Saturday 7th March 2026

Spring beckons just over the horizon, but today’s excursion may well provide a spectacular winter’s treat! Our journey takes us across the majestic Pennines, a region renowned for its dramatic landscapes. From the warmth and comfort of our special train, passengers may catch sight of snow-capped hills as the outstanding scenery of ‘The Backbone of England’ slips effortlessly by. Today we visit the stunningly picturesque twelve mile long East Lancashire Railway where our special train will travel all the way through to the line’s end at Rawtenstall. 

Our train will be hauled by no fewer than three heritage diesel locomotives including (subject to availability) a powerful Class 56 locomotive that will pilot our train on the East Lancashire Railway. On the return journey we will also have the assistance of another diesel locomotive, the identity of which will be revealed nearer the time.

Our journey begins at Watford Junction and with two Class 50 locomotives leading we call at Bletchley before deviating from the West Coast Main Line. We then head east across the Marston Vale line, which itself rarely sees loco hauled passenger trains. We emerge at Bedford where we resume our journey north – now on the Midland Main line and pausing at Kettering, Leicester and East Midlands Parkway to collect further passengers.

We find ourselves just south of DB Cargo’s expansive Toton depot so our route takes us into the facility where we expect to be joined by an assisting locomotive which will be attached for use later in the day. For now however our journey to the Manchester area continues. We are routed via Castle Donington, Uttoxeter and Stoke on Trent from where we rejoin the line as far as Heaton Norris Junction. From here we take a rather convoluted but necessary exploration of the suburbs east of Manchester, taking in Reddish South, Baguley Fold Junction and the tight curvature as we cross Brewery Fork viaduct. This enables us to join the Rochdale line which we follow as far as Castleton, where after reversal, our assisting locomotive will lead us onto the connection with the East Lancashire Railway.

The East Lancashire Railway

This renowned heritage railway stretches roughly twelve miles between Heywood and Rawtenstall, passing through scenic countryside and historic towns. We expect to spend over three hours on the railway, and it is your decision whether to remain on our UK Railtours train and journey all the way through to the line’s end at Rawtenstall (we expect our train to be piloted by the Railway’s own 56006) or you can alight at Bury Bolton Street and enjoy the many facilities of both the station (there is a very good pub on platform 2) and the town of Bury. Your UK Railtours ticket entitles you to free admission to the East Lancashire Railway’s museum that can also be found at Bury, and usual opening hours have been extended to allow us plenty of time to explore. There is a scheduled steam service running from and back to Bury which should work well time wise for those wishing to travel. The fare for this is not included in your UK Railtours fare but can easily be booked in advance via the East Lancashire Railway’s website or even on the day.

For those staying onboard our charter train to Rawtenstall there will be a leg stretching opportunity at this picturesque village but no real opportunity to alight at Bury Bolton Street on either the outbound or return trip as we will only be pausing to set down and pick up passengers. We will of course keep our buffet car open throughout the day but those electing this option may wish to plan accordingly.

Our return journey will see our Class 50 locomotives lead over the gradients of the Pennines as we head towards Hebden Bridge and Bradford Interchange where we reverse. Our assisting locomotive now retraces our route as far as Halifax where we bear east towards Wakefield. After reversals at both Kirkgate and Westgate stations, we head back towards Chesterfield, Derby and ultimately Toton where the loco is detached.

With both Class 50s once again leading we head back towards London, setting down at principal stations as far south as Bedford, then Bletchley and Watford Junction bringing to an end what we believe will be a memorable day visiting the spectacular East Lancashire Railway.

UK Railtours would like to thank Hanson & Hall, today’s train operator, and the C50A for supplying an additional class 50 locomotive. Mk3 carriages are provided by Eastern Rail Services. We are indebted to the East Lancashire Railway and The Class 56 Group for their assistance with this tour.

All timings are provisional and intended only as a guide.

Station	Outbound	Return
Watford Junction	06.20	22.30
Bletchley	06.50	22.00
Bedford	07.25	21.30
Kettering	07.50	21.10
Leicester	08.20	20.45
East Midlands Parkway	08.35	20.30

First Class Dining will be provided by The Railway Diners (formerly Creative Rail Dining) and includes the Great British Breakfast, a light lunch (for those remaining on the UKR train on the East Lancashire Railway) and a four course dinner. Our comfortable Mk3 carriages provided by Eastern Rail Services feature a well stocked buffet car serving a range of snacks, sandwiches and drinks.

Class	Fare	Availability
Standard Class Adult	£159	Good
Standard Class Junior	£119	Good
First Class Non Dining	£259	Good
First Class Dining	£399	Good
First Class Dining Party of Four	£1576	Good

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