Great Central Railway - (Loughborough Central)

Just to say we had a fantastic time yesterday and a big thank you to all the lovely staff for making our visit with 2 of our grandchildren so enjoyable. Pre booked tickets on line (kids for a quid) absolute bargain. Had plenty of rides on the train and Got off and explored all the stations. Super food on the grill car, lost track of time and caught the last train back to Loughborough. Wonderful time and the PM waved at us too. Looking forward to next time. Many thanks.

I was given an all day Steam train driving experience as a leaving present from my work. It is expensive, but was very well worth while. The advance information was good and clear, The day was well-planned, with a good range of variety - an initial briefing, visit to the signal box and later the engine sheds, and driving four round trips of the railway, eight single trips in all. They were very flexible, allowing two on the footplate at a time, explained the principles and the controls well, and gave a lot of space and freedom to practice and to have a go. We really did drive all the way in both directions and it was a full length 350 tonne train with my choice of engine. I chose the biggest on the line, which was not necessarily a wise decision as it had a lot of power for our speed of 25 mph. It is a good railway to choose because it has a decent length of run and much of it is double track. The atmosphere was excellent, and the crew were very patient in their explanations. Nothing was rushed, but nor did it drag. In the support carriages there was a commentary available to the other members of the party in the train, and they kept them engaged and entertained, including my two year old grandson.

Been on these beautiful trains a few times, 1940,s weekend, Steam back in time to Victorian fair ground one Easter, and recently to Beer n cider festival. Love it so much I want to do a murder mystery train sometime. These beautiful machines are lovingly restored and ran by volunteers, what a job aye. The scenery is great, each station is different from the next. Keep up the good work GCR guys n gals.

Booked on one of the afternoon tea services and couldn't fault it. The boarding process was very smooth. Cutlery, crockery and linen all very clean. The food was delicious, plentiful and very well presented. The staff were all incredibly friendly and attentive, coffee and tea refills were offered every few minutes. Great experience from start to finish.

Great place. They have a lift to go down to the platform if you need it, and there's lots to look at there. A little museum, a railway emporium (or shop as it's better known as), and a cafe, though it was closed on the day I went. You can walk down towards the engine shed and see some of their other locos that they have. And that's before you even get on a train. I'm definitely going back.