Swithland Sidings

Swithland Sidings is a set of railway sidings on the preserved Great Central Railway, situated just south of Swithland Reservoir and Swithland Viaduct which crosses it.

The original plans for the MS&LR's London Extension had a station here, which would have consisted of a country-island with access from an underbridge on the Swithland-Rothley road, similar to East Leake. In the event, the plans were altered at an advanced stage and the station was sited slightly to the south at Rothley.

Sidings were however sited here to serve the Mountsorrel Railway, a short mineral branch to granite quarries in the village; this line will reopen in 2008/9 [ [http://www.inloughborough.com/news/2008/06/11269_loughborough.php Loughborough's Great Central Railway Extends] ] .

The main line through here was closed in 1969. The trackbed was subsequently taken over for preservation, but in 1990 the sidings were wasteland. Led by the vision of GCR benefactor David Clarke, a former signalman on the GW&GC Joint Line, double track was relaid from Swithland to Rothley, and then from Swithland to Quorn, eventually reaching Loughborough. Swithland thus forms the centrepiece of the double track, with GWR signalling as used on the GW&GC Joint Line, still being installed. The signal box comes from Aylesbury South box which was located at Aylesbury railway station.

The general site was also developed and is used for storing various pieces of stock. There are plans for a carriage shed on the old Mountsorrel branch but there are planning permission problems.

There is no public access to the site which is on an embankment and difficult to view from the road. Thus photography other than from a moving train requires a lineside pass, and the photographer has to sign in at Rothley and walk north along the track (one cannot sign in at Quorn and walk south as Swithland Viaduct is out-of-bounds).

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