LEICESTER CENTRAL

This simulation is based on the track layout in the Leicester area of the former Great Central Railway between 1948 and 1965.
The line closed to all traffic in 1969, but the section from Abbey Lane northwards to Loughborough was taken over by the Great Central Railway Preservation Society, who built a new station (Leicester North) close to the site of Abbey Lane Yard.  Trains now run on this section once again.
Central station is now partly a car park and the Engine Shed and Yard area is a housing estate.

Opening Screen

Ex-LNER class V2 2-6-2 no. 60941 heads north past Leicester South Goods signal box with a van train on 24th June 1964.  Leicester Central locomotive shed can be seen in the distance on the extreme left.
Photo by Nigel Tout. This and many others can be found on the GCR Leicester Central Railway Station facebook page. 

Electrification

None of the lines were electrified.

Stopping Places and section lengths (in Length units)
[1 Length Unit will hold 1 Loco or 1 Coach or 3 Wagons].

Abbey Lane:
  Up Main .....13
  Down Main....13
  Goods Loop...13

Leicester Central:
  Platform 1............. 7
  Platform 2............. 7
  Platform 3............. 7
  Platform 4............. 7
  Platform 5.............18
  Platform 6.............18
  Up Slow................16
  Up Goods...............15
  Up Siding..............11
  Down Slow..............17
  Down Goods.............16
  Down Siding............ 9
  Loco Siding............ 2
  Up Main Carr Shunt .... 7 (between Signals S41 and S12)
  Down Main Carr Shunt .. 7 (between Signals N49 and N15)
  Up Main Loco Shunt..... 3 (between Signals S41 and S42)
  Down Main Loco Shunt... 2 (between Signals N50 and N15)
 
Leicester Goods North:
  Up Goods  .... 22 (between Signals L46 and GSL)
  Down Goods ... 22 (between Signals G34 and L52)
  Up Main ...... 12 (between Signals G26 and L18)

Leicester Goods South and Loco Shed:
  Goods Headshunt......15
  Shunt Line........... 3 (between Signals L40 and L70)
  Shed Line 1.......... 4
  Shed Line 2.......... 4
  Shed Line 3.......... 4
  Shed Line 4.......... 5
  Turntable Line....... 4
  Coal Stage........... 4
  Coal Spur............ 1
  Turntable............ 1

Leicester Goods Yard:
  Siding 1.............10
  Siding 2.............10
  Siding 3.............12
  Siding 4.............10
  Loop 1...............15
  Loop 2...............15

There are also Stopping places off-screen at Belgrave & Birstall and Whetstone.

Signal Boxes

Most of the signalling in the area consisted of semaphore signals and mechanically operated points controlled from a number of independent Signalboxes.  For the purpose of this simulation, the signals have all been shown as Multi-aspect Colour Light signals, or Position-light Ground Shunt signals.
Stop Signals are shown as 2-aspect (R/G) and Stop Signals with a Distant Signal on the same post are shown as 3-aspect (R/Y/G). Subsidiary Signals are included where necessary.
The following signals were multi-aspect Colour Light:
N46, N47, N48, S11, S13, L7 - all 3-aspect with Calling-On signal.
L6 - 4-aspect to Down Main + 2-aspect R/Y to Down Goods.
L5 - 3-aspect Automatic Distant (Y/YY/G).
L54 - 2-aspect Automatic Distant (Y/G) - Intermediate Block Distant.
L53 - 2-aspect (R/G) - Intermediate Block Home/Starter.
Ground Shunt Signals N50 and S42 have been added to facilitate timetabling of engine movements.

