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Your best memory of a visit to a preserved railway in the UK?

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Oscar46016

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Has to be my first Western trip after 1977 at the Dartmouth - can't remember the date but it was so good to see the Westerns back in action.
 
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greatvoyager

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Going to the SVR on my birthday, riding behind Bittern in a Gresley teak coach in the Spring sunshine.

Visiting the NRM for the first time in 10+ years, at the Railfest 2012 event. Was obsessed with Mallard as a little boy and this was the first time coming back as a so-called adult, was a bit emotional seeing her again.

The Barrow Hill 'rarities' gala in 2015 (?) was a great concept, seeing a Warship and 68001 was great, as well as the real fun to be had at Barrow Hill - seeing all the random locos dotted about and lined up.

Also in 2012 I was stuck between doing the Gresty Bridge Open Day or riding behind 50035 in its LoadHaul livery on the SVR - decided to do both! Mad dash around Gresty Bridge, practically ran back up the Gresty Road to Crewe station, train down to Smethwick Galton Bridge, then off to Kidderminster, got onto the SVR just as 035 was running round its train - magic.

Last time I properly did an SVR diesel gala was 2017/18, still impressed at the sheer numbers of locos they would squeeze into the diagrams - almost as many mainline guests as there were home fleet locos.
Must have been amazing to be riding in an LNER teak coach, headed by an A4 too.
 

30907

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Early in my career at KWVR, fellow volunteers wedding evening train, seeing the fire light the smoke up in the sky, the gas lit stations on a perfectly clear August evening. Absolutely magical, never seen a steam engine at night before that point and I still remember it very vividly.
Reminds me of visiting the line in 1990 for the Carol Train, and seeing and hearing the loco lift a full train out of Keighley....
 

Pinza-C55

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Probably 30th August 1981 when BR ran an excursion from Newcastle via Sunderland to Whitby with 55002 KOYLI and did a return trip to Battersby from Whitby so passengers could have a trip on the NYMR. Had haulage off a Hymek and a couple of Kettles then Deltic haulage all the way home on a Northumberland Railrover.
 

1369

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Back in August 2015, LNER A4 No: 60009 “Union of South Africa” was working the Bristol to Par 'The Royal Duchy' tour, It failed at Newton Abbott.

A few days later I went to my local heritage railway, the South Devon Railway and 60009 was there being repaired. It was nice to see and photograph.
 

S&CLER

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A few years ago I organised a spring holiday in Criccieth for our walking club. One of the features was a trip on the Snowdon Mountain Railway. Unfortunately it snowed that morning, and the SMR cancelled. The coach driver and I put our heads together, did some quick telephoning and arranged a ride on the Festiniog instead. So instead of a Snowdon MR trip, we had a visit to Llanberis Slate Museum, an exciting drive to Betws y Coed in a near blizzard, lunch there, then over the Crimea to Blaenau, where an extra coach had been added to the FR train for our party. The weather turned sunny too. Our coach was waiting for us at Porthmadog. Everyone agreed that the result was better than the SMR would have been, and it cost less too, so I was able to refund everyone about £7. And the Snowdon trip would only have been half-way up the mountain at that time of year. A brilliant day.
 

d9009alycidon

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Just over 25 years ago during my brief spell as a single man, I decided to do a tour of the English Preserved Lines. Drove down from Scotland and Day 1 was the Severn Valley Railway, Day 2 was travelling, with an afternoon at Derby Station, Day 3 was the Midland Railway Centre at Butterley, Day 4 the Great Central Railway, Day 5 East Lancashire Railway and Day 6 before heading home Crewe Heritage Centre.
I found the degree of welcome and accessibility to be so varied, best by a mile was the Midland Railway Centre, staff were superb and there was unlimited access to the collection, the GCR was also good, with a visit to the depot and signalbox also possible, I had Crewe Heritage Centre almost to myself, with a very helpful volunteer showing me round. I was mildly disappointed in the Severn Valley Railway, which I had visited a few years earlier but found to be far more restrictive for visiting the collection but OK, firmly in last place was the East Lancashire Railway, where I found the staff to be surly and unhelpful and the collection completely un-accessible. I fully understand the H&S rules are there for my safety, so accepted that areas had to be out of bounds, but the attitude of the staff was not what I expected.
 

RH Liner

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For my 50th, 26+ years ago now, my daughter took wife and self to GCR for Sunday lunch on the train to Leicester North and back. I knew this was happening. Loco was Sir Nigel Gresley. On our return I went down to the loco and was told to ‘come on up’. While I was on the footplate the loco was uncoupled and ran round to the other end of the train ready for its next trip. Wow, I wasn’t expecting this, so when it had coupled to the carriages I thanked the footplate staff profusely and began to climb down to the platform. Driver said ‘Where are you going?’ ‘Back to find my wife and daughter.’ ‘No you’re not, you’re coming with us on the footplate back to Leicester and back.’
I knew nothing of this and, having played the organ in church first that morning, was in my best suit, which looked a picture by the time we were back at Loughborough.
 

