Vintage Trains 2026

Here's my footage of the Earl & the Two Manors in action with The Whistling Ghost tour yesterday. I filmed the Earl at Charfield, Fordgate and Cogload Junction, and the Manors at Churchlands Bridge, Washford and Williton. I hope you enjoy it.

 

From a passenger POV, another excellent tour by Vintage Trains.

With the hot weather, it was never going to be one for the pure steam enthusiast, and we did get shoved around a lot from the back to avoid setting fire to half of Somerset. However, it was partly made up for with a nice noisy unassisted run with the two Manors along the WSR section.

We did manage to keep mostly to time, however, got delayed on the return after an Emergency Call from another train near Droitwich brought us, and everything else in the area, to a halt. Hopefully wasn't anything too serious.
5043 was certainly causing much excitement amongst the late-night revellers at Snow Hill station, always nice to see 'normals' still getting excited about steam.

As usual, a great atmosphere on board with the usual friendly stewards and buffet staff. I ended up spending most of the trip having a nice chat with the couple sat opposite.

I'm looking forward to the Newcastle trip in a couple of weeks, just hoping that 7029 is ready in time. Suggestion from some onboard that it might be a bit 'tight' but I haven't heard anything from VT officially so assume it's all good at the moment.

 

£62.50 Castle to Liverpool on 13th June in Standard Class. Unbeatable price I suggest. We can achieve this by adding more TSOs than we usually do (up to five instead of two) and listening to the non enthusiast market for days out to an interesting place. You are welcome.
In the current financial climate and charter train positioning within the market, it is clear we need to do some things differently. Watch this space.

7029 is now ready but we won't have guaranteed time to do a trip run before Newcastle. Fixing the hydraulic test with independent insurers took a little longer than planned. So 5043 will run that train. She has NEVER been there before. We are looking at a recreation of 7029's ECML trips 60 years ago in 1976 for next year. The good news is that 7029 is fully fit for 3 years and, even then, there will now be less boiler work to do at the 10 year than expected previously.

5043 is unlikely to run after The Mayflower as we plan to change her wheel tyres. If you can spare some £ to help that it would be appreciated. Once done, she will then be fit for several years.

Priority is to keep two Castles going in tip top condition. Costs are significantly rising, the market for trains is changing significantly. But we are on top of this game.

 

Good to hear you're facing the challenges of railtour operation 'head on'.
A few thoughts I had that might raise some revenue in Standard (probably not just VT specific, but wondered if they'd been considered):

Improving the Standard catering offer
Steam Dreams used to offer complimentary at-seat tea and coffee to all passengers in Standard, which made it feel that little bit more 'premium' and allowed higher ticket prices for probably very minimal outlay. There is already a tea/coffee service with the pre-ordered bacon rolls anyway.

The buffet range could be expanded to include things like sandwiches, pastries, hot sausage rolls/pasties etc, and maybe on-demand Bacon/Sausage baps rather than having to pre-order when booking.
IIRC Pathfinder used to allow at-seat ordering from the kitchen car once dining service was done, if you wanted something more substantial than the buffet offer.

There are a few trips I've been on where there wasn't an opportunity to get anything substantial before boarding, and the first opportunity to get something other than a snack/cake wasn't until arriving at the destination many hours later.
I also knew that everything would be closed when I got back, so had to stock up on food for the return journey at the destination, would prefer if I'd just been able to buy it onboard when I got hungry.

I appreciate this would be an up-front investment in terms of facilities and stock, and it may not be as straightforward when stewards are volunteers rather than paid staff, but it might mean some of the food & drink spend stays onboard rather than going elsewhere.

Improve attractiveness for families:
As a more left-field option, I wonder whether there are ways of making longer trips more 'family friendly'. Could there a be a dedicated 'family coach' for families with younger children?
Could a brake area be made into a small play area for those kids that don't want to sit in their seats for several hours?
Could a baby changing facility be added?
Again, it's all investment, but could it be worth the payoff?

Combing train and coach travel
Finally, I wonder if there'd be a market for partnering with local coach companies to offer package deals including a railtour.
Have the coach pick up in a few major towns not served by the train, transfer passengers somewhere like Coleshill Parkway, the passengers get their train trip, then the coach is waiting to take them back home, no worry about delays/missed connections.

I'd certainly use it if it worked out cheaper than a couple of nights in a Birmingham hotel.

 

I thought the Liverpool trip was on Sat 11th July ?

 

I think 7029 is on the Shakespeare Express tomorrow