Swithland Sidings

Swithland Sidings is a set of railway sidings on the preserved Great Central Railway, situated just south of Swithland Reservoir and Swithland Viaduct which crosses it.

Commercial history

The original plans for the MS&LR's London Extension had a station situated at Swithland instead of Rothley, although Rothley was much the larger village of the two, and only slightly further from the line. Local pressure, much of it spearheaded by Frederick Merttens, Lord of Rothley Manor, forced a change in the plans and the proposed site changed to Rothley; however, this did not mean that Swithland station was abandoned. The railway company had visions of turning the area into a tourist spot and the construction of Swithland station was commenced anyway. It would have consisted of an island platform of the standard design that became typical of the line, here the less common "embankment" type reached from a roadway (the Swithland-Rothley road) that passed beneath the line, similar to East Leake. In the event, these plans were thwarted, reportedly at a fairly advanced stage, and work stopped. Since it was barely a mile away to the south, Rothley station was deemed adequate to serve the area.

It has been difficult to determine just how much of Swithland station was actually built. The bricked up station entrance below and between the twin bridges over the Swithland-Rothley road can still be seen to this day; one of the many excellent photographs taken by the Leicester photographer S.W.A. Newton of the line's construction clearly shows the view looking up the stairway towards the platform. The mystery surrounds the platform itself - several sources appear to confirm that the platform was completed, together with at least some of the buildings, but it has so far not been possible to substantiate this for certain. What is known is that anything that was built lasted only a short time, though the main running lines continued to veer round the platform's site throughout the operating history of the line.

Sidings were however sited here to serve the Mountsorrel Railway, a mineral branch leading to granite quarries in the village of Mountsorrel about two miles to the north east; this line was originally closed on 6 April 1964 but has since been reconstructed.

Preservation

The Montsorrel Branch Line off Swithland Sidings - 2010

The main line through here was closed on 5 May 1969. The trackbed was subsequently taken over for preservation, but in 1990 the sidings were devoid of its original features. Led by GCR benefactor David Clarke, double track was relaid from Swithland to Rothley, and then from Swithland to Quorn, eventually reaching Loughborough in 2000. The double track commences at Swithland, with GWR signalling as used on the GW&GC Joint Line. The signal box is the former Aylesbury South box which was located at Aylesbury railway station. The station was once again considered, but it was then decided that it would be close enough to Rothley not to be needed.

All the sidings, the Mountsorrel Branch and the second main line had gone, but were eventually restored by the volunteers of the Great Central Railway and the Mountsorrel Railway Project. Swithland Sidings now has the Up and Down main lines, Up and Down passing loops, a complex of sidings for the storage of railway vehicles and the re-instated Mountsorrel Branch. It has a re-erected signalbox and is fully signalled with semaphore signals. The signalling became operational in the summer of 2012. The facilities at Swithland now allow for the storage of railway vehicles and the passing loops allow trains to be held in the loop while an express passes on the main line.

Swithland Sidings Signal Box - 2000

In the Winter 2012 edition of Main Line Magazine, it was announced that Railway Vehicle Preservations Ltd had proposed plans for a four road carriage shed at the back of Swithland Sidings. This has since enabled an increased capacity for the storage of carriages, as well as provide shelter for them from the weather.