Please support the track appeal - to complete the Mountsorrel Railway!

The Mountsorrel Railway project has come so far in such a short time. It has now reached a point where progress is only limited by a lack of money. Would you consider donating to the Mountsorrel Railway track appeal, so trains can run again from the Great Central Railway (GCR) towards Mountsorrel?



Since Steve Cramp and a large team of volunteers began work in 2007, most of the mile-long route between Swithland Sidings and Lafarge Quarry, disused since the 1950s, has been cleared and ballasted. Not only that but the bridge over the track has been repaired, three replica Mountsorrel wagons have been recreated, and over 300 children have taken part in activities with their schools and groups on the trackbed.

All this for only £4,500! (mostly the labour, machinery and ballast on the project has been donated by volunteers and local companies, for which we are extremely grateful)

Projects on the scale of the Mountsorrel Railway typically cost £1 million per mile of track to complete. We “only” need £150,000 to complete the project, which will cover buying, lifting, transporting and laying a mile of rail and 1,500 sleepers, and other items required to complete the railway.

Please see the Mountsorrel Railway track appeal donation form for more information about the appeal. You can help by donating whatever money you can afford, for example:

• You could sponsor one or more sleepers at £15 each
• You could sponsor one or more lengths of rail at £180 each
• You could setup a standing order donation to the appeal, which would help reopen the Mountsorrel Railway even sooner

Exclusive incentives are available too, depending on the value of your donation. For more information contact George Overton. Incentives include:

• a personal, extensive tour of the Mountsorrel Railway led by project leader Steve Cramp
• travel on a Travelling Post Office during a non stop mail exchange on the GCR (not normally available to the public)
• an invitation to ride on one of the first trains to travel on the recreated Mountsorrel Railway!

Your donation to the track appeal would help complete this unique and highly praised project. The GCR hopes to provide the chance for visitors to ride on the line, adding another aspect to the GCR: demonstrating how freight trains used to arrive in Swithland Yard from the quarry, their wagons ready for shunting, so the stone could be sent onwards by train across the country. There are important educational aspects to the project too. Rebuilding the branch provides an illustration not just of railway operation but rural life, and would be of enormous benefit to local schoolchildren.

Please support the Mountsorrel Railway track appeal and print off and complete the appeal form today. If you have any questions please contact George Overton. Thank you for your support.

Latest junior ecology session planned for Saturday February 13th

We're pleased to announce that Lesley Humphries' popular junior ecology sessions will be returning on Saturday February 13th. This time Lesley will be helping the children to construct bird feeders, which will be placed along the trackbed to help our feathered friends through the rigours of winter!

The session will run from 2:00pm until around 3:45pm and is aimed at children of all ages, although children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. The project makes no charge for attending these sessions.

The meeting point is on the grassy area on the corner of the Halstead Road/Swithland Lane/Wood Lane Road junction (at the tree symbol on the map below). If you would like further information please contact Lesley.


View Route of Mountsorrel Railway in a larger map

Note: this session was originally planned for Saturday 6th February but has been moved to 13th February.