19 photos
Engineering Works on some bridges on the preserved Great Central Railway (GCR) in Leicestershire during March 2023 meant that there were regular workings down the Mountsorrel branch from the GCR, a line that opened in 2015 and that I hadn't yet travelled over. Saturday 11th March 2023 was a convenient date for me, so I travelled from home by tram to Altrincham, train to Stockport, train to Nuneaton, train to Leicester; then walking across Leicester to the St Margaret's bus station for one of the frequent buses towards Loughborough: a short walk from "Red Hill Circle" stop leads to the GCR's Leicester North station. A two train service was in operation from there to Mountsorrel, using a 2-car DMU and the single diesel railcar "Iris".
Returning home was less easy as a football match at Leicester had caused traffic delays so I missed the good connection back from Leicester to Nuneaton; however my ticket was also valid via Sheffield so I went that way. Unfortunately, further delays meant that I missed my intended Sheffield to Manchester train, and the next one (a TransPennine Express service) was cancelled at short notice. That left me with the Northern stopping service which then missed the useful connection to Altrincham. I knew that getting the tram home from Manchester was going to be tricky due to engineering works in Manchester City Centre (which is why I had gone outwards via Altrincham in the first place) and a big gap in Altrincham line services delayed me further. So, a 3.5 hour outward journey turned into a 5.5 hour return journey..... anyway, a very enjoyable day was had.
Returning home was less easy as a football match at Leicester had caused traffic delays so I missed the good connection back from Leicester to Nuneaton; however my ticket was also valid via Sheffield so I went that way. Unfortunately, further delays meant that I missed my intended Sheffield to Manchester train, and the next one (a TransPennine Express service) was cancelled at short notice. That left me with the Northern stopping service which then missed the useful connection to Altrincham. I knew that getting the tram home from Manchester was going to be tricky due to engineering works in Manchester City Centre (which is why I had gone outwards via Altrincham in the first place) and a big gap in Altrincham line services delayed me further. So, a 3.5 hour outward journey turned into a 5.5 hour return journey..... anyway, a very enjoyable day was had.