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Tuesday 21st January 2025 07:00-16:00 Great Central Railway, Loughborough, LE11 1RW

Join us in January 2025 for the first of two days of Winter steam action featuring Betton Grange

Join us for a full day of Winter Steam photography at the Great Central Railway featuring 6880 Betton Grange which is paying a short working visit to the line, today hauling the GCR’s superb BR era van train 

£139.00

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About this event

Join us for a full day of Winter steam photography at the Great Central Railway in Leicestershire featuring No.6880 Betton Grange which is visiting the line for a short working holiday in late January 2025.

The locomotive will be facing north and will be paired with the GCR’s superb 1960s van train. As this is a goods formation we will be following by road but will keep driving to a minimum and arrange car sharing on the day, both to keep down the number of cars we need to park, and to ensure those not familiar with the line get to the right locations on time! We will start with a briefing at Kinchley Lane around 07.00 ready for our proposed start time of 07.15. We will walk up to Rabbit Bridge for the first shots at sunrise - those who have been on previous charters will well remember the quite stunning shots achieved on a number of similar occasions. We will run until sunset which will be just after 16.00 hours. We expect the Butler Henderson Cafe at Quorn to be open at lunchtime.

During the period 1936-1939, eighty members of the Grange Class of 4-6-0 were constructed at Swindon Works. They were designed as mixed traffic locomotives for both goods and passenger working. Churchward had first envisaged these locos in the 1900s and Collett progressed the idea into practice by replacing the aging 4300 Class design of 2-6-0s with the Grange and Manor 4-6-0s. More Granges were envisaged but the outbreak of war in 1939 saw production curtailed. They were classified as red route locomotives in terms of axle loading which prohibited them from routes previously worked by the 4300 Class, hence the introduction of the twenty lighter Manor Class locos. First to be withdrawn was No.6801 in 1960, and 45 were still in use at the start of 1965, steam’s final year on the former GWR. No members of the Grange Class were preserved. In 1998, the 6880 Society was established as a registered charity with the aim of building an 81st Grange, to be named Betton Grange. This goal was achieved in 2024 when the completed locomotive emerged from Tyseley Locomotive Works ready to recreate scenes which had not been seen in nearly sixty years.

We are grateful to the host Great Central Railway and the locomotive’s owners, the 6880 Society, for facilitating these two days of charters. This is an excellent time of the year to be photographing working steam, with the possibility of cold, bright days and a north facing loco to maximise the opportunities for glints and backlit shots which are so effective in Winter. This promises to be an excellent event and we hope you will join us in January 2025 for an atmospheric recreation of 1960s Western Region steam.


*Images are for illustrative purposes only.

Event requirements

Equipment

  • Spare batteries
  • Camera
  • Lenses
  • Camera protection - rain covers etc

Other things you should bring

  • Snacks
  • Bottled water

Knowledge

  • All levels welcome

Fitness

  • Medium

Other essentials

  • High vis jacket
  • Sturdy outdoor shoes
  • Warm clothing
  • Wet weather gear

Event location

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