Пікірлер

• 
  @thenottinghamnutterКүн бұрын

  I LOVE your "Ghost Train" videos... Can you do one of this route?

• 
  @flymuzza920519 сағат бұрын

  Thanks, but they're not mine. The creator is www.youtube.com/@ghosttrainlostrailways

• 
  @flymuzza920519 сағат бұрын

  ... but I agree, their videos are something special!

• 
  @lordgemini2376Күн бұрын

  So much of the route/tracks still exist. Currently, the only bit without tracks is between the 3:50 and 5:30 mark in this video. This could be reopened and reconnect the North West and the East Midlands by rail, easing congestion/capacity issues elsewhere on the rail network!

• 
  @nigelsutton8957Күн бұрын

  Considering how much of the GCR London Extension remains, built to the continenal loading gauge, was it not considered for use as HS2? Surely would have been cheaper than building on new land?

• 
  @roberthoward37232 күн бұрын

  Incredible thanks for the ride

• 
  @batman513 күн бұрын

  Whilst I have always regretted the closure of this route it was clearly expensive to maintain with so many tunnels and viaducts.

• 
  @darleytransportandtravel63534 күн бұрын

  It's absolutely brilliant, but just imagine someone having the time and patience to make this on train simulator.

• 
  @flymuzza92053 күн бұрын

  I wouldn't know where to start, but I imagine it's hellishly difficult. Judging from your channel, you have the skill set. Do you fancy having a go at any part of this line?

• 
  @darleytransportandtravel63533 күн бұрын

  Thank you. When I started with route building on Train Simulator, I had intended just to rebuild the Leeds New Line. One thing led to another, and I started to add more and more of the closed West Riding railways. I haven't put most of these onto KZread as yet because I need a new computer with a faster processor. If I were to live to be about 200, I would love to attempt more closed lines further from home.

• 
  @johnspurgeon90832 күн бұрын

  ​Although it is far from your part of the woods (it seems), one line worth considering is Exeter to Padstow (ACE).

• 
  @tridentmusic55705 күн бұрын

  GET IT RE-OPENED !!! So little missing. How can they moan about HS2 and leave THIS route un-used ??? All the WCML bottle-necks neatly avoided.

• 
  @shahedmc96565 күн бұрын

  Great work!

• 
  @flymuzza92055 күн бұрын

  Thanks for the accolade!

• 
  @andrewtaylor59844 күн бұрын

  The line was not even listed in the Beeching Report. Of course, it was carrying practically all the London to Manchester traffic at the time. Apparently, the cost of keeping Dove Holes Tunnel free of water was one factor leading to the line's closure. (But did the longer tunnels at Disley, Cowburn, and Totley not have similar problems?) Absolutely staggering to see a once busy Heaton Mersey reduced to nothing.(I gather that a motorway now covers most of the shed site.) Cheadle Heath station seems to have gone completely; it was once served by Pullmans.

• 
  @flymuzza920512 күн бұрын

  I stayed at Crowden Youth Hostel in 1980. The valley echoed to the rattle of frequent electric-hauled freight trains. It seemed like there were 3 to 5 trains an hour in each direction, coal, tanker and container trains. Yet the line closed completely the following year. I can't help wondering what happened to all that freight... M62? Surely not.

• 
  @rwm298612 күн бұрын

  Thanks, another excellent video. I do like the way that at least the clock tower was preserved at Nottingham Victoria.

• 
  @shaunearley608813 күн бұрын

  Too fast

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  @jordanlinton48014 күн бұрын

  gorgeous couple days out on a bike!

• 
  @steelheadplayer15 күн бұрын

  Interesting, couple of place names spelled incorrectly though.

• 
  @flymuzza920512 күн бұрын

  Oh no, really? Wardsley Bridge and ....?

• 
  @steelheadplayer12 күн бұрын

  @@flymuzza9205 Oughtibridge

• 
  @davem729315 күн бұрын

  Again, absolutely brilliant.

