Leicester & Swannington Railway fly-through W to E, including two inclines and the Glenfield Tunnel.

A Google Earth fly-through following the course of the former Leicester & Swannington Railway, from west to east. This was one of Britains earliest steam railways, opened in 1832 and engineered by Robert Stephenson. It included two rope-hauled inclines at Swannington and Bagworth, and a mile-long tunnel at Glenfield. A long section of the trackbed, between Coalville and Desford, is occupied by the existing Leicester to Burton (ex Midland) railway.
A clever feature of Google Earth is the 3D rendering of buildings and trees using only satellite imagery. Currently this feature is only available in certain areas of the UK, surrounding centres of population such as Leicester. In this sequence we cross into the Leicester 3D zone between Desford and Ratby. Prior to this, there is limited 3D effect obtained from the ground height data, but buildings, trees, bridges and cuttings appear flattend. But beyond this point the 3D effect is much more realistic.

[@philrussell9564]

Brilliant thank you great graphics and information.

[@flymuzza9205]

Thanks Phil, glad it was useful

[@thisisbob1001]

Great vid thanks

[@Al-qv5vs]

Very interesting. Thank you.

[@thisisbob1001]

Great vid