Locomotives and Rolling Stock
Main article: List of Great Central Railway locomotives and rolling stock
The Great Central Railway has a reasonable running length with the added bonus of a mainline setup, and so some of Britain's largest locomotives have been there in recent years. The steam fleet currently comprises over a dozen mainline classes, many of them either heavy freight, express passenger or shunting tank engines. Some are of types that were preserved in abundance elsewhere, but others have been leased from the National Collection. On most days a green-liveried, two-car British Rail Class 101 DMU runs from Loughborough to Leicester as a shuttle train service; this allows more time to light the steam locomotive(s) that would be running that day. The same railcar also sees service throughout the day during most gala events. Locomotives generally face south as that is the better way round for photography of them travelling smokebox-first.
As well as running stock the railway also has a large collection of heritage rolling stock. Passenger stock is made up of three uniform rakes of British Rail Mark 1 coaches originally built in the 1950s and 60s. The first of these is in BR lined maroon livery with a brake coach which doubles as wheelchair users' accommodation and a refurbished restaurant buffet car, which with its griddle facilities and kitchen staff can handle anything from full breakfasts to Sunday roasts. This rake is used every operating day. The second most-commonly used is the Carmine and Cream (sometimes known as Blood and Custard) dining train with Restaurant Kitchen Buffet (RKB). It is also used on high season days as it has ample seats for second class ticket holders. The final rake is in Southern Region BR Green livery which is not often seen at anything other than major galas. The Restaurant Miniature Buffet (RMB) which runs with this set is sometimes mixed into the Carmine and Cream rake for second class dining. With a collection of more than 120 ex-British Railways goods wagons, the railway can recreate convincing period slow goods trains. Among the highlights of the collection is a set of 16 ton grey mineral wagons purchased using money raised by readers of Steam Railway Magazine.
Read more about this topic: Great Central Railway (heritage Railway)
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