England's Lost Main Line Railway: Rediscovering the Great Central Main Line
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 ก.ค. 2020
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A journey to discover what remains of the Great Central Main Line - England's Lost Main Line Railway.
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I hope you enjoy the film - you can really help by *sharing* this film far and wide and by *subscribing* Might you consider supporting my channel even more? www.buymeacoffee.com/rediscovering CORRECTIONS:* It appears I mispronounced 'Rothley' among one or two other places. Thanks for pointing this out.
This was incredibly beautiful. Thank you!
@@dyuman3983 my very great pleasure, thank you. Do subscribe if you've not already done so and enjoy my other films in the series!
@@keplermission4947 I didn't know. What are your sources?
@@keplermission4947 Whilst there may be some truth in what you say, it is also mired in inaccuracy and prejudice which dilutes the rather imprecise point I fear you are trying to make...
@@keplermission4947 you're right of course, about all you say. Thanks for your comment.
The UK seemed to suffer a 'crisis of confidence' during the 60's and 70's. I think we seriously lost our way in that period. We're still paying for mistakes made in these two decades, today - not just in our railways but in many other areas aswell. A very well researched video, expertly put together in a clear way and with great narration.
Thank you for your kind remarks about my film. Though not a child of those eras, I'm inclined to agree with your assessment!
The 1980s were worse! When everything was sold off!
@@davidhauteville1394 I know they would privatise there own grandmother
The biggest mistake was building this line in the first place, and I say that as one who thinks the GCR London extension was a fantastic piece of engineering.
In my opinion. We didn’t lose our way we were just suffering from corruption at the top. The good old boys who had shares in road transport sold off and destroyed public assets walking away with bulging pockets. I remember scrap men driving Bentleys. The wholesale destruction of the railway left whole communities isolated and removed all the secondary jobs the railway brought. Oswestry being a classic example of a major railway hub wiped off the map.
In the late 50to60 I was a fireman many happy days spent at woodford halsey still hold fond memories now 82years barry greenhough from sheffield
Many thanks for your comment Barry and I hope that this film stirred some happy memories!
I grew up in 50s and 60s...Beeching had a lot to answer for in those days....imagine if we had these routes today, we wouldn't be so dependent on cars carrying one person in endless lines.....it's time they came back these old lines and use modern VLT trains and connect the life we had once before...far superior to that of today..well researched and narrated...continue your excellent work..it deserves recognition...
Many thanks for your comment and kind words about my film 🙂
as much as Beeching gets unjustly blaimed (it was his boss who *just so happened to own a controlling interest in a road making company* who really deserves the blame) this one is probably the most understandable, given that even back when it was the ML&SR (which was nicknamed 'Money Lost and Sunk' for a very good reason) was purely a duplicate of the soon-to-be LMS. The GCR was never more than a 2nd best option in everything except the very Locomotives that ran it. Even before Beeching it was never a question of "if" it was always a question of "when" the GCR's lines would be torn up.
beeching axed nothing, all the labour party
Just watched this for the first time, utterly brilliant. So well researched and wonderfully presented. It baffles me how the main terrestrial tv channels are filled with trash…reality tv shows, quiz and game shows, etc, when something like THIS should be broadcast to millions. Great work ❤
You are ever so kind- thank you - do please subscribe and check out my other films. A major new film concerning East West Rail is on its way!
@@RediscoveringLostRailways yes indeed I subscribed yesterday. Thanks again for what you do. Great stuff. I look forward to catching up on other videos and the forthcoming one, can’t wait! All the best. ❤️
I've always had a high regard for the GCR; it had a high-quality of civil and mechanical engineering. To destroy it was an act of cultural and economic vandalism.
I think many on here would agree with your assessment!
Thats the Tories for you, Ernest Marples who owned the biggest road building company was the minister in charge of the Beeching cuts. the beginning of devolution for the UK. A nation once proud to be the best in the world and men of great vision.
You’ve made me feel nostalgic for a railway that closed before I was born. Well done.
I share the same situation - you're not alone! Many thanks indeed!
@@RediscoveringLostRailwayse
Me too. it's fine. that is how heritage protection works :)
Same here, but I live more than 10,000km away too.
Beautifully written, narrated and filmed this is a real treat among so much TH-cam dross.
Ever so kind of you to say so, thank you!
One might also say that England’s lost (or thought lost) language had been rediscovered.
@@RicktheRecorder you're very kind, I do try 🙂
Rediscovering Lost Railways It shows.
hear hear
In the mid 90’s I was paid to walk the entire line with a colleague as part of a scheme to reopen the line as a freight railway. A fascinating way for an engineer to spend the summer and both interesting and sad to see the demise of such a great piece of infrastructure. But amongst the many features en route, the one that really stuck in my memory was the section of cutting that an enterprising farmer had turned into a series of fishing lakes. Thanks for the memory
My pleasure and what a remarkable job to undertake - I'd be delighted to hear more about your experiences as I'm sure others on here would!
Up until I was 8 years old, I lived less than half a mile from the Great Central Railway at Birstall, Leicestershire. I have fond memories of watching the trains race under the bridge on the Greengate Lane. That was during and immediately after WW2. Thank you for this video.
My pleasure - what wonderful memories!
A very fitting tribute to the vision of Sir Edward Watkin and to the existence of his Great Central Railway. Excellent narration and great photography - thank you!
