UK’s latest train service… driven by steam
IT ONCE broke the record for the fastest steam-powered train – hitting 96mph.
And half a century after being decommissioned by British Rail – and 30 years since its last public service – the Clun Castle has chugged back into action.
Yesterday, more than 250 passengers travelled from Birmingham through Worcestershire and the Cotswolds to Oxford and back again.
Some passengers completed the full 13hour round trip in style, paying up to £250 for the full service dining package.
The loco was the last steam engine to
leave London Paddington in 1965 before being decommissioned shortly afterwards. Built at the former Great Western Railway works at Swindon in May 1950, it broke the steam-haul speed record between Plymouth and Bristol in 1964. It has been restored by owners Vintage Trains Ltd in a ten-year project costing up to £750,000 at its Tyseley Locomotive Works base, formerly the Birmingham Railway Museum. Old ‘Pullman’ dining carriages have been restored, while passengers who simply want a seat can travel on some of the earlier British Rail coaches.
Vintage Trains is backed by hundreds of rail enthusiasts and aims to expand its service across the country, including to York, Chester, Bristol and London.
Last September, it was granted a licence by the Office of Rail and Road to run scheduled services across the rail network.
Cath Bellamy, from Vintage Trains, said: ‘We’re pleased to be back on the mainline, with our magnificent flagship engine Clun Castle leading the way. The romance of steam has a huge following.’