1966 World Cup Triumph | Great Central Railway - Railways at Work 2024 - 10/08/23

The Great Central Railway's annual 'Railways at Work' gala once again rolls the clocks back to the by-gone era of BR, with 2024's event going back 58 years; The year is 1966, and England win the World Cup after a 4-2 win against West Germany at a packed out Wembley Stadium. Many fans travelled to Wembley by rail on Football Specials, showcasing their support for the England Team by waving flags, scarves and banners, with the British Transport Police on hand to deal with any drunken hooligans and keep travellers safe.

Freight demonstrations would take place in the yard at Quorn & Woodhouse, featuring numerous reenactors and heritage vehicles loading and unloading a local Pick-Up Goods train. Such yard practices would be phased out during this time, with BR's modernisation seeing a shift from local Pick-Up Goods trains to new express Nationwide Freightliner services. These developments, suggested in Beeching's report, saw local freight traffic being diverted from the railways onto the UK's expanding road network. A popular feature of 2023's event, yard demonstrations also saw a return of the Beeching Protests.

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Filmed on 10th August 2024.