Very kind of you to say so, thank you for your kind words about my film.
Thank you for this. As a long term (22 years) Brackley resident I have enjoyed exploring the local trackbed, which is becoming less and less accessible over the years. Films like this help to educate my grandchildren about the local railway heritage. I'm also moved by the fact that my late father used to be a regular on the line from London to Loughborough as a 15 year old engineering student (and railway enthusiast) in 1939. As I plod the trackbed I wonder how he would have felt if he'd known what was to become of it.
Thank you for sharing your evocative memories of this line and for your kind words about my film!
Pressurise your MP to persuade the powers-that-be convert the old track bed into a walking/cycling/horse riding/wheelchair friendly recreational trail open to all users and not just railway enthusiasts. You'll be doing the environment plus the health and well-being of the population a favour.
I'm English but live in Oz these days. I love these type of films; they are the type of link with my heritage and culture I readily absorb and keenly watch. Indeed on my few trips to the UK (prior to Covid!) I have done similar self exploratory walks along old abandoned track beds to soak up the atmosphere and reflect on times gone by that I have never known and never will encounter in the future. I always find closed lines quite sad when I consider all the lives, time and effort people spent in constructing and running them only to be closed at the stroke of a pen. Indeed our lives are, in some ways, like these abandoned lines. We are here now, but in decades to come, we will be forgotten with only the occasional reminder to others through photos or other legacies of our once active existence. Thanks for the video, great research.
I agree with all you say and there's no doubt that in undertaking such explorations there's a degree of meditation and contemplation too.
I lived in Bulwell and remember with excitement as a young lad, the demolition of the huge viaduct over the Leen. The disruption and operation to remove it took months. A local Facebook group member that has recently posted dozens of photos of the viaduct. Now as an adult I'm mortified at it's loss. I remember the magnificence and sheer size of the viaduct and the attitude of many at the time who were glad to see it taken down.
I would've loved to have seen it for real. Your description makes it all the more vivid!
It was probably the visible traces of the viaduct that sent me down the rabbithole of looking up the old local railway history. I only moved to Nottingham in '02 so I didn't know much history but I noticed the remaining chunk of blue engineering brick wall behind the bus stop on Hucknall Lane, and the abutments on Bestwood Road.
Bulwell lido was a great day out, watching the trains cross the viaduct was part of the pleasure.
Like many others, I consider it an act of pure wanton destruction and vandalism when the GCR was destroyed.Many thanks for this fine film
You're certainly not alone! Many thanks for your comment and kind words about my film.
Especially when you consider the gigantic cost of building HS2.
@@lewisner The Great Central does not visit Birmingham, so it is not suitable for HS2.
@ OP The destruction was not "wanton" as it was to avoid future maintenance and liability.
Some of the arguments being made are clearly in error.
The only good thing here is the film/video which is an interesting historical document.
@@PreservationEnthusiast I never said it did go to Birmingham or that it was "suitable for building HS2".
On your second point, the GCR main line was built in 1898 to the very highest engineering standards using blue brick. In order to accept your premise I would need you to show me the cost of maintaining a viaduct per annum versus the cost of demolishing it.
One of the arguments for closing the GCR was that it "merely duplicated existing railways" which is precisely what HS2 does, at mind boggling expense to the taxpayer which includes me.
@@lewisner HS2 does not duplicate existing railways because they are not high speed lines to the same degree as HS2, so you are wrong on that point.
Also I said maintenance costs and liability. Maintenance costs are high, but liability is a huge risk. Councils do not want largely redundant structures hanging around. If a brick falls and hits someone that can cost millions which will pay for the demolition.
Also the landscape is restored to its natural state which is popular with the general public, a few rail buffs excepted. That is an unquantifiable and massive benefit.
An absolute masterpiece and fitting tribute to lost Great Central Railway. Thank you.
Thank you ever so much for your kind words about my film!
Sad in a way to watch this, as a family we travelled many times from Victoria Station, my grandfather was a signalman there, my father too was a signal man on the GCR and my great grandfather was with the GCR as well. I spent some time on the Pacific Great Eastern Rly in British Columbia. It is now Canadian National Railways. Good memories.
Wow, that's a substantial connection to this fine railway - one to be proud of!
This is just a brilliant video.
I'm from lancashire and we also had our fair share of cuts via the Beeching report.
I'm not familiar with the places you mention in this video. However, having watched this now I'm filled with sadness and anger that a mainline railway can be just abandoned and left like this. The engineering, the blood sweat and tears, not to mention the huge costs that must have gone into building such a great railway.. Utter madness.
I share your sentiments, as no doubt others on this channel do. I'd like to explore some lost lines in your area! Do subscribe if you've not already done so and enjoy my other films in the series.
Yep utter madness..
the GCR was always financial suicide, it was a lost cause from the beginning. The soon-to-be LMS did just about everything the GCR did better (though some might consider the GCR's engines to be better machines). Even before Beeching was born the question wasn't "if" but "when" the GCR's lines were going to be torn up.
A fantastic film. It’s so sad to this once great railway sadly destroyed.
Many thanks indeed!
I'm having a second comment, this is the David Attenborough of lost railways in full effect outstanding effort.
To receive one comment is wonderful, to recieve two is outstanding! Very grateful for the high compliments you have paid my film. Thank you indeed.
thats more like it. a hidden gem right through the heartlands c;
That is a great way of describing these videos!!
