Manchester to Nottingham in 8 minutes: flight sim of closed GC Railway via Woodhead and Sheffield

We follow the path of the former Great Central Railway main line, from Manchester's London Road Station (now Piccadilly) to the site of Nottingham's Victoria Station, via Woodhead, Penistone and Sheffield Victoria. With the aid of Google Earth we cover the 80 mile trip in just 8 minutes. Yellow graphics and text are used for disused sections of the line and abandoned stations. Grey graphics and white text are used for line sections and stations in current use. Only stations which were served by the original GCR are labelled (for example, there are no labels for stations opened in the late 20th century such as Flowery Fields and Godley).

The route is mostly disused, but sections from Manchester to Hadfield and from Deepcar through Sheffield to Beighton are still operated by National Rail. Much of the abandoned track is given over to long distance footpaths/cycleways: the Trans-Pennine trail and the Five pits Trail. The 3-mile long Woodhead Tunnels are used by National Grid for power transmission. South of Tibshelf, through to Nottingham, the route is mostly obscured by building developments and landscaping.