Not just a test track

On its 50th anniversary, PHILIP SHERRATT discovers that the Rail Innovation & Development Centre (RIDC) at Melton is about far more than just testing new trains

Asfordby test centre: No 710272 is shunted by resident shunter No 08956 into the siding alongside the test shed on 21 March 2020; this unit left the RIDC for Worksop on 26 March for temporary storage.
Joel Coulson

Some places which would otherwise be insignificant enter into railway folklore. The village of Old Dalby in Leicestershire, with a population of just 1,400, is one such location. To anyone not local to the area it will seem like just another village. But say the name to generations of railway folk and they will immediately think ‘test track’.

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