Id agree with that wholeheartedly. Its written and presented beautifully with points raised politely and balanced. Refreshing production values.
Thank you for this as it takes me back to forgotten lines in Northamptonshire. Beeching was a criminal.
Really glad you enjoyed the film, thank you for taking the time to comment.
Thank you for an excellent on site history of the GCR. I grew up at Beaconsfield south on the GCR/GWR joint line in the excellent 1950s all steam days to Marylebone, my favourite terminus. I remember the thunderous sound there when the locos safety valves lifted inside the canopy. It's so quiet now although thankfully it is busy with trains and passengers.
I can't say I enjoyed this video as I found it deeply sad :-(
I grew up in Leicester and while aware of that magnificent station it had fallen into neglect and that part of the city centre was somewhat neglected and abandoned in my childhood.
Keep up the great work as this part of our history is important.
Thank you for your kind words about my film!
I’ve watched this video two or three times now and still find it very interesting, as I was watching I was also following the route via Google maps/Earth, and although the countryside areas and small stops weren’t difficult to follow I kept getting lost in the larger towns/cities like Nottingham especially, so hats off to you for finding the whole route inc buried bridges and hidden tunnels, this wasn’t an easy task, so your hard work is appreciated.
I'm so glad this one bears repeated viewings! Making this film was an absolute delight and I'll never forget it 🙂
My god,that sure was a labour of love,fantastic film and well done for doing it,what a great line we have lost
Thank you so much indeed, I'm so glad you enjoyed it!
"You don't know what you've got till its gone. They paved paradise to put in a parking lot " ( I think I got that right). Here I am nostalgic for something I never knew . Thanks for posting .
Yes, me too! Glad you enjoyed the film
Every time I watch documentaries like this my blood pressure goes up at the destruction that transport minister marples and beeching did to the infrastructure that is now lost, now they are going to spend billions on a railway that was already there, as this land was publicly owned it should be brought back into public use once more if not for mainline use then for local light railway, trams etc, if the government wants use to use public transport then give us transport we can use Britain does not begin in London and finish at Watford,
I think many on here would agree with your assessment!
Cars were the future at that time, not trains.
Sadly it is not hard to argue that there was some corruption. The disgraced Ernest Marples had a conflict of interest as he had a firm building roads. He did not hind his bias against the railways as well.
@@killerwhiterabbit570 there's always corruption - when does the british government ever put people before money? never! it is always money before people!
@@yes2truth I just stated cars were the future at that time and was referring to the UK. How many people in the UK would prefer to drive their own car than get public transport? Erm.....quite a lot of people in my opinion especially when train travel in the UK is ssslllooooooowwwww and often packed. Get on a carriage in UK and not expect to sit for over an hour yet in France I hear they add an extra carriage if the seating demand is there. I think it's a great idea commercial goods are transported via rail as there's less traffic on the roads. Less traffic means less congestion, means less accidents. Looks like Germany has had it worked out better than UK!! On another note, how fast can we drive on our motorways? 70mph? Compare that to Germany's autobahns, oh where more than half of the total length of the German autobahn network has no speed limit. Imo us Brits are a suppressed nation of people where the establishment puts money before people so they aren't going to care what our transportation system is like because the average UK citizen will 'endure' it. If Uk plc wanted to improve the rail network over the car for the benefit of the population it would have made some significant developments. France introduced high speed trains nearly 40 YEARS AGO. What happened to the APT? That entire project was a joke and a total waste of money because it was clear UK plc didn't want high speed trains to benefit the population to start with.
Superb, thanks. I could just about cope with the destruction of Nottingham Central Station if the architecture that replaced it had any merit. Almost without exception anything demolished in the 1960s was replaced with something awful.
Many thanks - and agreed!
Here in New York City, arguably this country's greatest railroad station, Pennsylvania Station, was lost in the mid-1960s to the newest incantation of Madison Square Garden. The latter will never be mistaken for a candidate entry in an architectural contest.
I'm 25 have a few good books like the GWR then and now i could watch videos like this all day...
Great book! Do enjoy all my films!
This is by far the most professional, informative and stunning record of our GCR history. Photographs with first class commentary totally enthrall the viewer. I totally applaud and thank the author. I shall share all of this production with fellow GCR enthusiasts as well as my grandchildren.
Thank you so much for your kind words about my film - it was a pleasure to make and I hope that shows. Please do share far and wide! You may also be interested in my latest film concerning the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway entitled 'England's Best Loved Lost Railway' - many thanks once again 🙂
Excellent video . It surprises me that there are people out there .who go to a lot of hard work to make videos on topics that would be forgotten if not for them
Glad you enjoyed the film. It is an addiction rather than a hobby - I can't stop myself!
A thumbs up isn't good enough for this video. Thank you.
Very kind of you to say so - do please share it with anyone who may find it of interest - that would be a great help!
more like outstanding c; better than tv
Absolutely agree here. Great work.
@@james.black981 many thanks indeed!
From the USA, thanks for an absolute gem of a presentation on something I never heard of before. Abandonment was such a waste of splendid British engineering. Curves of 1 mile radius, extremely low gradients. Can one imagine how the railway could have been adapted to 21st century high speed trains! Such a loss.
Always happy to hear from an American cousin! So pleased you enjoyed the film. Do subscribe if you've not already done so and enjoy my other films in the series!