Signals and points have been numbered in accordance with the signalling diagrams, where available.  The Loco Shed area was unsignalled, but required signalling for simulation purposes and has been numbered as an extension of Goods South Signalbox.
The Goods Yard was not signalled, all of the points being hand operated, but signalling is required for simulation purposes.
Signalboxes on the simulation have been assigned code letters as follows:

A = Abbey Lane
B = Belgrave & Birstall
G = Leicester Goods North
L = Leicester Goods South
N = Leicester Passenger North
S = Leicester Passenger South
W = Whetstone
Y = Goods Yard (Signalled for simulation only)

Stopping places are allocated codes which are shown in the WTT arrival or departure times:

No code = Central Station (P1 to P6 and Up and Down Slow and Goods Lines)
A = Abbey Lane
a = Turntable Arrival (between Signals L90 and L97)
B = Belgrave & Birstall
C = Central Sidings (Up Siding, Down Siding and Loco Siding)
c = Coal Stage
G = Goods North & South (Up Goods, Down Goods, Up Main)
g = Goods Sidings
H = Goods Headshunt
L = Loco Shed (LS1 to LS4)
l = Goods Loops
n = North Shunt (Carriage and Loco - between Signals N15 and N49 or N50)
S = Shunt Line
s = Coal Spur
s = South Shunt (Carriage and Loco - between Signals S41 and S12 or S42)
s = Turntable Spur
T = Turntable
t = Turntable Line
W = Whetstone

Yard Layouts

Abbey Lane:
The three Yards are all single-ended with no run round available

Central Station:
The Carriage sidings are used also for Parcels as there is a loading platform on one of the three single-ended sidings.
The Loco Yard has three tracks, two of which serve a Turntable.  A total of five Engines can be accommodated concurrently.  Facilities exist for Ash disposal and Water but Coal is not available.

Goods North:
The Carriage Sidings are single-ended with no run round facility. There are four sidings holding 8 coaches each and four sidings holding 12 coaches each.  All shunting must be done via the Up Main.

Goods South:
Goods Yard 1 has a large number of single-ended sidings with no run round facility.
Goods Yard 2 serves the Goods shed and several other sidings with no run round facilities.
Trains can be shunted within the confines of both yards, but need an additional engine in the yard to release an incoming engine from its train.
The Warehouse has several single-ended sidings with no run round facilities.
Freight trains heading North from the Yard are shunted into one of the Yard Loops and the outgoing engine is coupled at the North end by using the other Loop.  The train is then propelled out to the Goods Headshunt before departing to the North.
Alternatively, the Yard Shunter can haul a Northbound train into the Goods Headshunt for the train engine to couple at the North end and then depart.

Loco Shed:
The Coal Sidings consist of one line serving the Coal Stage and continuing to the Coal Spur, with a loop to enable running round, but this movement must be made externally to the Sidings, either via the Coal Spur or Shunt Line.  There are also five dead-end sidings entered from the North end which are used to store loaded wagons, which must be shunted to the Coal Stage via Goods Yard 1 or 2.  Engines can also be stabled in some of these sidings.
The MPD sidings serve the Breakdown Crane Line and two other sidings.  About ten engines can be accommodated here.
Ash disposal is carried out on the Coal Stage line, the Turntable line or in the Siding area.
Engines not requiring turning can be stopped short of the turntable, and there is a spur off the south end of the turntable which will hold one engine.

Water

Water is available only at the following locations:
Central Station at Signals N41, N46, N47, N48, N53, S11, S13 and S14 only, also in the Loco Yard.
Goods North on the Down Goods at Signal G34.
Goods South on the Up Goods at Signal L46.
Loco Shed On Shed Roads 1 to 4 at Signals L80, L79, L78 and L77 only.  This is quite a constraint and involves much shunting of Engines.

Operation Notes

Leicester is an awkward place to operate as it is not possible to send trains Northwards from Platform 6, the Up Slow or Up Goods, nor was it possible to send trains Southwards from Platform 5, the Down Slow or Down Goods.

Train Reporting Numbers

The Train Reporting Numbers use a four-character code.
The first character is numeric 0 to 9 and indicates the Class of the train.
The second character is alphabetic A to Z and indicates the destination area or route of the train.
The last two characters are numeric 00 to 99 and are allocated to distinguish individual trains.

As the codes varied over time, the specific references are shown in the Timetable Notes.

Acknowledgements

This simulation was developed using the PC-Rail Development software supplied and supported by John Dennis, proprietor of PC-Rail.

Testing of the operation was carried out by the PC-Rail testing team, with thanks to all contributors for their invaluable assistance.

Peter Dean
November 2022