• 
  @owenyowenface16 күн бұрын

  5 mins 30 seconds.Exact moment the flight goes over my permanent camping tent where the GCR crosses over the former LD & ECR at Arkwright Town.The removal of the overbridge span in 1973,and the burying of the short Springwood Tunnel beneath farmers fields is the reason why the Transpennine Trail does not link up with the Five Pits trail at the former Heath Railway Station. Music was okay,nice pace to it matching the speed of the flight though i would have prefered something classical 😊

• 
  @flymuzza920515 күн бұрын

  Fascinating background info, many thanks

• 
  @shahedmc965616 күн бұрын

  Great piece of work. It appears most of the trackbed is still there.

• 
  @nickbergquist622215 күн бұрын

  I think you will find that most of the trackbed of the GCR mainline has been removed beyond recognition, as though it never existed, from Nottingham to Sheffield. The formation has been lost.

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  @EM-yk1dw16 күн бұрын

  Why the GC was closed is beggars belief. The line went through several major cities and would have been very useful now.

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  @andrewholloway23115 күн бұрын

  With hindsight being a wonderful thing... probably a lack of foresight! I maybe wrong but I think there was a boundary change in 1958 and the GC went from the Eastern Region to the Midland Region... and, correct me if I am wrong, the Midland Region wanted rid of it!

• 
  @EM-yk1dw15 күн бұрын

  @@andrewholloway231Yes and the Beeching report was ripe on route duplication too.

• 
  @BlackAndDeckerBoy2 сағат бұрын

  Falling freight traffic and passengers were not what they are today with long distance commuting. Parallel alternatives routes existed and are still open. M1 & M6 taking traffic away from the railways. No crystal ball available on globalisation, climate emergencies and mass migration

• 
  @flymuzza920517 күн бұрын

  What do you think of the soundtrack? If too many people find it irritating, it can easily be removed!

• 
  @evanhenton338117 күн бұрын

  I think it’s fine

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  @EM-yk1dw16 күн бұрын

  It’s fine

• 
  @ogo2l16 күн бұрын

  I could do without it. Still a very interesting Video, many thanks. Maybe a bit slower next time.

• 
  @owencarlstrand194516 күн бұрын

  I could do without the music but a brilliant video.

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  @rwm298612 күн бұрын

  OK for me!

• 
  @davepoole952017 күн бұрын

  Wow. Amazing. Was all of this once railway track? Amazing to see how far apart the stations on the Metropolitan line are in the suburbs and even more amazing to see the distance between Quainton and Amersham which the Metropolitan once did cover.

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  @jhuc286920 күн бұрын

  These disused railway lines wouldn’t have been wasted if they’d been kept intact as cycle routes.

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  @catomacro832522 күн бұрын

  No I get this is just a simulation but the route simply is not accurate. You can't get a train from Nottingham to London and travel to Marylebone via Aylesbury, Amersham etc There is no train that takes this route

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  @alric822 күн бұрын

  No need to rub it in Dr Beeching 😢😢😢

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  @flymuzza920520 күн бұрын

  Are you serious? The GCR was a historical route to London which closed in the 1960's.

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  @catomacro832519 күн бұрын

  @@flymuzza9205 100 per cent I'm serious. I can tell you with absolute certainty you cannot get a train from Nottingham to London that goes via the Aylesbury to Marylebone Chiltern/ Metropolitan line If you don't believe me take a look at trains from Marylebone to Aylesbury and see where the train terminates I know this because I' travel part of this route all the time

• 
  @GrrMeister23 күн бұрын

  *This was really a HST Route many miles at 150 MPH Plus and 90 mph on the Curves - and don't forget Continental Loading Gauge so would have allowed Double Carriages' !*

• 
  @radders26125 күн бұрын

  Bloody brilliant!

• 
  @keithbutler222225 күн бұрын

  thank you for this...great to finally see this route

• 
  @MattF34025 күн бұрын

  Seems madness that so much engineering and human labour was wasted building this line, or more accurately the act of closing it wholesale.