Thank you so much for sharing your beautifully-crafted video masterpiece with us. I particularly love your narration, which is a joy to listen to, especially as I no longer live in the UK these days. As a student living in Loughborough during the 1980s, I got know and admire what remained of this fine mainline. I like to think that the GCR is dead, but is merely sleeping patiently waiting for her next call of duty. Thanks to you and many others she will never be forgotten. Life is constant change. It’s destruction seems so permanent, but as we have witnessed, the pendulum has begun to swing in favour of public transport again. So what is happening to the Varsity Line could happen to the London Extension, too.
Making this video was such a delight and paved the way for the style of film I have made subsequently. Thanks for your kind words and for sharing your memories!
What an interesting and informative documentary which neither insults or baffles its viewers. It seems to be written and narrated with both enthusiasts and people merely interested in that old railway that they walk along regularly in mind. I certainly learned a lot. I live in Rugby and have walked most of the length of it that you can between the M45 and M6.
Just a quick pointer, Lutterworth was the only town served by the GCR which wasn't served by another railway company although Ullesthorpe station on the Midland Counties line was renamed Ullesthorpe and Lutterworth in 1897 presumably to encourage people to use that station despite being nearly 4 miles away.
Thank you for your kind review of my film! It has always been my intention to appeal to a broad audience - technobabble is off-putting and alienates with immediate effect! Thank you for the heads up about Lutterworth etc - I didn't know! Do subscribe if you've not already done so and enjoy my other films in the series.
Great film. I get so angry thinking about what they did the the GCML and the railways in general in the 60s. Petrol was pennies and things like that I know, it was the age of the car etc but my mind shudders at both the monumental lack of foresight and the destruction of some fine railway architecture. How could someone sanction the destruction of a viaduct, or wilfully burn down a signal box...
Maybe we should all campaign for Calvert to be given the full GCR revival, seeing as in the next few years trains will run down that section as part of East West Rail, not to mention HS2. One last piece of glory for the GCML's southernmost original station.
I think many on here would agree with your assessment. Thanks for your comment.
Cash: the government would make a lot of money from road tax from all the freight and passengers transferred to roads. In the long term it caused the congestion we now experience because there is often no alternative to cars and lorries. This is because the railways are just cash cows for investment companies and greedy oligarchs like Robbing Branson. I feel sympathy for anyone who has to use a service which is over priced, over crowded, underfunded, and being milked by the private companies running into the ground. I often think we were better off as taxpayers funding state own rail than we have been, funding private companies.
Something many people forget is that British Rail received very little investment from the War onward. Services were run down, infrastructure decayed, people were pushed to use cars and lorries, and it became ripe for closure and later selling off. It didn't hurt that one of the men behind the closures owned a road building company. There were some lines which needed closing, but a lot were closed that would take pressure off roads if they still existed.
Sorry for rambling. Have a very good day.
Take the rose tints off for a second and tell me when Beeching was put in charge of the railways did anyone know that in November 1967 the Pound was going to be devalued by 14% against the US$? Did they also foresee that prior to the devaluation there was going to be a series of runs on the Pound wiping out the government's foreign currency reserves and almost all of the bullion reserves? What about the 3-day week? The Miners Strikes in the early 1970s and 1984? How about the Winter of Discontent or the Credit Crunch of 2008? The answer to all of these question is no they didn't see any of them coming although the signs for each of them were visible to those who cared to look for them. The GCR line duplicated both the WCML and MML and thus was an expensive luxury for a BR at the time of the appointment of Beeching that was losing £100,000 a day. And don't go saying it would have been useful for the HS2 route if they had left it in place, as that is just delusional, 50 odd years have passed between the closure and the coming up with HS2.
@@KillerBill1953 the roads we had in the 1960s were already congested, so we would have had to expand the road building programme to accommodate the extra traffic the closure of the railways would have caused. Wiping out for many years any increase in revenue from the extra traffic.
OK, which lines closed by Beeching could they have seen at the time of closure that would be needed 60 years later to relieve road congestion? No, you can't use hindsight to justify any potential lines.
@@neiloflongbeck5705 I remember the roads in the 1960s. Congested is not a word I could ever use to describe most roads in the UK. You obviously weren't around then. Possibly parts of big cities were busy but not that I remember of Sheffield and Derby. I lived three years in Coventry in the 1970s, again, no congestion, nor Birmingham, which I visited regularly, including the area around the notorious Bull Ring.
I was not justifying any potential lines but closing some was very short-sighted and done for political over practical reasons.
My experience was that roads did not start to become congested until the late 1980s.
Wow such a nice film showing the lost railway. Thank you so much for this. It showed me what was and now is. It's sad to see a mainline lost.
Thank you for your kind words about my film. Remember, it was always your tip that put me onto it!
@@RediscoveringLostRailways I never expected you to follow my request it means a lot to me.
Brought a tear to my eye watching this, many thanks for the great memories I had from my dad taking me to Loughborough station many a weekend when I was little. He loved it there, sadly he passed away last year so watching this made me very emotional but thank you! 👍🏻 also being a Nottingham native history nut I have old photos of Victoria station on my walls and even an a3 framed replica timetable from 1929 😬 I would have loved to have been alive when Victoria station was open ☹️
I'm glad this film was able to stir some happy memories - thank you for taking the time to comment. I like the sound of that display - the station was magnificent by all accounts. Once again, thank you for your kind words about my film.
