Quorn and Woodhouse railway station

Quorn and Woodhouse railway station is a heritage station on the Great Central Railway (preserved) serving the villages of Quorn and Woodhouse in Leicestershire, England. Travelling south from Loughborough, it is the first station that is reached. Here there is a large station yard which is suitable for parking. There is also disabled access through the yard (Loughborough now has a lift for disabled as well as access via stairs). Quorn is laid out to appear as it would in the 1940s, as a typical rural LNER station. The signal box is not original but was taken from Market Rasen.

Quorn and Woodhouse
Station on heritage railway
The station in January 2019
General information
LocationQuorn, Charnwood
England
Coordinates52°44′25″N 1°11′16″W / 52.7403°N 1.1878°W / 52.7403; -1.1878
Grid referenceSK549161
Operated byGreat Central Railway (preserved)
Platforms2
History
Original companyGreat Central Railway
Post-groupingLondon and North Eastern Railway
Key dates
15 March 1899Opened
4 March 1963Closed
23 March 1974Reopened as a heritage station

The station is grade II listed[1] and has a number of attractions, including the 1940s era NAAFI Tea Room situated underneath the station road bridge, a period Station Master's office, as well as wartime films showing in one of the waiting rooms. In 2011, a new café called Butler-Henderson Tea Rooms was opened; the building, whilst not in keeping with the station itself, complements its surroundings and provides another reason to stop off at the station.

A turntable (60-foot balance model) was delivered to the station in January 2010 from Preston Docks. It had previously seen use in the ex-York Roundhouse in the days of steam. The turntable was built in 1909 by Cowans Sheldon Ltd of Carlisle. Work began on digging the foundations in June 2011 with work being completed during the late summer of that year in time for the annual Steam Railway Magazine gala in early October 2011.[2]

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The station and Great Central Railway line were featured in the fourth episode of the 17th series of BBC's Top Gear programme, shown on 17 July 2011 during a train/car feature, which was filmed in June 2011.[3]

Route

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Preceding station    Heritage railways Following station
Rothley   Great Central Heritage Railway   Loughborough Central
  Historical railways  
Rothley
Line and station open
  Great Central Railway
London Extension
  Loughborough Central
Line and station open
  Aborted Plans  
Swithland
Line open, Station never opened or completed
  Great Central Railway
London Extension
  Loughborough Central
Line and station open

References

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  1. ^ "Charnwood Borough Council - Listed Buildings - Quorn and Woodhouse Station, Woodhouse Road, Quorn". Charnwood Borough Council. Retrieved 28 October 2009.
  2. ^ "Turntable – Quorn & Woodhouse | Great Central Railway – The UK's Only Main Line Heritage Railway". www.gcrailway.co.uk. 2019. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  3. ^ "Top Gear trio pull latest stunt at Great Central Railway". Leicester Mercury. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 22 July 2011.