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  @shahedmc965626 күн бұрын

  Fantastic work, thanks!

• 
  @markblackford727126 күн бұрын

  I guess it is via Peterborough now?

• 
  @flymuzza920525 күн бұрын

  The current route is via Leicester and Kettering - the former Midland main line, operated by East Midlands Railways

• 
  @keithbutler222226 күн бұрын

  I was trying to see Broughton Astley on here but either I missed it or it didn't show up...Might it be at 2:24?

• 
  @flymuzza920525 күн бұрын

  The nearest point to Broughton Astley on the GCR would have been 2 miles away at Ashby Magna. Broughton Astley had a station on the Midland Counties line, 1840-1962, an entirely separate disused railway which also linked Leicester and Rugby, so your confusion is quite understandable! I've traced that line in kzread.info/dash/bejne/ioOWstGNabTFoKQ.html

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  @keithbutler222225 күн бұрын

  @@flymuzza9205 Many thanks for that and for taking the time to find the line🙂

• 
  @johnspurgeon908326 күн бұрын

  Brilliant! The next best thing to a cabride. And taken before too much evidence of HS2. In places it is clear to see the huge land take, in order to provide gentle earthwork gradients, which are now swathes of woodland.

• 
  @johnm201226 күн бұрын

  Wouldn't an express train from Nottingham have gone via Grendon Underwood and Ashendon Junctions and then via High Wycombe to Marylebone rather than via Aylesbury?

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  @JM-kr1tj22 күн бұрын

  If you look at working timetables (the GCR Society has some, and so does the National Archive), you'll find that almost all GCR line expresses went via Aylesbury. In 1928 (the only one I can remember right off the top of my head) the only "express" that went via Wycombe was the Marylebone-Mansfield service, which was the least prestigious express you could imagine.

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  @johnm201222 күн бұрын

  @@JM-kr1tj That's interesting. What was the point of the GCR investing in the joint line with the GWR then? Wasn't it to avoid having to share with the Metropolitan north of Amersham? The Met still served Verney Junction until 1936 and Aylesbury until 1961. Please show some respect for Mansfield (Central), please - I grew up in the town!

• 
  @mollydog522628 күн бұрын

  Brilliant work

• 
  @willhemmings28 күн бұрын

  Impressive video and quite sad to see how much urban sprawl has taken over the route in Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire. The famous railway author Hamilton Ellis remarked how the section south of Rugby runs through a landscape of strikingly virgin character, clearly apparent here; and to anyone visiting the old earthworks north of Catesby Tunnel, a must do experience

• 
  @kevinchamberlain597828 күн бұрын

  I'm (just) old enough to remember Nottingham Victoria, and I'm pretty certain that as a kid I travelled at least part the way down the line.

• 
  @rwm298628 күн бұрын

  What everybody else has said and good music!

• 
  @stuarthall663128 күн бұрын

  Great work! Well done! I have taken the liberty of downloading. The trackbed passes very close to my home in the Culworth area. We often walk sections and dream of what might have been. Having been built to Continental loading gauge with a Channel tunnel in mind, it would have made for a better HS2.

• 
  @dragonboy950628 күн бұрын

  well, not really. capacity wise it would be good to have it but high speed? direct? Competing with the metropolitan line for space? not serving the west midlands or west coast? it barely fulfils the same purpose as HS2 other than being 'a train line to the north'. To reiterate, extra links to the east Midlands is obviously good, a very underserved area by trains currently, but the WCML would be as crowded as ever and the low speeds and likely infrequent trains wouldn't drive the same modal shift. just my piece.

• 
  @ChrisCooper31227 күн бұрын

  It's a myth that it was built to "continental loading gauge" as at the time the line was build there was no such thing. True it's built to a slightly larger loading gauge than most lines in the UK, but nowhere near what is used on modern high speed lines.