I live in Rugby and have always been fascinated with the GCR. This video is something to be proud of, seriously, it couldn’t have been made any better, I absolutely loved it!
Glad you enjoyed it! It was a labour of love and I must admit to being proud of it, if that's allowed! Thanks again.
It took many years to remove the GC viaduct and overbridge across the WCML at Rugby.
I can never understand why councils destroy viaducts and bridges
The cost in money to do it and for what purpose
Yes, it is a shame indeed!
Part of the reasoning has to do with both maintenance costs (long term) and "destructive engineering" of landscapes. Another aspect has to do with train obsolescence. Part of the thinking goes that buses are cheaper (ie. no rails / staff to maintain) and private cars require no government maintenance costs. Not directly, that is.
It’s cost money to maintain them, so they just pull them down.
Especially when we are needing to reinstate the lines!
Thats the grim 70s for you, so many fine buildings were lost too in that decade!
I remember going from Marylebone to Nottingham with my mother back in the early 60s on these trains, including the sooty smell in the St John's Wood tunnels and my mother hating the effect of these on her ears!
Thank you for sharing your vivid memories of this line 🙂
I had no idea all of this was so close to where I live. Thank you for informing me about such a great railway
No worries! Really glad you enjoyed it.
This is an extremely informative and well made film - thank you so much for the hard work and dedication that has clearly gone into making and sharing this with us; although I have a strange tinge of sadness when watching this and seeing what has happened to many of these sites! I wonder how many locals know what they pass by most days. New subscriber to the channel.
Many thanks for your comment, kind words and subscription. A real labour of love. So many more films to come!
A lovely journey through time. I traveled to Manchester from London many times as a small boy to spend Christmas with grandparents. Much later in life I lived in Loughborough, very near to the Great Central Station. I have been watching closely the progress of linking the line, across the Midland main line and River Soar, to the Nottingham heritage railway
Thank you. Looking forward to them forging this link as it will make an already remarkable heritage railway all the better!
Great video, very enjoyable yet saddening to watch.
So glad you enjoyed the film, thank you!
The amount of effort that has gone in to this is superb.
I'm so pleased that it shows! Thanks for the comment and kind words about my film. Do subscribe if you've not already done so and enjoy my other films in the series!
Superb film I really enjoyed watching. I was lucky to see the rebirth of the Central line. I was born in Loughborough and my father - a keen railway enthusiast worked at Brush. We would walk the stretch from Loughborough to East Leake on those warm summer evenings in the early 1970's.
Wonderfully evocative memories, thank you for sharing them and for your kind words about my film.
The shear waste aspect was the destruction of so many viaducts and bridges after closure. I’ve endless books on the GCR, and remember it from my youth, especially the magnificence of Nottingham Victoria. This is a superb video of times past and unfortunately never to be repeated.
Really glad you enjoyed the film and found it evocative. The destruction of Nottingham Victoria is particularly dispiriting!
Just watched this for the second time, enjoyed it as much as the first. I come from near Nottingham and remember travelling to and from Victoria as a child on the steam services. I used to be a welder on the railway and did some volunteer welding work on crossings for the GCR near Loughborough.
Really glad it held up to a second viewing, thank you so much for your kind words about my film
While it's sad to see the line like this it's a magnificent film. Many thanks.
Very kind of you to say so - yes, bittersweet, perhaps.
Excellent video... possibly the best I have seen about disused UK railways. Well done!
So kind of you to say so. Do subscribe if you've not already done so and enjoy my other films in the series!
Once again, you have excelled yourself in keeping me gripped from start to finish. What better way is there for me to chill and relax? This is worthy of a series on Yesterday! Thanks for all your hard work remastering this.
So glad you enjoyed the film - always happy to hear from a long term Subscriber and meet with their approval!
The guy has become a great video producer. Thanks for also showing it on the map for us uninitiated Americans. We share your railroad heritage. Also the destruction, but that was invented here.
Much appreciated! I think the maps are a helpful means of orientation. How I'd love to explore some disused railways in the USA! Do share the film far and wide if you can - and thanks again!
@@RediscoveringLostRailways In the process of doing that!
Absolutely stunning video!
A pleasure to watch, but of course you cannot view this without a tinge of sadness, what a waste, to close the GCR was an act of criminality.
And that's an understatement! 😪
I'm so pleased that you enjoyed the film and I daresay many on here would agree with your assessment!
I really enjoyed that. Excellently balanced with aerial views, maps and some really great shots. Whilst i'm here, shall we raise a glass to all our splended volunteers for the great work they perform. Again, superb production!
Glad you enjoyed it! And allow me to join you in that toast!
I can’t thank you enough for this fabulous film, it’s fascinating to see the GCML in its full length examined so closely
I'm so pleased that you enjoyed the film. Do subscribe if you've not already done so and enjoy my other films in the series!
What a great film after all.Having lived all my life a couple of hundred yards from a section of the disused line to the North of Rugby I often thought of making a film of the route as it exists today.This is precisely what I had in mind-good job Sir (or Madam).
You're very kind - I would encourage you to go out with your camera and take a few shots, even if you do nothing with it, it is a fulfilling experience to explore this lost and secret world!
As some one who's spent a great deal of time watching the trains at Mt Sorrel, thankyou for this.
I'm so glad you enjoyed the film, thank you for your kind words.