QTXAdsy

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Bit of a undramatic one for anyone reading this but a lot for me. This would have to be back in 2016 for personal reasons in which on the Fife Heritage Railway we fired up Forth for the first time on one of our last open days of the year and though she was just meant to stick around on display, the NB diesel taking the train broke down and not only had Forth had to step in to rescue it but also spent the rest of the day pulling trains. This was never planned nor was her paint work finished but on that day we pulled the first first paying passengers on a steam engine in Levenmouth for the first time since 1965 and those passengers probably couldn't believe their luck.

That time following our first steam was when all the other heritage railways in Scotland all gave us congratulations and for someone like me who has been with the KFRPS since 2003 I did feel pride after all the years I've put into the place was finally recognised and with the rail link in Leven about to open within the next few years, I will feel like I did something good to help the area get back on it's feet. Sappy it sounds I know but it means a lot to me.
 

STEVIEBOY1

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I love all our preserved railways, they are all good in their own different ways, but I think my favourite is the NYMR all the way from Pickering to Whitby. However, one of the railways I really like and is not really a preserved line, is the steam hauled one that goes all around the Steelworks at Scunthorpe. I have had a couple of holidays in Scunthorpe in recent years, both which included a trip on that service, steam hauled and on the balcony of the brake wagon right behind the loco. You get all the sounds, smells and cinders :D All being well I am going up there in August, where a trip has been planned on the railway again and I really hope it can go ahead.
 

C37

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The best visit for me was GCR, a couple of years ago on a grey and drizzly September morning with a rover ticket.
Got on at Rothley behind Repton on the first train which was still there after a gala, to Leicester then all the way back to Loughborough.
Breakfast and a mooch around Loughborough then down to Woodhouse on I think a DMU, cup of tea there.
Then back to Loughborough behind Repton again, before finishing the day back to Rothley behind a C50 diesel.
The day ticket for 18 quid was great value and there always seems to be something to see at Loughborough between trains.
2nd best experience the Moorlander at North Yorks, was a real treat eating a roast dinner on the Pullman coach Robin
 

STEVIEBOY1

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The best visit for me was GCR, a couple of years ago on a grey and drizzly September morning with a rover ticket.
Got on at Rothley behind Repton on the first train which was still there after a gala, to Leicester then all the way back to Loughborough.
Breakfast and a mooch around Loughborough then down to Woodhouse on I think a DMU, cup of tea there.
Then back to Loughborough behind Repton again, before finishing the day back to Rothley behind a C50 diesel.
The day ticket for 18 quid was great value and there always seems to be something to see at Loughborough between trains.
2nd best experience the Moorlander at North Yorks, was a real treat eating a roast dinner on the Pullman coach Robin
Yes, I would like to do a Sunday Lunch train on the NYMR too.
 

trebor79

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Most memorable for me was Tanfield Railway, sometime in the early 90's when it ran only from Marley Hill to Sunniside. I'd have been about 10 or 11. Stood looking at the loco being uncoupled upon arrival at Marley Hill. Driver says to me "Do you like getting dirty?", stood on the footplate whilst we trundled down to the signal box and back to couple up, let me blow the whistle. I remember being terrified that the boiler might explode for some reason!
Later in life when I volunteered on the North Tyneside Railway I always used to give interested folk a ride on the 03 or steam loco, sometimes the length of the line. We once took a bloke and his kid for a full length cab ride because he didn't believe it was a real steam loco "Where's the engine then?" and fell about laughing thinking we were having him on when we told him there wasn't one. Think he just about believed us after experiencing the trip.
 

DerekC

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I hate to be a killjoy, but visits to heritage lines don't usually do a lot for me. Riding at 25mph behind a West Country or a Black 5 isn't very exciting when you are old enough to remember the real thing! I like best the ones which use small engines in character with the lines they run on - the Isle of Wight Steam Railway, for example. But my best memory is a visit to the Ffestiniog way back in the 1960s at the age of about 15 - I ended up doing some ad-hoc volunteering, getting filthy cleaning "Merddyn Emrys" and helping to drag the hulk of "Palmerston" out of Glan y Mor yard. Now that was fun!
 

trebor79

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I know what you mean. Big locos pootling around at 20mph with a few coaches. I can imagine that's a bit anticlimactic for the crew too.
Driving and firing an 060 tank up a 1 in 40-odd 2 mile bank was quite good fun, and I daresay more of a challenge than handling one of the big locos on a flatter railway.
 

Cowley

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I hate to be a killjoy, but visits to heritage lines don't usually do a lot for me. Riding at 25mph behind a West Country or a Black 5 isn't very exciting when you are old enough to remember the real thing! I like best the ones which use small engines in character with the lines they run on - the Isle of Wight Steam Railway, for example. But my best memory is a visit to the Ffestiniog way back in the 1960s at the age of about 15 - I ended up doing some ad-hoc volunteering, getting filthy cleaning "Merddyn Emrys" and helping to drag the hulk of "Palmerston" out of Glan y Mor yard. Now that was fun!

