Loughborough Central

Loughborough Central was a former station on the Great Central Railway. Now it is the Northern terminus and headquarters of the preserved line that has taken the same name.
Repton lets off steam at Loughborough Central

Information
Type: Preserved Railway (Great Central Railway)
Opened: 1899 (Closed 1969)
Re-Opened: 1974
Platforms: 2

The Great Central Railway was the last of the great Victorian main lines to open with Loughborough Central opening in 1899. The station later became part of the LNER and British Railways who closed it in 1969 along with most of the GCR. The Great Central Railway from Loughborough Central down to Leicester North is now a preserved line which opened in 1974.

Loughborough Central was built in the standard GCR manner with a single island platform. The line is in a cutting with access from a ticket office at street level. The station building along with the signalbox and other features are Grade II listed. The station has been preserved as it would have been when a British Railways station in the 1950s.

Next to the station is the GCR's main engine shed. This however will be demolished and replaced by a larger shed when the GCR is extended up to (though not connecting to) the main line Loughborough station a few hundred metres away and the Great Central Railway (North) preserved line.
On the platform

Newsagent concession on the platform

Station entrance

Preserved diesel locomotives stored at Loughborough Central

A look down the well preserved platform, this is the longest canopy on a preserved station