Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago
Hope you find my video of interest. Leave a comment if you did. Here in Mickleover near the former Mickleover railway station is a little bit of railway history which I bet not many people even know about. I first visited this back in 2003 (see my photo at the end of the video).
Hidden amongst the trees, slowly rotting away are some concrete trestles which used to have 5" gauge track mounted on them and was used by British Rail Research Depot, where development work was carried out for the Channel Tunnel Railway.
This was part of the aerodynamics laboratory.
"This test track was known as the TIT rig (Trains in Tunnels) and was for testing pressure dispersal between passing train, hence the Channel tunnel having 3 tunnels, 1 up, 1 down and a service tunnel between them to act as a pressure release system for the moving trains. This was all developed here at the Mickleover and at BR Research on London Road.
The test track stretched from behind the old Mickleover station signal box to the first farmers bridge, the one that is just two stacks of bricks now."
I would like to thank Andy Turner for the above info.
"The catapult used to fire the model train was made from 4 bungee ropes and 100M long, the track bed was level to within 1mm. To test its power they used a wooden model first and the first time this was tested it fired straight through the end of the building !"
I would like to thank Malcom Spencer for the above info.
Strange to think that this contribution to a major industrial triumph has been left to rot here.
Do you know anyone that used to work on this test track?
The 1989 video footage at the start and end is from an old VHS tape of a TV series called Railwatch.
0:00 1989 Railwatch show
0:17 Investigation of the test track in 2026
1:34 1989 Railwatch show continues
2:49 How it looked in 2003
You may enjoy this video I made in 2021 Derby Friar gate Railway Line Series : Mickleover to Kingsway bridge by drone in 4K. This is before they built all those houses on the other side of Station Road :
youtu.be/g_HG2OizmpU
► Please like, Share, subscribe and turn on notifications.
Feel free to share the link to Facebook, X or to anyone you think would like to see it.
Best viewed on a large computer screen or smart TV as this is recorded in 4K resolution with great music so a real waste watching it on a small phone screen. Did you know you can cast it to your smart tv from the YouTube app?
Thanks
Andy
Hope you find my video of interest. Leave a comment if you did. Here in Mickleover near the former Mickleover railway station is a little bit of railway history which I bet not many people even know about. I first visited this back in 2003 (see my photo at the end of the video).
Hidden amongst the trees, slowly rotting away are some concrete trestles which used to have 5" gauge track mounted on them and was used by British Rail Research Depot, where development work was carried out for the Channel Tunnel Railway.
This was part of the aerodynamics laboratory.
"This test track was known as the TIT rig (Trains in Tunnels) and was for testing pressure dispersal between passing train, hence the Channel tunnel having 3 tunnels, 1 up, 1 down and a service tunnel between them to act as a pressure release system for the moving trains. This was all developed here at the Mickleover and at BR Research on London Road.
The test track stretched from behind the old Mickleover station signal box to the first farmers bridge, the one that is just two stacks of bricks now."
I would like to thank Andy Turner for the above info.
"The catapult used to fire the model train was made from 4 bungee ropes and 100M long, the track bed was level to within 1mm. To test its power they used a wooden model first and the first time this was tested it fired straight through the end of the building !"
I would like to thank Malcom Spencer for the above info.
Strange to think that this contribution to a major industrial triumph has been left to rot here.
Do you know anyone that used to work on this test track?
The 1989 video footage at the start and end is from an old VHS tape of a TV series called Railwatch.
0:00 1989 Railwatch show
0:17 Investigation of the test track in 2026
1:34 1989 Railwatch show continues
2:49 How it looked in 2003
You may enjoy this video I made in 2021 Derby Friar gate Railway Line Series : Mickleover to Kingsway bridge by drone in 4K. This is before they built all those houses on the other side of Station Road :
youtu.be/g_HG2OizmpU
► Please like, Share, subscribe and turn on notifications.
Feel free to share the link to Facebook, X or to anyone you think would like to see it.
Best viewed on a large computer screen or smart TV as this is recorded in 4K resolution with great music so a real waste watching it on a small phone screen. Did you know you can cast it to your smart tv from the YouTube app?
Thanks
Andy
