through the post – will be matched pound for pound, up to £100,000, by a mystery donor. Railway volunteers are reporting that already tens of…

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Canal Bridge Completed

Graham Wright

From Loughborough comes news that a major two-day operation at the start of this month has ‘all but’ finished the overhaul of the elegant Victorian railway bridge which spans the Grand Union Canal in the town. The relevance of this restoration for our village is that it marks another step forward for the eighteen mile heritage line vision between Ruddington and Leicester North by reconnecting the currently separate sections of tracks operated by volunteers from our own Great Central Railway – Nottingham (GCRN) and Loughborough’s Great Central Railway (GCR). Built in the…

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‘Factory Flyover’ Continues Railway ‘Reunification’

Graham Wright

Volunteers from Ruddington’s heritage railway are celebrating reaching another milestone in its ‘reunification’ project to create an 18 mile train line all the way between our village and Birstall on the outskirts of Leicester. The tracks comprising Ruddington’s Great Central Railway – Nottingham (GCRN) and Loughborough’s Great Central Railway (GCR) are set to be rejoined once the 500 metre gap in the middle is bridged – meaning services will then be able to run between the two for the first time since 1969. So far RUDDINGTON.info has told you about the installation…

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