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  @stuarthall663127 күн бұрын

  @@ChrisCooper312 Thank you for correcting me upon this, Chris. I do always aim to be as accurate as possible when commenting upon videos.

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  @ChrisCooper31226 күн бұрын

  @@stuarthall6631 I used to spread the same (including that it was "Bern Gauge" despite the GCR being finished before the Bern Gauge came into existence), until corrected. That's the trouble with myths, they get so widespread that even people who think they know what they are talking about believe them without question. The GCR would have been good as a freight route though, since it wouldn't have needed the same gauge enhancements that the WCML needed to take containers, and would have been cheaper to electrify since less bridges would have needed rebuilding. The issue is that it wouldn't be suitable as a high speed route, or be able to take double deckers, which is what people tend to assume when people talk about "continental gauge".

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  @stuarthall663126 күн бұрын

  @@ChrisCooper312 Thank you, Chris, for such a thorough and courteous response. Much appreciated! Have a good weekend!

• 
  @rafchris28 күн бұрын

  Hmmm with it being so relatively straight and earth works making it level it almost looks like a high speed line to the north built to a..... oh hang on!

• 
  @JM-kr1tj22 күн бұрын

  Don't say it. I love the old Great Central, but (1) it wasn’t built to continental loading gauge - in fact the GCR loading gauge wasn’t even all that big by British standards; and (2) it was a high-speed line *by the standards of the 1890s*. It was nothing like a high speed line today.

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  @rafchris22 күн бұрын

  @JM-kr1tj I never said it was built to a continental loading gauge or say it was even close to todays high speed line specifications..... Just a comical comparison to HS2 a d the tragic waste and lack of forethought in this country that makes ambitions of 100 years ago only starting to reach reality today. But thanks for the ever useful comment demonstrating that you too can read the hundreds of forums and books that echo what you say relating to GCR engineering standards but need to for some reason try and demonstrate that you think you know more than everyone else.

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  @JM-kr1tj22 күн бұрын

  @@rafchris Whatever you say, chief. You do you.

• 
  @MrLukealbanese28 күн бұрын

  Lovely video, rather poignant really 😢

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  @keystonedriving818029 күн бұрын

  There is a definite difference in the engineering between the Great Central and Metropolitan Railway construction.

• 
  @chris840529 күн бұрын

  Interesting viewpoint, thank you. It goes to show that the route was not a very straight and high-speed alignment as so many believe it was, also too much development now blocks the trackbed for it to ever re-open. Not that there is any room for extra expresses at Marylebone anyway. The lack of population between Rugby and Brackley is also quite clear.

• 
  @KempSimon29 күн бұрын

  A comparable exercise for the jerry-built Midland Main Line between Nottingham Midland and London St. Pancras would reveal just how hilly and sinuous this main line is, even in comparison with the dismantled Great Central Railway. At the very end of the 19th Century the machinery needed to move huge quantities of earth and stone to create a true High Speed railway alignment simply didn't exist. Nor would the capital required to fund such an expensive enterprise have been readily available from the financial markets of late Victorian England.

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  @kitfagan202728 күн бұрын

  Broadly speaking we need to stop looking at old lines with nostalgia. While it's depressing to see how much was scrapped and the loss in capacity/redundancy, just reopening lines or reversing Beeching isn't a good solution. Reconnecting communities would be better done with new lines for 21st Century needs in an integrated network, rather than relaying 19th Century alignments.

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  @andrewtaylor598428 күн бұрын

  The line was conceived as a link from Manchester to Paris, so intermediate traffic, except for London, was of secondary importance. There was one exception; in the late nineteenth century, Nottingham City Council complained that the city lacked a centrally sited railway station, and gave the Great Central the go-ahead to build Victoria, especially as the site was a huge slum, which, presumably, the Great Central or its contractors paid for. There was a major civic ceremony when the station was opened. Ironically, the people who wanted the station were just as keen to get rid of it just over 60 years later! Several intermediate places have expanded considerably since the line closed, and the inhabitants of one of them are calling for a station. I will concede that the line was not dead straight, but it was mostly well-aligned. There were minor restrictions through the stations because of the curves round the island platforms. If the political situation in the early twentieth century had been less volatile, the Channel Tunnel might have been built then, and Edward Watkin's dream would have been realised.

