The Beeching Report: 60 Years on | Great Central Railway - Railways at Work 2023 - 19-20/08/23

The Railways at Work weekend at the Great Central Railway brings focus to the various jobs and people of the railways from years past, with this year's event taking the opportunity to bring focus to Dr Beeching and his infamous report, 'The Reshaping of British Railways'. The report recommended the closure of 5,000 miles of Britain's railway network, including the Great Central Railway. The report led to protests against the closure of lines and the loss of jobs, with these scenes re-enacted at Loughborough Central station over the course of the event. 1963 saw the closure of stations along the route including Quorn & Woodhouse, Rothley and Belgrave & Birstall, as a result of the Beeching cuts.

Other historical re-enactments included the loading and unloading demonstrations of freight trains at Quorn & Woodhouse, recreating sights typical of goods yards in the 1960s. The event also featured BR(W) Modified Hall Class 6990 'Witherslack Hall' running in the guise of scrapped sister loco 6988 'Swithland Hall', with the locomotive having recently completed a major boiler overhaul, and BR Class 24 D5054 'Phil Southern' making for a welcome addition to the event, visiting from the East Lancashire Railway.

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LOCOS & STOCK
British Rail Class 24 D5054 'Phil Southern'
BR(W) Modified Hall 6990 'Witherslack Hall' (As 6988 'Swithland Hall')
BR Standard 2MT 78018

VIDEO CONTENTS
0:00 - Beeching Protest Reenactment - Loughborough Central Station
2:59 - D5054 - Beeches Road
3:39 - 6990 (As 6988) - Beeches Road
4:28 - 78018 & Loading Demonstration - Quorn & Woodhouse
8:47 - D5054 & 6990 (As 6988) - Quorn & Woodhouse

Filmed on 19th and 20th August 2023.