‘The White Rose’ running from Hereford to York

SAPHOS Trains is offering customers the chance to visit York and experience a trip through the Pennines on Wednesday, April 17, with the outward and return journey being very different.

Under the title of ‘The White Rose’, the tour will depart diesel-hauled from Hereford and take the Welsh Marches line north to pick up passengers at Leominster, Ludlow, Craven Arms, Church Stretton, Shrewsbury and Crewe.

At Crewe, the locomotive will be swapped for steam from a pool of engines that include LMS Royal Scot 4-6-0 No. 46100 Royal Scot,

West Country 4-6-2 No. 34046 Braunton, and BR Standards 7 Pacific No, 70000 Britannia.

Continuing from Crewe, the tour will take the West Coast Main Line to pick up passengers at Warrington Bank Quay, before turning east to the final pickup at Manchester Victoria. From there, the train will then take the former Midland Railway route across the Peak District via Sheffield and then turn north through Meadowhall, Swinton, and Pontefract on the Dearne Valley Line to York.

There will be about three hours to explore York and all it has to offer before the return trip, this time through Wakefield and the Calder Valley Line via Hebden Bridge, Todmorden, and Rochdale to Manchester Victoria.

From here, the tour will retrace the outward journey, swapping locomotives at Crewe and setting down passengers on route back to Hereford.

Tickets are available in Pullman dining, first class and standard class. For more information about the tour and to book your place, visit saphostrains.com