Charnwood Forest Railway

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Charnwood Forest Railway
Overview
Other name(s)	Bluebell Line
Status	closed
Locale	Leicestershire, England
History
Commenced	1881
Completed	1883
Closed	1963
Route map Legend Loughborough Derby Road Snells Nook Halt Shepshed Grace Dieu Viaduct Grace Dieu Halt Thringstone Halt Whitwick Coalville East Leicester–Burton upon Trent line Ashby and Nuneaton Joint Railway To Hugglescote, Shackerstone, Nuneaton

The Charnwood Forest Railway was a branch line in Leicestershire constructed by the Charnwood Forest Company between 1881 and 1883.^{[1][page needed]} The branch line ran from Coalville (joined from the Ashby and Nuneaton Joint Railway (ANJR)) to the town of Loughborough.

It should not be confused with the much earlier railway that was part of the Charnwood Forest Canal.

Stations on the Charnwood Forest Railway were located at Coalville East, Whitwick, Shepshed and Loughborough Derby Road. By 1885, the company had been placed in receivership; under this supervision, in 1907 three halts were opened, these being Thringstone Halt, Grace Dieu Halt and Snells Nook Halt. These were an attempt to improve the profitability of the line by increasing the customer base. The line was worked by the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) and was taken over by the London Midland & Scottish Railway (LMS) in 1923.

Passenger services ceased to operate on 13 April 1931, with freight services ceasing to operate on 12 December 1963. The line was known as the 'Bluebell Line' due to the flower growing along much of the length of the line during the spring.