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  @andrewtaylor598427 күн бұрын

  @@kitfagan2027 If we were to build new railways, they would have to be substantially on the lines of those which were closed. To put, say, a branch terminus on a through route might mean having to build extensive earthworks. I think that the Victorian builders mostly got it right. There were problems when some landowners refused to have a railway built on their land, or did not wish to see a railway in the vicinity. (That is why Catesby Tunnel was built; the owner of Catesby Hall insisted that trains could not be seen from the hall.) A 2997 yard long tunnel through relatively flat terrain.

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  @andrewtaylor598427 күн бұрын

  @@kitfagan2027 What should have been done when the new towns were built was expand their rail services. It has never occurred to anyone that the Stevenage businessman might have business in Birmingham, for instance. Not long after the GC closed, an article appeared in the railway press by a businessman who had to travel regularly between two cities just over 70 miles apart. The direct route was the GC, sometimes with a change at Woodford. When the GC closed, the only way involved a change miles off route, a 40-mile trip on a high-density DMU on an Inter-City route, and a journey of about 120 miles, with no co-ordination of connecting services. Of course, the passenger had to pay for the extra mileage. He also had to travel less frequently to another destination which once had a direct service via two routes. One was the GC; the other was partly closed, and now has no direct service, and a route some 20 miles longer. The current network is too London-based. Incidentally, if Beeching had not closed lines on the Liverpool-Manchester-Leeds corridor, there would not be any problems with line capacity today.

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  @JT2950129 күн бұрын

  Fantastic work! Made me feel a bit sad actually. It's like a scar, a reminder of what we used to have. Destroying it feels like the worst kind of vandalism.

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  @siobhanlewis270629 күн бұрын

  I agree. It was built to a very high standard of gauge and alignment and could have maybe saved most of the pain generated by the HS2 fiasco.

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  @JT2950129 күн бұрын

  @@siobhanlewis2706 The Great Central was very very similar to HS2 in aims and type, and obviously at quite a few points they are going to be in the same place (like at Brackley). Both were express railways through mostly countryside with the aim of relieving overcrowded existing mainlines. I am of the belief that eventually people will realise the benefits of the later phases of HS2.. it's just a pointless delay to it now. As the first expensive phase has been built, from a value for money perspective it's ridiculous to not build the rest.

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  @andrewnorth647225 күн бұрын

  The Beeching report of the 1960s was a disaster but the governments of the day didn't have to implement it. They did and we can see the results.

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  @siobhanlewis270629 күн бұрын

  Amazing piece of work. I am trying to spot Grendon Underwood Jc (that was) where the line diverted right to Ashendon Jc. Must be there just north of Quainton Road. Any any time stamp clues, anybody?

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  @flymuzza920529 күн бұрын

  About 6:16. The branch to the right is now a road (apparently not a public route)

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  @siobhanlewis270629 күн бұрын

  ​@@flymuzza9205 Very many thanks for that information. Thanks again for a splendid video.

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  @flymuzza920527 күн бұрын

  An earlier video follows this stretch of the line at a more sedate pace, with some features labelled: kzread.info/dash/bejne/p4OaxMuJns_LeZc.html Grendon Underwood Jn is at 7:40 in that video

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  @johnchurch470527 күн бұрын

  Imagine if this had been electrified all way from Manchester to London, seeing the EM2s arriving at Marylebone would have been amazing.

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  @andrewholloway23129 күн бұрын

  That was marvellous.

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  @flymuzza920529 күн бұрын

  Thanks. These videos take time and effort but I'm usually pleased with the results

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  @ivorcornish426728 күн бұрын

  Pity about the music.

