The carriage shed at the Nottingham Transport Heritage Centre in Ruddington which will house rolling stock for the Great Central Railway (Nottingham) has now been commissioned.

Now that the long-awaited carriage shed has been completed, the railway has moved operational passenger vehicles inside.

It took many years for the shed to come to fruition, as a steady flow of income dried up during the pandemic.

The project was reactivated through a fundraising appeal and receipt of a grant from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund which was allocated to the railway by Rushcliffe Borough Council.

The shed is designed to hold four carriages on two sidings, although currently only one of the two sidings has been connected.

A polished concrete floor has been laid level with the top of the rails to allow it to be used as an undercover events arena, and plans are in place for a mezzanine floor to be added to provide extra storage space.

Elsewhere on the site, builders are constructing an accessible toilet block made possible by another grant from Rushcliffe Borough Council, and funding from East Midlands Airport Community Fund, East Midland Railways, and Friends of the Great Central Main Line.

The final cost of the toilet block is expected to be more than £80,000, of which around £10,00 still needs to be raised.

Until now, only temporary facilities have been available at Ruddington, but they have now been demolished. The new toilet block will be the first time modern facilities have been available at Ruddington.

Anyone who wishes to donate to the project can do so online at lnergctrust.org, which is a charitable trust supporting the Great Central Railway (Nottingham).

“We’re so very grateful to all our funder for putting their faith in the renaissance of the northern end of the line. The carriage shed is already proving its worth as event space and it’s great to get vehicles undercover too. The ground has been broken for the toilet block and all being well visitors to our Christmas event, the Jingle Bells Express will be able to use the new toilets. We need to raise a final few thousand pounds though so we are making a last appeal to raise some pennies so we can all spend a penny in future! Thank you to everyone who can help.”

Andy Fillingham of Great Central Railway (Nottingham)