Steam Footplate Experience - help

[Butlergremlin]

Hi Everyone,

I am currently planning for my wife's 40th birthday later this year and I would like to get her a steam train experience. There appear to be alot of options out there and a big price difference in the options.

There is a budget of around £500/£600 but this is flexible and I want it to be a really memorable experience.

I would prefer:
- Within 4/5 hours drive of the North East of England
- full guage
- scenic
- that I and our children can ride in the carriages (3 & 5 year old)
- decent length with hands on teaching/experience

She hasn't done anything like this before but she loves visiting steam train heritage sites and this is something I know she would love.

Does anyone have any tips/recommendations/experiences.

 

[Cowley]

Hi Everyone,

I am currently planning for my wife's 40th birthday later this year and I would like to get her a steam train experience. There appear to be alot of options out there and a big price difference in the options.

There is a budget of around £500/£600 but this is flexible and I want it to be a really memorable experience.

I would prefer:
- Within 4/5 hours drive of the North East of England
- full guage
- scenic
- that I and our children can ride in the carriages (3 & 5 year old)
- decent length with hands on teaching/experience

She hasn't done anything like this before but she loves visiting steam train heritage sites and this is something I know she would love.

Does anyone have any tips/recommendations/experiences.

I don’t know where to suggest (I’m in the south west), but what a fantastic present. She’ll remember it forever.

 

[Bensonby]

Not done it myself, but the North York Moors Railway seems to fit the bill: https://www.nymr.co.uk/steam-experience

 

[Grumpy]

The Embsay and Bolton Abbey railway might be an alternative.
It seems to tick your boxes.
They basically take 2 "trainees" per half day. Each does one trip round trip as fireman and one as driver. How much actual firing is done depends on the individual's fitness/enthusiasm for shovelling coal.
When I had one of these bought as a birthday surprise I took along 6 family members and I suspect we could have taken more as there were several heated carriages otherwise empty.
This is clearly shorter than the N Yorks Moors, but that might not be a bad thing-the footplate's a rough environment noisy unsteady dirty and you can be cold down one side and roasting down the other.Might be more suitable for a woman.

 

[DerekC]

Doesn't really meet your criteria from any point of view, but I did the steam driver basic experience at Quainton Road many years ago (that was a birthday present), and despite being only an hour trundling backwards and forwards on a pannier tank, it was just amazing. So maybe the message is don't be too fussy! Hope it goes really well.

 

[30907]

Not done it myself, but the North York Moors Railway seems to fit the bill: https://www.nymr.co.uk/steam-experience

The KWVR does them - dont know details but fully b9oked for May/June and awaiting further dates.

 

[The Lad]

The NYMR is essentially a footplate ride. . . .