In the year 2000 I started working for a company in Stanford-on-Soar to the north of Loughborough.  This was situated just a couple of hundred yards from the ex-GCR main line between Loughborough and Ruddington, though at the time this section of line was not regularly used.

I was excited to learn in late 2000 that trains carrying gypsum were going to start running to the gypsum works, next to Rushcliffe Halt on the north side of East Leake.  Here the gypsum would be used in the manufacture of plasterboard.  The full trains were timed to head from the Midland Main Line past Stanford before I got to work, though I occasionally saw one if it was running late.  The empty trains were due to head south past Stanford around lunch time, which coincided with the time when I liked to go out for a walk.  So carrying a small camera I was able to photograph the empty trains on multiple occasions at various locations around Stanford and Loughborough, especially when the weather was good.  Getting a photograph could not be relied upon since sometimes the gypsum trains did not run for some weeks and some days they were delayed and did not pass Stanford till past my lunch time.  Occasionally I went by car to Rushcliffe Halt on the north side of East Leake and was lucky some times to see a train being unloaded at the Hotchley Hill gypsum works.

Rushcliffe Halt, East Leake

In March 2001, a few months after they started running, a gypsum train is being unloaded at Rushcliffe Halt.  The fork-lift vehicle would remove a container of Gypsum from the train and load it onto a lorry which would transport it to the gypsum works in the background.  The empty container would then be returned to the train.  Occasionally the train was moved forward to bring more full containers to the access pad.

When all of the containers had been unloaded the train would be drawn forward and then the locomotive would run round using the former ‘down’ main line on the left and the cross-over by the loading pad.  This is the ex-GCR main line and the railway preservation base at Ruddington is a few miles in the distance.

Initially the trains originated from coal-fired power stations where the gypsum was formed during desulpherisation of the power station exhaust.  In the last year, or so, with the closure of the coal-fired power stations, mined gypsum was imported by sea from abroad and delivered to the gypsum works by train from Middlesbrough.

The general arrangement was that the loaded trains headed south down the Midland Main Line in the early morning, reversed at Leicester, returned to Loughborough and took the chord up to the ex-Great Central Railway Main Line and headed to the gypsum works next to Rushcliffe Halt station, on the edge of East Leake.  After being unloaded the empty train would depart from the gypsum works around lunch time and head back to Leicester where it would reverse and then head back north on the Midland Main Line through Loughborough.

However, the trains were very variable, often running late, sometimes not running at all and occasionally not running for several weeks.  Also if they were unloaded promptly they would often depart from the gypsum works early and run to the chord down to the Midland Main Line at Loughborough where they would then wait until their scheduled time.  So it was usually a matter of luck if a train was seen on any day.

A few days later in March 2001 a train was found at East Leake with the gypsum completely unloaded and ready to depart with class 66 no. 66069 in charge.

The scene at Rushcliffe Halt with a gypsum train being unloaded in August 2005.  The line on the left was a siding at the time and holds class 47 locomotive no. 47765, which had recently arrived and would soon be moved north to Ruddington, together with a few assorted wagons and, behind the photographer, a couple of coaches.

It was a surprise to find an empty train ready to depart the gypsum works on a Saturday in June 2009 since the trains were not scheduled to run at weekends.  This train had obviously been seriously delayed since a taxi turned up with a new driver to take the train forward.  The locomotive is class 66 no. 66720.

By August 2014 Rushcliffe Halt station had been spruced up and the track altered and reballasted.  A loaded gypsum container is being transferred to a lorry waiting to take it to the gypsum works in the background for unloading.

South of East Leake

Class 66 no. 66757 heads south from East Leake with an empty gypsum train in April 2015.

Between East Leake Tunnel and Stanford-on-Soar

There is a public footpath alongside the railway for some distance northwards from the Stanford to Normanton road.  Over the fence from the footpath an empty gypsum train hauled by class 66 no. 66739 is seen heading south in January 2012.

Another footpath branches off the path that runs alongside the railway and this crosses the railway on a bridge which gives a good vantage point for photographing the trains.  Class 66 no. 66082 was photographed from the bridge in May 2005.

A class 60, no. 60099 ‘Ben More Assynt’, dusted with gypsum, is in charge of the gypsum empties in October 2006.

