Railtours

‘Royal Windsor Steam Express’ to return in 2020

by

Sam Hewitt

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2nd September 2019

Regular steam operation will return to London Waterloo in 2020 after Steam Dreams confirmed its ‘Royal Windsor Steam Express’ will run again next summer. Operating every Tuesday until September 3, the trains consist of three one-way, steam-hauled trips from Waterloo to Windsor & Eton Riverside and an evening dining circuit known as the ‘Sunset Steam…
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‘Shakespeare Express’ 2019 season underway

by

Sam Hewitt

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1st September 2019

Vintage Trains reintroduced its popular ‘Shakespeare Express’ between Birmingham Snow Hill and Stratford-upon-Avon on July 21. Two return trips per day will operate on August 4, August 18, September 1 and September 15, with BR ‘Castle’ No. 7029 Clun Castle taking charge, except on August 4 when ex-LMS ‘Jubilee’ No. 45596 Bahamas is booked to…
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GWR InterCity 125s bow out in style

by

Sam Hewitt

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6th August 2019

GREAT Western Railway said farewell to long-distance InterCity 125 operation on June 1 with an epic railtour visiting many parts of the GWR network. The first and last production HST power cars – Nos. 43002 Sir Kenneth Grange and 43198 – powered standard eight-car set LA72 on an itinerary embracing Bristol, Paddington, Oxford, Hereford, Carmarthen and…
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BLS tour brings Class 31 back to the main line

by

Sam Hewitt

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6th August 2019

JUNE 9 saw a Class 31 return to main line action after a gap of several months. Nemesis Rail’s No. 31128 Charybdis, currently the only Brush Type 2 authorised for use on Network Rail metals, powered the Branch Line Society’s ‘Sunday Yicker’ tour in top-and-tail formation with West Coast Railways’ No. 37668 and just four WCRC Mk1…
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Blue Class 20s bring back ‘Skeggy’ holiday memories

by

Sam Hewitt

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31st July 2019

Happy memories of Class 20s on summer-dated holiday trains to Skegness were rekindled on May 27 when Pathfinder Tours took a pair of blue EE Type 1s back to the Lincolnshire coast. Harry Needle Railroad Co Nos. 20096 and 20107, usually hired to GB Railfreight for London Underground ‘S’ stock movements, took charge of the…
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DRS ‘37s’ take on Three Peaks Challenge

by

Sam Hewitt

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20th July 2019

The annual rail industry ‘Three Peaks Challenge’ – raising money for the Railway Children charity – was once again supported by Direct Rail Services on June 13-15.
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Railtours remembered: The Metropolitan Special

by

Sam Hewitt

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17th July 2019

In the first of an occasional new series, Andrew Royle looks back to a forgotten railtour over London Transport’s Metropolitan line in 1954.
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West Coast launches regular Stratford steam

by

Sam Hewitt

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5th July 2019

Stratford-upon-Avon will gain its second regular steam operation later this month when West Coast Railways launches its ‘Merchant of Avon’ trains on July 28. Five summer Sunday trains are planned initially, starting from Burton-on-Trent and calling at Tamworth, Coleshill Parkway, Henley-in-Arden, Tyseley, Dorridge and Stratford on July 28, August 11/25 and September 8/22. During its…
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Luxury dining trains’ brief encounter in Kent

by

Sam Hewitt

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2nd July 2019

THERE was brief chance to see two of Britain’s luxury dining trains together on May 11, writes David Staines. ‘Black Five’ No. 44871 was recessed at Lenham Loop with the 12.50 Maidstone East-Folkestone West ‘Heart of Kent Hospice Circular’ to allow LSL’s Nos. 47810 and 47853 to overtake with a ‘Statesman’ special to Canterbury. No. 44871 and the…
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Mayflower in the Highlands

by

Sam Hewitt

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2nd July 2019

‘B1’ No. 61306 Mayflower crosses the Beauly Firth at Invershin while working a day tour from Inverness to Dunrobin Castle during Steam Dreams’ mammoth ‘Highlands and Islands’ tour of Scotland on May 9-17. The previous day, the Thompson 4-6-0 worked with No. 60103 Flying Scotsman over the Highland Main Line from Edinburgh. ‘Scotsman’ worked north from King’s…
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