The bridge over the M1 was the last GCR structure to be built while the line was still open.
That I didn't know! Many thanks indeed.
Been waiting for this video and you've smashed it! I've spent so much time exploring this line. You've done us all (and yourself) proud by showing the world how a vision can become a reality, the Victorians really were the pioneers of civil and industrial engineering, such a shame that we are governed by people who don't share that vision. Thank you :)
I'm so pleased that you enjoyed the film and that it lived up to expectation. Really kind of you to take the time to compliment my work so generously, thank you.
100 percent agree, short sighted government cuts destroyed many a proud railway to the extent the need to spend billions to try and improve the infrastructure that is sorely lacking
52 minutes well spent, thanks for producing this and sharing on this platform, no pun intended?!
So glad you enjoyed it! Do subscribe if you've not already done so and enjoy my other films in the series 😀
Great video! Am a massive fan of the Old GCR having being brought up in Northamptonshire. A railway before its time .
Glad you enjoyed it - a remarkable railway and so much to explore, especially in your fin home county!
Also in London this railway runs along side the Met and jubilee lines. Past stations like kilburn and west Hampstead.
Yes, that's right. At least part of it is still operational!
i love viewing old railway lines in glasgow. its sad to see all these lines etc now gone but great to see their remains!
It's a wonderful hobby to have! It's odd that, whist I'm sorry many of these lines have gone, if they were still in place I wouldn't be making films about them!
Of all the closures from Beeching, the GC had to be the maddest !
Yes, I think many people here would agree with your sentiments!
Unless you consider that the real villain was the transport minister Marples the road builder.
@@saltspringrailway3683 That is very true
I would say the three maddest closures by that British Satan, Richard 'Bastard' Beeching, were 1) Great Central, 2) Somerset and Dorset, 3) Ruabon to Barmouth (leaving the whole of Mid-Wales without a train link). And a (dis)honourable mention for the Branch Lines out of King's Lynn.
that's labour for you , they alone closed the lines , no one else
Past and present collide with such nostalgia. A pleasure to watch this fine piece of history/geography. Thank you.
Very kind of you to say so, thank you. Do subscribe if you've not already done so and enjoy my other films in the series.
Thank you for bringing this to our screens. The GCR’s legacy captivated me since I first encountered Mac Hawkins’ wonderful book in the 1990s, and It’s splendid to have a videography update!
Glad you enjoyed it! And Mr Hawkins' books is still a masterpiece. Indeed, he has commented on this film somewhere below - I'm glad to have his approval!
Just ordered book, thanks for drawing attention to it.
It's a good book, but it repeats the "continental loading gauge" myth, which annoys me every time I see it.
Slick production, loving your work Sir.
Much appreciated! I'm so glad you enjoyed the film. Do share far and wide if you can!
@@RediscoveringLostRailways will do.
Nicely done thank you! This should go on National TV.
Very kind of you to say so, thank you!
I have become well acquainted with the section of GC through Rugby & beyond since moving to the area in 2007 & never tire of the wonderful heritage walk section from Onley Lane to Abbey St where the amazing"Birdcage Bridge" connected to the viaduct across the Avon valley.The bridge was demolished on Christmas Day 2006! I still marvel at the scale of the bridges etc particularly Ashlawn Rd which is spectacular.Further south before work started on the test facility one could walk into the epic Catesby Tunnel;a neighbour & I did some years ago.The platforms at Rugby Central remain & the local rotary club have managed to lay some sections of track in the positions they would have been in the day! Of course as well as the GC Rugby has several other disused lines & I am still exploring them!
Many thanks for your thoughts and comment 👍
Great film BTW 👍🏼
Very kind - thank you indeed!
Just watched the whole thing on my telly, it's fantastic what we can do for entertainment these days. My 20 year old self who spent a fair amount of time looking for his of this railway in Nottingham would be amazed. Great film, will worth a watch, you have a new sub. 👍
Thanks ever so much for the subscription - I think watching it on TV is best, personally! So glad you enjoyed it!
I used to live in Rugby. I rode on this railway plenty of times.
Wish I could've done!
Excellent and informative film.
I used Marylebone - Rugby many times in the 1960s.
I wish I could undertake that journey! Thanks for your comment. Do subscribe if you've not already done so and enjoy my other films in the series.
@@RediscoveringLostRailways Yes..Subscribed and Notifications as I was watching...
Some of the best content I have seen on TH-cam in a while, very informative and detailed. I look forward to when the gap between the two GCRs is bridged, especially as a GCRN Volunteer.
I suspect I will spend several hours, if not days binge watching the rest of your videos!
You may be pleased to know that on Thursday I'm releasing a major film concerning the entirity of the lost Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway - so do subscribe and hit your notification bell and let me know what you think of all my films. I'd be delighted to hear your thoughts!
Everyday I drive from Long Eaton to Market Harborough and Kettering I look over at the north side of the M1 and think; it isn’t MH or Kettering Station I should be working on, I should be pulling into the hard shoulder and starting work to restore the ‘HS2’ of its day back to its original glory! This film is fantastic .... thank you for your work in presenting this historical gem!
My absolute pleasure. Do subscribe if you've not already done so and enjoy my other films in the series!
