Loughborough Gap
Encyclopedia
The Loughborough Gap is a short, disused section of the former Great Central Main Line
in the northeastern corner of Loughborough
, England
, between the northern and southern sections of the present-day Great Central Railway
. The formation originally consisted of an embankment
and three bridge
s: two to span the Midland Main Line
, and one a canal. Nearly all of this alignment was removed in the late 1960s under the Beeching Axe
.
and the Morley Street industrial estate, to the east by a now disused household refuse site
and to the north and south by GCR's northern and southern sections respectively.
Current plans for bridging the gap include:
Great Central Railway
The Great Central Railway was a railway company in England which came into being when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway changed its name in 1897 in anticipation of the opening in 1899 of its London Extension . On 1 January 1923, it was grouped into the London and North Eastern...
in the northeastern corner of Loughborough
Loughborough
Loughborough is a town within the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England. It is the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and is home to Loughborough University...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, between the northern and southern sections of the present-day Great Central Railway
Great Central Railway (preserved)
The Great Central Railway is a heritage railway split into two adjacent sections, one in Leicestershire and the other Nottinghamshire.The Leicestershire section is currently Britain's only double track mainline heritage railway, with of working double track, period signalling, locomotives and...
. The formation originally consisted of an embankment
Embankment (transportation)
To keep a road or railway line straight or flat, and where the comparative cost or practicality of alternate solutions is prohibitive, the land over which the road or rail line will travel is built up to form an embankment. An embankment is therefore in some sense the opposite of a cutting, and...
and three bridge
Bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span physical obstacles such as a body of water, valley, or road, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle...
s: two to span the Midland Main Line
Midland Main Line
The Midland Main Line is a major railway route in the United Kingdom, part of the British railway system.The present-day line links London St...
, and one a canal. Nearly all of this alignment was removed in the late 1960s under the Beeching Axe
Beeching Axe
The Beeching Axe or the Beeching Cuts are informal names for the British Government's attempt in the 1960s to reduce the cost of running British Railways, the nationalised railway system in the United Kingdom. The name is that of the main author of The Reshaping of British Railways, Dr Richard...
.
Location and physical features
The Gap is 500 metres (546.8 yd) long, and approximately 30 metres (32.8 yd) wide for most of its length, running roughly from north to south. It is bounded to the west by the northeasternmost part of Loughborough, including the Loughborough Midland stationLoughborough railway station
Loughborough railway station serves the town of Loughborough in Leicestershire, England. Situated on the Midland Main Line, 20 km north of Leicester, the station lies to the north-east of the town centre....
and the Morley Street industrial estate, to the east by a now disused household refuse site
Landfill
A landfill site , is a site for the disposal of waste materials by burial and is the oldest form of waste treatment...
and to the north and south by GCR's northern and southern sections respectively.
Current plans for bridging the gap include:
- Removing the Loughborough north shed, which is currently sited on the old alignment
- The Loughborough Top ShedLoughborough Top ShedLoughborough Top Shed is a project associated with the Great Central Heritage Railway, which is a heritage railway in Leicestershire. It was set up in 2004 to recover and restore an ex-LMS steam shed from Workington, Cumbria to provide undercover accommodation for the growing fleet of locomotives...
project would then rebuild the recovered remnants of the former LNWR WorkingtonWorkingtonWorkington is a town, civil parish and port on the west coast of Cumbria, England, at the mouth of the River Derwent. Lying within the Borough of Allerdale, Workington is southwest of Carlisle, west of Cockermouth, and southwest of Maryport...
, CumbriaCumbriaCumbria , is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle. It consists of six districts, and in...
steam shed on an old landfill site, just to the north-east of the current shed - Using two donated 17 metres (18.6 yd) spans of the former western Reading railway stationReading railway stationReading railway station is a major rail transport hub in the English town of Reading. It is situated on the northern edge of the town centre, close to the main retail and commercial areas, and also the River Thames...
bridge, removed in April 2011 by Network RailNetwork RailNetwork Rail is the government-created owner and operator of most of the rail infrastructure in Great Britain .; it is not responsible for railway infrastructure in Northern Ireland...
when revamping the station as part of an £825million proect, to bridge the gap over the Midland Main Line. - To renovate the residual bridge over the canal