In May 2008 GBRF class 66 no. 66724 ‘Drax Power Station’ heads the gypsum empties.

Turning round after the train in the previous photograph had passed shows it heading under the bridge over the Stanford to Normanton road.

Class 66 no. 66078 is photographed from the bridge over the Stanford to Normanton road with the gypsum empties in August 2006.  The bridge carrying the footpath over the railway that was used for the previous photographs can be seen in the distance.

Turning round and crossing to the other side of the bridge shows the train heading south past Stanford-on-Soar.  In the distance, just before the shadow across the track from the right, is a foot crossing carrying the footpath from Stanford to Normanton.  The sharp curvature of the track here is very noteworthy.

Stanford-on-Soar

Class 60 no. 60010 passes Stanford-on-Soar with the gypsum empties in April 2005.  The ‘Beware of trains’ sign of the foot crossing can be seen next to the wagon.

In the early 2000’s the fences and stile of the public footpath stood across the northbound trackbed.  Standing behind the fence allowed nearly head-on photographs of the trains here, such as class 60 no. 60092 ‘Reginald Munns’ with the gypsum empties in December 2005.  Some years later the fence appeared to have been clobbered by a vehicle trying to pass between the fence and the track.  The fence and stile were rebuilt but were moved back against the field boundary so thwarting this view.  The Stanford to Normanton road bridge can be seen in the background.

In June 2008 class 66 no. 66728 ‘Institution of Railway Operators’ passes the foot crossing at Stanford with the gypsum empties.

Class 66 no. 66117 was in charge of the gypsum empties at the Stanford-on-Soar foot crossing in July 2009.

Turning round at the foot crossing, no. 66117 can be seen heading round the curve at Stanford and on to the embankment beside the River Soar.

An unusual photograph for me at the foot crossing—class 66 no. 66086 with a northbound loaded gypsum train heading to the works at East Leake in June 2015.  This train had probably been delayed since this was around lunchtime.

Around Loughborough Meadows

Immediately south of the cutting at Stanford-on-Soar the railway crosses Loughborough Meadows by a high embankment, bridging the River Soar on a short viaduct.  Here, seen from Fox Hill in September 2009, an unidentified class 66 heads south across the viaduct with the gypsum empties.  When the Great Central Railway was built in the 1890’s the River Soar was diverted to run alongside the new embankment here and the road from Loughborough to Stanford was diverted to cross the river by a new bridge, built by the railway company, which can be seen in the middle of the picture.

Viewed from the road bridge over the River Soar that was built by the Great Central Railway in the 1890’s, class 66 no. 66706 ‘Nene Valley’ hauls the gypsum empties southbound across the short viaduct over the River Soar at Loughborough Meadows in October 2011.

Class 66 no. 66138 crosses the River Soar, which was then in spate, with gypsum empties in March 2001.

Seen from the east, class 66 no. 66738 crosses short viaduct over the River Soar with gypsum empties in September 2011.

Some of the class 66 locomotives were painted pictorially.  Here is no. 66709 ‘Sorrento’ painted for MSC (Mediterranean Shipping Company) crossing the short viaduct over the River Soar in May 2012.

Here gaudily painted class 66 no. 66720 crosses the short viaduct over the River Soar in September 2012.  The cattle are not very impressed!

Class 66 no. 66720 was on the gypsum empties again the following day in September 2012 and is seen crossing the short viaduct over the River Soar with the river in the foreground.

Loughborough Meadows are prone to flooding.  Here in the early days of the gypsum trains the empties cross the embankment over the flooded meadows in February 2001, hauled by class 60 no. 60050.

An unidentified class 60 heads across the embankment over Loughborough Meadows with the gypsum empties in September 2006.  A visit to the Meadows is always interesting since you can look through the fence at the back of the Brush works and see the locomotives that are lurking there.

Classs 60 no. 60030 heads the gypsum empties past Loughborough Meadows in March 2007.  Alas, as with many views on the railways, trees and shrubs have grown on the embankment making such photographs more difficult.

Class 66 no. 66722 ‘Sir Edward Watkin’ nears the end of the embankment over Loughborough Meadows with the gypsum empties in April 2012.  Immediately to the right, but out of the picture, is the Brush works.  The footpath indicated by the yellow post leads between the railway embankment and the Brush works to Nottingham Road.  It is a convenient route but can be very muddy after wet weather and can become overgrown with brambles in the Summer.

