Background History
In 1897 the Great Central Railway itself was formed, becoming the last steam mainline in the United Kingdom. Two years later in 1899 "The London Extension" was officially opened to passenger and freight traffic, allowing more direct journeys from the capital to Nottingham, Leicester, Sheffield and Manchester. The entire line was built to accommodate a European standard loading gauge and all but a few stations were single island platforms. This construction scheme was devised by chairman Sir Edward Watkin, who had envisioning his railway one day running under a Channel Tunnel to France, linking Britain with the continent.
This never came to fruition however as the Beeching report to begin cutback and closure was published in 1963, some 31 years before the tunnel was fully constructed. In the report, the line was listed as a duplicate of the Midland Main Line. Apart from the most Southern section into London, the line was closed as a through route in 1966 as part of the Beeching Axe, although a section of the line between Nottingham and Rugby remained open until 1969. The closure became one of Doctor Beeching's largest cutbacks. It was also famous for being one of the most controversial.
Read more about this topic: Great Central Railway (heritage Railway)
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