I'm not a railway enthusiast, but I enjoyed this as it revealed the history of the railway I knew had existed near where I lived. In the 1970's - 1990's I lived in Brackley, only a few minutes walk from Brackley Central Station. The old railway bridge there created a zig-zag in the road, so about the same time the Brackley Viaduct was demolished the road was straightened. Ironically I wrote my car off avoiding an approaching vehicle on the wrong side of the road and ended up down the embankment roughly where the track had been! I also had a sort of souvenir from the viaduct demolition works. To contain the blast the contractors used large sheets of rubber matting, about 1 inch thick. My resourceful step-father "acquired" a piece of this matting and used it in the floor of the old van I drove, thus deadening the drumming noise of the old vehicle! I moved to the other side of Brackley in the 1990's, near to what I knew as "Skew Bridge" taking the road to Banbury over a track at a slightly quirky angle. However by the time I move the bridge was demolished and the road now sweeps past it.
Really glad you enjoyed the film and thank you for your anecdotes about your encounters with the line, which brings it to life so!
@@RediscoveringLostRailways
my grandad used to maintain the section between leicester and rugby. i walked part of this line the other day and i have still got his 45 years service watch. great film many thanks.
Wonderful memories - what a connection to have! Glad this film was enjoyed 🙂
Thank you so much for all the material you've produced. This, especially, is absolutely fantastic. I hope you continue to do narrated longer episodes. They're absolutely marvelous. Once again, thank you, and tons of respect for the work you've put into your channel. Cheers!
My pleasure! All future films will be narrated, with length determined by how much/little of the railway there is to see. But you have my word that there are many more films to come!
The most informative video of any closed line ever published. Well presented too. Now the next project must surely be the Southern’s Withered Arm in Devon & Cornwall
As it happens I'm heading to the South West tomorrow to complete my film on the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway. I filmed Evercreech to Burnham, Wells and Bridgwater last year but have only just got round to the Bath-Bournemouth section. I really hope to do the withered arm when time permits! I'm so glad you enjoyed this film. Do subscribe if you've not already done so and enjoy my other films in the series.
@@RediscoveringLostRailways It's a long way from your manor but The Border Counties Railway would be an eye opener for a lot of people. Some of the bleakest, most remote countryside in England served by a railway that only existed to carry slate from the few quarries on the route - and about 300 passengers a year.. One or two of the villages that had stations actually had no road access! Although I said 'bleakest' it's actually quite beautiful in it's own way, and the largest 'conurbation' on it's entire route had a population of less than 3,000 :)
Sounds right up my street - thanks for the recommendation!
Viewers and subscribers to your channel are very fortunate to have such remarkably talented and professional programming available at the tip of our fingers. Thank you so much.
That's so very kind of you to say so! From my perspective, I'm always thinking 'I should've done this or that' when I put my films online, but most seem happy with the finished work! Thanks again!
Magnificent. Your narration is spot on as always.
Thank you kindly!
Stunningly great documentary with alot of background information. I love your work & enthousiasm!
I'm so pleased that you enjoyed the film! Do subscribe if you've not already done so and enjoy my other films in the series!
A fantastic film. Historically, extremely important. Thank you so much for all the wrok you did to make this film possible
Thank you for you kind compliments about my film - it means a lot.
Well done! You see so much of this destruction... it's a wonder there wasn't a general revolt and Beeching tarred and feathered for it...
Yes! I dont imagine there will be a statue for him anytime soon...
@alanrtment porter I don't recall including any misty eyed nostalgia in my film. If you can point it out specifically I'd be very interested.
Really enjoyed this film. Brought back happy memories watching engines from Southern Railway coming up at least as far as Leicester when I used to go fishing with my dad in the Grand Union Canal at Blaby not far from Whetstone. Remember going to Leicester Central when we travelled by train to Portsmouth for a holiday on the Isle of Wight. Well done.
Thank you for your kind words about my film and your evocative memories of this line. Do subscribe if you've not already done so and enjoy my other films in the series!
I know nothing of England's railway history and still found this documentary on the Great Central extremely interesting. The period photographs from when this was a working railway were splendid as always; those of the line's scrapping at the end are quite melancholy. Your narrative throughout, RLR, is concise and informative without being overbearing. Use of maps, especially for those unfamiliar with the route, are a must.
With its abundant number of extensive cuts, notable fills, and viaducts/bridges built to high construction standards, the GC reminds me of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad's Blairstown Cut-off--a low-grade, high-speed (for the time) bypass route built in Northwest New Jersey here in the United States, 1908-1911. Like the Great Central, the Blairstown Cut-off was abandoned (1984) but is seeing a portion reactivated--if ever so slowly--for commuter traffic. Unlike the GC, there is talk of long-term plans to reactive the entire line as part of national passenger carrier Amtrak's system.
I think I've read reference to "blue bricks" (given their coloration?) in several posted comments (if not here then in other videos), and you, RLR, used the term "engineering bricks." Am I to take it that bricks used in British railway structures are of special, superior manufacture? Do you know what differentiates blue bricks from their ordinary (red) brethren (composition, density, firing process, et cetera)?
Rothley is a living time capsule of which the preservation society should be very proud. The tour along the platform provided a wonderful insight to traditional Great Central depot layout. Thank you, RLR, for filming it in color, as I feel black-and-white with a steam locomotive present might have been a little bit too surreal.
The fate suffered by Nottingham Victoria immediately brought to mind New York City's Pennsylvania Station. Local activists learned too late of the latter's pending destruction so as to save that magnificent railroad cathedral. The one positive which arose from Penn Station's loss was the birth of NYC's preservation movement--which helped save, among numerous other structures, architectural marvel Grand Central Terminal when that building was threatened.