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  @KJames2345Ай бұрын

  What amazes me is how the line is still intact around London. They had to make sure to keep it open across London didn't they.

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  @stinkystream29 күн бұрын

  Around London the Great Central mainly ran on lines that already existed,so yes those lines were there before the Great Central and still exist after.

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  @flymuzza920529 күн бұрын

  The Metropolitan Railway had built the lines at the London end before the GCR existed. Now they're operated by Chiltern Railways and Transport fot London.

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  @86pp7328 күн бұрын

  Whilst the route up to Aylesbury does indeed run through the heart of Toryland, closing it would have meant encroaching on (then) London Transport turf, therefore the government would seriously have to argue that the Metropolitan line and other commuter routes weren't making any money. The 1960s was not today's era of culture wars, and a branch of the government starting a bad-faith fight with another public body would be a fast way to having some ministers resign in disgrace.

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  @user-bd4gt4qx9sАй бұрын

  Awesome!

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  @flymuzza9205Ай бұрын

  Thanks!

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  @user-xv9gf9ck7tАй бұрын

  Much better line than the midland main line to

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  @chris840529 күн бұрын

  In what way? It was 4 miles longer from Leicester to London, had no long sections of 4-track, had severe speed restrictions at High Wycombe or Rickmansworth / Harrow, shared tracks with other operators, had very poor connection options for freight, Marylebone was too small and was only served bu one tube line.

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  @KempSimon29 күн бұрын

  @@chris8405 - Gentle curves and easy gradients plus a loading gauge far more generous than that of the jerry-built Midland Main Line?

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  @MF-fg3cgАй бұрын

  Surprising how little has been built on really

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  @maxgaddАй бұрын

  thats what i was thinking, considering population and space available

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  @chrisinnes212829 күн бұрын

  Wonder if that was intended

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  @edmonddaramy-williams62525 күн бұрын

  Note that GCR needed urban demolition to get to central urban areas even first time around back then.

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  @ulysseskruger609522 күн бұрын

  That’s a good thing. Why should the whole nation be destroyed to create cities of ethnic enclaves

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  @mr_pazzz22 күн бұрын

  Many trains still use various parts of the GCR alignment, thankfully! NET (Nottingham) Great Central Railway (Little Ruddington - Leicester North) HS2 (Finmere - Quainton Road) Chiltern's Aylesbury Line (Aylesbury Vale - London Marylebone) Metropolitan Line (Amersham - West Hampstead)

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  @lalalepusАй бұрын

  After Forest Rd, where it states “formerly Gt Northern Rd” before this massive factory unit was built, this area was a car park for the firm Richards. My childhood back garden looked out over this patch. I remember the tunnel on the left of my view point from Forest Rd and the tunnel to my right view point that Ulverscroft Rd was above (leading to Boston glue). My old Dad used to say trains ran past here when he was boy. Thank you for creating this.

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  @mrh9170Ай бұрын

  We’ve cycled it some years ago.

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  @robertstaines94192 ай бұрын

  Remember before midland main line was built south of Wigston this was the way all London trains went via West Coast main line or the oldLNWR to Euston Station it is quite a historical line Leicester station was rebuilt 12:23 for London extension and moved from Campbell Street to London Road the only remaining bit of cell street station now is one gate post the platforms were still there until 1970s when the station car park was built they had been used by postal trains for years before but fell into disused when mail rail ended

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  @1258-Eckhart2 ай бұрын

  Melton Mowbray (where I was born) is an important commercial centre, but was arguably in the 19th century even more important as a market for agricultural produce and livestock. This railway was built to serve the markets and trade fairs held at Melton, making for reliable freight traffic on the line, plus the seasonal trade fair excursions. A further lucrative freight was the oolitic limestone quarried in this area. Passenger traffic was always sparse and could not alone support the railway. With the shift of freight transport onto road after the second world war, the railway lost its major source of income.

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  @flymuzza92052 ай бұрын

  Thanks, that's very useful background info.