Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
PISTONS AND POIROT
When it comes to distance travelled, you certainly get your money’s worth on the West Somerset Railway, where the 20-odd mile long track is the longest standard-gauge heritage line in the UK.
Eight steam locomotives work this route, which is the former branch line connecting Taunton to the coast. There are 10 restored stations along the route.
You’re right in the Quantock Hills here, on the edge of Exmoor.
Nearby attractions include the medieval village and castle at Dunster, run by the National Trust, and the Victorian gardens at Hestercombe. The seaside resort of Minehead is also popular with tourists. The railway has yet to confirm its reopening date.
west-somerset-railway.co.uk
The journey is the thing with this genial period train. Usually hauled by a sturdy tank engine, it bumbles gently along the back of Paignton’s Goodrington Sands, before a brief dive inland to pass Agatha Christie’s holiday home at Greenway, which has its own station.
Eventually the line emerges on the banks of the River Dart to saunter south to Kingswear.
The company that runs the railway also has river boats on the Dart, so a popular summer choice is to do a train-river-bus combo linking Paignton, Dartmouth and Totnes.
Goodrington is one of the finest beaches in Devon, Dartmouth is famous for its naval history and its officer training college, and Totnes is disarmingly eccentric. Train and river services are now running again.
dartmouthrailriver.co.uk at Minehead station
Dartmouth Steam Railway train passes Kingswear wiches, lies just beyond Sheringham. In the opposite direction lies the grand estate of Holkham Hall, with its Palladian villa and massive sandy beach.
Meanwhile, just inland are the twin villages of Great Snoring and Little Snoring – both could have been tailor-made for Instagram. Train services are now running again. this tiny station on the map. With one of the longest stretches of private track in Britain, it deserves the attention.
The rest of the line climbs through rugged moorland scenery and travellers have the option of continuing on the main line into the traditional seaside resort of Whitby.
Given its moorland setting, there are some notable station-to-station walks along the North Yorkshire Moors Railway.
Whitby is for ever associated with Dracula and also has some of the best fish-and-chip shops in the country.
Meanwhile, the southern terminus of Pickering is just north of the foodie town of Malton – famous for its weekend markets and Yorkshire puddings. Trains are now running on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway again, although the journeys are non-stop.
nymr.co.uk