The effort that went into this presentation is obvious given the quality of the product. Keep up the excellent work, RLR; thanks for helping educate this ignorant Yank in British railway history.
Thank you so much for your kind words about my film. It was a delight to make. Blue engineering bricks obtain their colour in the firing process, I believe, and are said to be stronger than your average brick (and more expensive). Rothley and the other stations along that section of railway are truly remarkable. Good to know that railway closures are not the preserve of Britain alone - better to hear that they might reopen the railway you mention stateside!
I was working at Catesby Aero Research a couple of weeks ago. If I'd known you were doing this video, I'd have taken a few photos. Anyway, for info, in the view from bridge 489 (21.30), the area to the right of the road (up against the A361), now has a 75% complete 2 storey office building. Between it and the packs of timber on the left is a concrete batching plant. This is used to make lean mix, which is transported to the tunnel mouth in 8 wheel tippers (my job!). Br 489 (21.34) has been infilled for 2/3 of its length and a new concrete portal frame installed under the existing deck to strengthen the bridge. A tarmac road has been laid to the tunnel. Only bit of infrastructure I saw from station to tunnel was the cut off remains off a lattice signal post ( up distant for the station?). Approaching the tunnel, you can't see the tunnel now (apart from the two ends of the parapet wall) as an industrial 'shed' has been built in front of it! As obviously 8 wheel tippers can't tip in the tunnel, we tipped into a paver (like you might see laying tarmac on roads) fitted with a conveyor at the back, which in turn filled a fleet of 5t dumpers, which then went into the tunnel to tip into the paver that was laying the lean mix on the tunnel floor. If I go back again, I'll definately take some photos.
Thank you for this fascinating update. I took this footage in October 2018, I believe, so it stand to reason that much has changed - you've really given me a sense of just how much it has altered, so thank you. If you're on facebook, there are a number of Great Central Railway groups that would be delighted to see your pictures - me included! Many thanks indeed!
Very enjoyable. I'm fascinated by the "once was", the "why not now", and the "what remains". Fantastic!
Glad you enjoyed it!
What an amazing piece of content! I remember when I was working for HS2 and seeing the remains of Calvert station as we were on site there and always wondered what line it was when we were discussing where the route would go! Cannot wait for more!
Wow - always good to hear from a railway insider - do share any stories from your experiences if you're allowed to do so! Really glad you enjoyed my film - have a good rummage around the channel - many more films to explore and many more to come!
Great job with this video. Your commentary adds much more than just captions would and is very relaxing to listen to.
Very kind of you to say so, many thanks indeed!
Brilliant, truly brilliant. Thank you so much for your hard work on this. Your efforts are appreciated. Will watch this multiple times.
Glad you enjoyed it! You could really help by sharing this film far and wide if possible. If this films is a success, then my one on the Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway (which I'm making next week) will follow a similar format. Thanks for your kind words!
What a great film. Such detail in the story and care given to the production. Thank you.
Very kind of you to take the time to comment on my film and to be so kind about it. Do subscribe if you've not already done so and enjoy my other films in the series.
Rediscovering Lost Railways I have subscribed today. I watched your film over a few days (it’s been a busy week) and was fascinated, especially by the first half because I live near Quainton Rd and know much of the area you described. Thanks again.
That was a bit good that was. Excellent stuff yet again. Many thanks for all your hard work.
My pleasure! Really glad you enjoyed the film!
A beautiful film. Great knowledge, and splendidly presented. Many thanks .
Thank you for your kind words about my film, it is greatly appreciated.
I can't believe the professional quality of this video, indeed, all of the videos you have done. Fantastic! Thank you!
So kind of you to say so, I'm constantly trying to refine my craft!
I worked the last loco from
Grendon Underwood to the site of the old UK Fertiliser facility 56056 was the loco.
As per the video, is now a road way to the new recycling power plant.
That's a wonderful record to hold! Thanks for sharing!
Just amazing.. Incredible work, great narration and truly appreciate the hard work that went into producing this documentary. Also those archived pictures really speaks a thousand words.. Liked it and shared the documentary with my mates... Stay safe and continue with your amazing work. Cheers...
Thank you for your kind words about my film. I couldn't agree more: the photos are so atmospheric and I'm grateful to the gentleman who allowed me to use them. Thank you for sharing the film - it helps this chann so much!
Wow, quite an impressive documentary you've made here, you should certainly make more
Check out my channel and subscribe - loads to be found!
Takes me back if that's Marylebone station in one of the photos at the start. I was born and lived in a house where you can see those chimneys in 1943. it only took 2 minutes walk to be at the station. All us kids were always there, getting into mischief, playing or train spotting, plenty of trains being that it was a mainline station. plus there were loads of different sidings and goods sheds on the left of that photo a bit befor the platforms .on the right a bit further up was the railway allotments just by the bridge which I used to cross get to school.
What vivid and atmospheric memories - they bring this line to life in a way my films cannot capture!
I enjoyed that very much, I appreciate the time and effort you have put in to produce this film. The GCR did have is own sort of magic, which I first encountered as a boy in the sixties before the rot set in. Thanks again
Thanks for the kind words about my film. Do subscribe if you've not already done so and enjoy my other films in the series!