I finally did something that I had wanted to do for years, I went for a ride on the Scarborough Spa Express. This is a steam-hauled charter train, that runs from York to Scarborough at the height of summer. It is organised by West Coast Railways, and does a a circular route from York to pick up at a number of stations before returning to York and then onwards to Scarborough. The route does sometimes vary, so please check the website for details if you wish to travel on it.
On this occasion, I joined the train at Leeds. It was hauled by Number 45231 “The Sherwood Forrester”, a LMS Class 5MT 4-6-0 .
The day out was purely for fun – my fun 🙂 So I decided to treat myself to first class travel for the day. I was seated in an ‘open’ carriage, as opposed to the compartment carriages that I remember from my younger days. It’s not as peaceful / private since there is an open gangway up the middle of the carriage, as opposed to the side corridor of a compartment carriage – but it does have the advantage of having a table.
It was a pleasure to be able to ride behind a steam engine at main line speeds, instead of the limited speeds permitted on a preserved line – and the journey flew by, until it was time to disembark at our destination – Scarborough. I would guess that this is the longest train that Scarborough station sees in the 21st Century.
I then spent an enjoyable few hours wandering around Scarborough, and had lunch in a pleasant pub at the far end of the North Bay (and a couple of pints) before returning to the station to take my seat for another nostalgic run back to Leeds. I’d had a lovely day.
Incredible nice pictures xxx