EAST Midlands Trains took one of its ex-Grand Central 2+6 High Speed Train sets from Derby to Ruddington on the Great Central Railway (Nottingham) on November 17.
At Ruddington one of the power cars was switched for the National Railway Museum’s prototype HST power car No. 41001.
The sold-out train was organised jointly by EMT, the Branch Line Society and the 125 Group. It carried around 300 passengers and raised £21,143.21 – almost 25% of the total required by the 125 Group to build undercover facilities for its growing fleet of HST vehicles.
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This wasn’t the first time EMT had taken an HST to Ruddington, but it was the first time the operator had marketed it to the public as a charity railtour.
The tour was crewed by East Midlands Trains volunteers. It started at Derby, taking in several non-passenger lines en route to Loughborough and on the return trip.
Read more in the January 2019 issue of The RM – on sale now!
