steam – RUDDINGTON.info

Key Bridge Repair Should Get ‘Big Trains’ Back Soon!

17th July 202418th July 2024 Graham Wright

It’s now over four years since full-sized trains carried passengers on our once popular heritage railway line south of Ruddington. The tough restrictions at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 brought a halt to all activities at Nottingham Transport Heritage Centre on Mere Way, including the weekend steam and diesel services operated by the volunteers at Great Central Railway (Nottingham) (GCRN). Other setbacks since have meant these trains still haven’t restarted. One of these setbacks is a small bridge on the Nottinghamshire section of the railway which…

Ruddington’s ‘Big Trains’ Could Restart Soon!

30th January 202330th January 2023 Graham Wright

For almost three years now, a previously familiar weekend sound drifting across Ruddington has been sadly missing – that of the distant whistles and gentle chugging of steam trains making their way in and out of Nottingham Transport Heritage Centre. Since RUDDINGTON.info published the news piece ‘What’s Happening at our Heritage Railway’, back in January 2022, it’s continued to be one of our most searched for items – as villagers and visitors alike seek the elusive answer! In particular, the legendary ‘Santa Specials’ in the run-up to Christmas have been…

Heritage Centre Reopens – But Without Trains

10th August 202022nd August 2020 Graham Wright

Directors at Great Central Railway (Nottingham) have announced that no vintage steam or diesel trains will be running from Ruddington until Easter 2021 at the earliest. Passenger services last ran from our heritage site during the February half-term before all trains were cancelled and the centre closed to visitors due to the COVID-19 Coronavirus outbreak. The charity reveals that, over the last couple of months, The Office of Road & Rail and The Heritage Railways Association have been working with heritage railway groups up and down the country to determine ways…

Canal Bridge Completed

7th July 20207th July 2020 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…

Is This The Paddington Train?

22nd January 201823rd January 2018 Graham Wright

Yes it is! 60163 “Tornado” will be blowing into Ruddington next month – and that’s the locomotive featured in the film “Paddington 2”! It’s coming here as the star attraction during the second weekend in February at Ruddington’s Great Central Railway. You may or may not know that this A1 Peppercorn Class is Britain’s newest steam train, built only in 2008. As part of the celebrations for her 10th year in service she will be appearing in our village for the first time. Despite her young age, Tornado is already iconic as…

Half Term Trains Cancelled

30th January 20171st February 2017 Graham Wright

Ruddington’s Great Central Railway has announced that the half term services planned for February will not be able to run “due to unforeseen circumstances”. It was timetabled for trains to run over the weekends of the 11th & 12th of February and the 18th & 19th of February However GCRN Director Phil Stanway told RUDDINGTON.info that they’d reluctantly had to cancel these trips because of “unscheduled track repairs”. It’s now hoped that 2017 train services will commence on the weekend of Saturday the 1st and Sunday the 2nd of April instead. These will be “Steam Running…