I’ve got one that you might appreciate.
In the early 1990s I used to volunteer at the Mid Hants and to be honest I’ve got so many good memories from back then it would just be too much to list here.
One particular occasion sticks in my mind though and it was this:

I’d spent a couple of weeks up there this time doing various jobs in various different departments and I think that on this particular day I’d probably been running one of the mid week buffet cars.
My friend Chris had said earlier that there was a little p-way job to be done at the Alton end of the line after the trains had stopped running for the day and would I like to help out.
Obviously I said yes...

So after the last train of the day was done I found myself in a guards van with a few friends behind a short rake of Dogfish rattling over The Alps pulled by my favourite steam loco that we had on the line - Standard 4 76017 (a proper local machine, and I have a feeling that you might know that?), rather than the usual 25 or 27 that we had back then, to Alton where we were to drop a load of ballast on the former double line section between the station and Butts Junction (and I got to operate the wagons during the job, under close supervision obviously), before tidying it all up and getting ready to head back up the line.
I’d been up there for at least two weeks at this point (using up much of my NHS annual leave for the year) and Chris told me that as a thank you for my work I was riding back on the loco to Alresford.
So off we went, hammering up the 1 in 60 to Medstead as it got dark and with nobody around to note our progress, just about as close to how it must have been to the 1960s in my minds eye...

An hour later once everything was stored away and the loco was blown down we were all to be found in The Anchor at Ropley having a beer and a laugh in that “All in a days work” kind of way. But for me, who never experienced working steam, I don’t think it’ll ever be beaten and I’ve had some amazing experiences on preserved railways over the years.

That’s definitely the one for me and I’ve enjoyed reading every single post in this thread. ;)
 

Pinza-C55

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I used to volunteer for the Eden Valley Railway and they gave me one of the most memorable experiences ever. They had a petrol driven Wickham Trolley and decided to run it up and down between Warcop and the extent of the usable track so I decided to have a ride. To say it vibrated a lot would be an understatement - when I got off it I felt like every atom in my body had been rearranged and I could hardly walk. Either it needed an overhaul or P-Way men in the old days must have been tough as old boots.
 

pieguyrob

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For me it has to be the East Lancs Railway. It was the first preserved railway I went to not long after it opened in the 80's. I have also had a tour of the sheds, and, I went to one of the mega mix events as well, circa the year 2000.
 

32475

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I’ve got to add the Lynton and Barnstaple after a first visit there a couple of weeks ago. What an absolute delight it is and so well run. Small but perfectly formed rather like the Mid Suffolk. What has been achieved there is incredible not to mention their aspirations for restoring the line much further.
 

50002Superb

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I visited the Epping & Ongar Railway on Saturday and we were offered a tour of 45132 by a couple of volunteers.

there was no mention or pressure of payment or a “contribution”.

the chap spent 30 minutes taking us through the interior of the Peak stopping to give us plenty of insightful information.

needless to say we made a contribution to the 45 Group afterwards and I will now probably become a member to support their restoration efforts but it was a really nice touch and made the day extremely special.

we tend to visit a lot of preservation sites up and down the country and will now definitely go back to the EOR whereas we’ve had terrible experiences at both the ELR and Embsay and I definitely would not go back to the latter.
 

STEVIEBOY1

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Good to hear about the EOR, infact, I may be going on that in a few days time. Sometimes the smaller railways are more friendly and enthusiastic. The Mid Suffolk is very good too.
 

DustyBin

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A trip to the EKR in 2012 and travelling on 2EPB 5759, hauled by MLV S68001 takes some beating. It was my first ride on an EPB since being a small boy in the early 90s, and an MLV for haulage is fairly unusual. It sounded fantastic going through the tunnel and cuttings!

Another recommendation here for the EOR, it’s a great little railway. The bus events are fantastic as well if you’re into that sort of thing.
 

quattromatt

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Many years ago my first trip behind a 40 on the east Lancs when they slowed in burrs tunnel and opened it up, I thought it was going to spit out it’s main bearings.
 

alexl92

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we tend to visit a lot of preservation sites up and down the country and will now definitely go back to the EOR whereas we’ve had terrible experiences at both the ELR and Embsay and I definitely would not go back to the latter.
Do you mind me asking about the Embsay experience?
 
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I hate to be a killjoy, but visits to heritage lines don't usually do a lot for me. Riding at 25mph behind a West Country or a Black 5 isn't very exciting when you are old enough to remember the real thing! I like best the ones which use small engines in character with the lines they run on - the Isle of Wight Steam Railway, for example. But my best memory is a visit to the Ffestiniog way back in the 1960s at the age of about 15 - I ended up doing some ad-hoc volunteering, getting filthy cleaning "Merddyn Emrys" and helping to drag the hulk of "Palmerston" out of Glan y Mor yard. Now that was fun!
Not just locos but carriages as well. A pity places like the IOWSR are so few. "Heritage" does not match "Formica at all.

My first ride was on the FR behind "Prince". Very many years later I was given the opportunity to drive her heading a couple of 1870s bogies
 

STEVIEBOY1

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I am going to put the North York’s moors - Pickering start.
Yes, that is a great line. Almost a main line railway really, in so far as it's length and that some trains did or do still go to Whitby on the main line for a few miles.
 
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