Great Central Railway

New name On assuming its new title, the Great Central Railway had a main line from Manchester London Road Station via , Sheffield Victoria, and Grimsby to . A second line left the line at Penistone and served , and Scunthorpe, before rejoining the Grimsby line at . Other lines linked Sheffield to Barnsley (via ) and Doncaster (via Rotherham) and also and Wrawby Junction. Branch lines in north Lincolnshire ran to Barton-upon-Humber and New Holland and served ironstone quarries in the Scunthorpe area. In the Manchester area, lines ran to Stalybridge and Glossop. In the 1890s, the MS&LR began constructing its Derbyshire lines, the first part of its push southwards. Leaving its east–west main line at Woodhouse Junction, some 5½ miles south-east of Sheffield, the line headed towards Nottingham, a golden opportunity to tap into colliery traffic in the north of the county before reaching the city. A loop line was built to serve its station in Chesterfield. The London and North Eastern Railway and the British Transport Commission, successors of the GCR, were granted arms of their own incorporating the GCR motto Forward. and Sheffield without a stop, adopted on 1 July 1903, became a trademark for the company, with run in three hours, an average of nearly . Slip coaches were provided for passengers for Leicester and Nottingham. the GCR amalgamated with several other railways to create the London and North Eastern Railway. The GCR line was the last complete mainline railway to be built in Britain until section one of High Speed 1 opened in 2003 and was also one of the shortest-lived intercity railway lines. Yet in its early years, its steam-hauled Sheffield expresses were the fastest in the country. ==Closure==

The express services from London to destinations beyond Nottingham were withdrawn in 1960. The line was closed to passenger trains between Aylesbury and Rugby on 3 September 1966. A diesel multiple-unit service ran between and until withdrawal on 3 May 1969. Line retention Since 1996, Chiltern Railways has used the Great Central lines south of Aylesbury for local services into London, including the alternative route south of Haddenham and widened lines south of Neasden for its intercity main line from Birmingham to London. In 2008, in a scheme partly funded by the Department for Transport, about three miles of line north of Aylesbury as far as was brought back into passenger use. None of these lines are currently electrified. Work started in 2019 on developing East West Rail, which will extend passenger services north of Aylesbury Vale Parkway through to meet a renewed to section of the old 'Varsity Line' just beyond the site of the former Great Central station at Calvert. Services are expected to start in the mid-2020s. ==Acquisitions==

• The Lancashire, Derbyshire and East Coast Railway (LD&ECR) opened in 1897, to link the coalfields with deep-water ports, and was intended to run from Sutton-on-Sea in Lincolnshire to Warrington in Lancashire. In the event only the section between Pyewipe Junction, near Lincoln and Chesterfield Market Place station and some branch lines were built. It was purchased by the GCR on 1 January 1907, to provide a better link between the London main line and the east coast. • Wrexham, Mold and Connah's Quay Railway was purchased 1 January 1905. • North Wales and Liverpool Railway was acquired at the same time. • Wigan Junction Railway was bought on 1 January 1906, as was the Liverpool, St Helens and South Lancashire Railway • North Lindsey Light Railway Scunthorpe to Whitton opened throughout on 1 December 1910 and was worked by the GCR. It carried passengers, although its main freight was ironstone. ==Joint working==

Apart from the three branches in the Liverpool area, the GCR lines in the north of England were all east of Manchester but GCR trains could run from coast to coast by means of joint working with other railways. The largest of those utilized in this way were those under the Cheshire Lines Committee: the other participants were the Midland Railway and the Great Northern Railway, taking in both Liverpool and Southport. Other joint undertakings were (west to east): • Manchester, South Junction and Altrincham Railway (GCR/LNWR) • Oldham, Ashton and Guide Bridge Railway (GCR/LNWR) • Macclesfield, Bollington and Marple Railway (GCR/NSR); including its Hayfield branch • South Yorkshire Joint Railway (GCR, GNR, Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, MR and North Eastern Railway) • Sheffield District Railway(GCR and MidR) • West Riding and Grimsby Joint Railway (GCR/GNR) - giving access to Wakefield and thence to Leeds • Hull and Barnsley and Great Central Joint Railway - opened 1916 for freight traffic only. There were also joint lines in the south: • Aylesbury Station Joint Committee • Great Western and Great Central Joint Railway • Banbury Junction Railway • Metropolitan and Great Central Joint Railway • Watford Joint Railway ==Key officers==

For those in position before 1899, dates are as served for the MS&LR. General Managers • 1886–1902 Sir William Pollitt (knighted 1899) • 1902–1922 Sir Samuel Fay Locomotive Engineer • 1894–1900 Harry Pollitt • 1900–1902 John George Robinson Chief Mechanical Engineer • 1902–1922 John George Robinson, for whom the post was created ==GCR locomotives==

locomotive locomotive These could generally be divided into those intended for passenger work, especially those used on the London Extension and those for the heavy freight work. • See Locomotives of the Great Central Railway Pollitt's locomotives Taken over from the MS&LR, mainly of class F2, 2-4-2 tank locomotives, and also classes D5 and D6 4-4-0 locomotives. ==Rolling stock==

Coaching stock The following GCR coaches are preserved. Goods wagons and freight stock Cranes ==Major stations==

• London Marylebone • Manchester London Road • • • • ==Wath marshalling yard==

The marshalling yard at Wath-upon-Dearne opened in November 1907. It was designed to cope with coal trains, full and empty; it was worked with electro-pneumatic signalling. ==Accidents and incidents==

: • On 30 March 1889, an excursion train was derailed at Penistone, Yorkshire due to a failure of an axle on the locomotive hauling it. A mail train ran into the wreckage at low speed. One person was killed and 61 were injured. • On 17 November 1899, GCR goods guard, Charles Harry Bennion was stationed at Staveley Town Railway station, Derbyshire. At approximately 08.30 am his goods train from Staveley to Frodingham was working through the thick fog when it hit two ‘light engines’ due to a 'signalling error'. Charles’ injuries were fatal and he died instantly. • On 23 December 1904, an express passenger train was derailed at , Buckinghamshire due to excessive speed on a curve. Another express passenger train ran into the wreckage at low speed. Four people were killed. • On 2 February 1908, the driver of a freight train sneezed, his head collided with that of his fireman, knocking both of them out. Due to excessive speed, a van in the train derailed approaching station, Yorkshire and the train overran signals there. It derailed completely at . • On 13 December 1911, a freight train ran away and was derailed at station, Yorkshire. Both locomotive crew were killed. ==Docks==

Grimsby docks Grimsby, dubbed the "largest fishing port in the world" in the early 20th century, owed its prosperity to the ownership by the GCR and its forebear, the MS&LR. Coal and timber were among its biggest cargoes. The port had two main docks: the Alexandra Dock (named for Queen Alexandra) and the Royal Dock which was completed in 1852, linked by the Union Dock. The total area of docks was 104.25 acres (42 ha). Immingham Dock Completed in 1912, this dock covered and was mainly concerned with the movement of coal. On 22 July 2012, the docks held an open day to celebrate 100 years of operation. Ships The Great Central Railway operated a number of ships. == Immingham museum ==

Immingham museum, which portrays the role of the Great Central Railway in the building of the docks and construction of the local rail network is home to the Great Central Railway Society archive. The museum is located in the Civic Centre, Pelham Road, Immingham and is open from 1pm to 4pm, Wednesday to Saturday from March through to November. ==See also==