Busy June for Railway Touring Company

HAVING returned to business on Saturday, May 22 with a ‘Cumbrian Mountain Express,' the Railway Touring Company (RTC) is due to run excursions every Saturday in June.

On June 5, RTC's truncated season gets under way with a ‘Scarborough Flyer,' which after departing from Manchester Victoria picks up at Romiley, Heathersage and Sheffield en route to the coast.

The following weekend, June 12 ‘The Tynesider' starts from Cleethorpes, making stops at Grimsby, Barnetby, Scunthorpe, York and Newcastle. Passengers have the choice of alighting at Newcastle or riding on to Morpeth via the freight-only Blyth & Tyne Railway.

Other trains booked to run in June include ‘The Cotswold Venturer' on June 12, ‘The White Rose' on June19 and on the same day the ‘The Edinburgh Flyer.' The month ends with another ‘Cumbrian Coast Express.'

Motive power will be drawn from the West Coast Railways Carnforth-based fleet.

Operations manager Rachel Jackson said: “I think lots of people have given up hope of taking a holiday overseas and are looking for alternatives in this country.”

DAVE WILSON The North Eastern Locomotive Preservation Group’s K1 2-6-0 No. 62005 is seen on its journey from Grosmont to Fort William on April 19 in readiness to spend the season as part of the pool of locomotives for West Coast Railways’ ‘The Jacobite’. The locomotive is seen with its support coach at Stocksfield on the Tyne Valley Line.