Nottingham Road Loughborough

The footpath between the railway embankment and the Brush works leads to Nottingham Road in Loughborough with its low railway bridge which often catches out unwary lorry drivers.  Here a lorry driver has stopped just before the bridge since he was unsure whether there was enough clearance to get safely under - I don’t think so, and neither did the driver who caused a bit of a queue on this busy road.  Meanwhile class 60 no. 60024 passes by with the gypsum empties in February 2007.

Class 60 no. 60056 ‘William Beveridge’ crosses the Nottingham Road bridge with the gypsum empties on another occasion in February 2007.  Lunchtime was busy with traffic around here with extra vehicles exiting the Brush works on the left.

Another unusual photograph for me is of a loaded gypsum train crossing Nottingham Road in Loughborough while heading north to the works at East Leake.  From the angle of the sun this can be seen to be around lunch time.  Class 66 no. 66737 photographed in April 2011.

The bridge over Nottingham Road in Loughborough is prone to being bashed by high lorries however curtain-sided trailers are no match for it.  Here, in heavy rain, after a bridge bash in August 2012 the gypsum empties hauled by class 66 no. 66703 ‘Doncaster PSB 1981-2002’ were allowed across after the railway bridge had been inspected.  The curtain sided superstructure of the lorry had been pushed off and lay in the road while the rest of the lorry was parked round the corner.

Down to the Midland Main Line

At Loughborough South Junction the empty gypsum trains joined the Midland Main Line using the chord that was installed in the 1970s.  Trains would often wait a long time at the signal at the top of the chord until their time to run onto the main line.  Here in May 2008 class 66 no. 66721 ‘Harry Beck’ comes off the chord with its train of empty wagons and heads south to Leicester, where it will reverse and travel back north.

The previous photograph was taken from the stile at the crossing on the bridle way at Little Moor Lane / Allsop’s Lane.  Here in March 2010 class 66 no. 66716 comes down from the chord and over the crossing.

Flat crossings over the Midland Main Line, as in the previous photograph, were being abolished and being replaced by bridges, where possible.  This photograph of class 66 no. 66757 with its train of empty gypsum wagons descending the chord was taken in April 2015 from the new bridge which was built over the main line at Loughborough.

Coming and going on the Midland Main Line

For completeness, below are a few photographs of full gypsum trains heading south at Loughborough.  These are likely to have been delayed trains and would be heading to Leicester where the locomotive would have run round the train before returning with it and hauling it up to the gypsum works for unloading.

Photographed from Meadow Lane in Loughborough, class 60 no. 60045 ‘The Permanent Way Institution’ heads south in January 2007 with its loaded gypsum train to Leicester where the locomotive will run round and haul the train back north and take the branch to the gypsum works.  On the left is the junction which led to Loughborough yard which had been severed.

Heading south between Loughborough Midland station and the Brush works in February 2007 is class 60 no. 60083 ‘Mountsorrel’.

Class 60 no. 60056 ‘William Beveridge’ waits at the south of Loughborough Midland station.  It is waiting for a local passenger train to pass round it after calling at the station, in February 2007.

Below is a photograph of the gypsum empties heading north through Loughborough after coming down from British Gypsum and reversing at Leicester.

It was rare that I saw the empty gypsum train heading north after reversal in Leicester.  Here on one such occasion is class 66 no. 66703 ‘Doncaster PSB 1981-2002’ in August 2012.

Epilogue:
Employment took me away from Stanford-on-Soar in early 2013 and so ended my regularly seeing and photographing the gypsum trains.

In the latter days of the trains, as the coal-fired power stations were being closed down, no gypsum was being created at power stations by flue-gas desulpherisation for transport by train.  Instead gypsum was imported by ship from abroad and was loaded onto the trains in Middlesbrough for delivery to East Leake.

Then in September 2020 the bridge over the A60 Nottingham Road on the line up to East Leake was reported as unsafe for trains due to corrosion and the gypsum trains were suspended.  This bridge was replaced in 2022 and the line over was fully restored in 2024 but it is uncertain if gypsum trains will return.

Old Photographs Section