Steam, whisky, mystery, and fish and chips on the Spa Valley Railway

THE Spa Valley Railway is offering an eclectic mix of steam, whisky, mystery, and fish and chips with a series of special trains running on selected days until October.

Whisky and Steam trains start on February 19, featuring three different whiskies from two distilleries local to the Tunbridge Wells-based line, Copper Rivet of Chatham and Harvey’s of Lewes, and will also run on May 21 and July 16. They will depart from Tunbridge Wells West station for a return trip to Eridge at 2.45pm, and the £40 ticket includes tonic water and canapés, and guest whiskies on board for purchase.

Motive power is expected to be either of two visiting locomotives, Austerity No. 2890 or Caledonian Railway 0-6-0 No. 828. The Austerity, which is on loan from the East Lancashire Railway, was built for the War Department by Hunslet Engine Co in 1943 as an 0-6-0ST and converted into an 0-6-0 tender engine in the late-1990s.

No. 828 (BR No. 57566) was built at St Rollox Works in 1899 and is visiting Tunbridge Wells from the Strathspey Railway until October.

Fish and chips and a mystery will be on the menu with another series of special trains that should satisfy the passengers’ appetites while their little grey cells get to work.

At the heart of these Tunbridge Wells West-Groombridge return trips will be the 368 Theatre Company unfolding a plot on board – the discovery of a murder in the sleepy Cornish village of Morlington Hill in the 1940s.

Spa Valley Railway commercial manager Jonnie Pay said the police have drawn a blank on apprehending the villain, so passengers will be called upon to sleuth it out and uncover the murderer while enjoying a few drinks and a fish and chip supper.

The evenings start with a briefing at Tunbridge Wells at 6.15pm prior to the journey to Groombridge, where more of the story will be revealed, followed by a return to Tunbridge Wells and a second run to Groombridge to give the passengers time to unravel the mystery.

Then it will be back to Tunbridge Wells, where all will be revealed in the railway’s 1891-built engine depot. It was coded 75F in the BR era and is the only former LBSCR shed still in operational use.

“The evenings will be great fun and an opportunity for passengers to display their Hercule Poirot or Sherlock Holmes inner selves,” said Jonnie.

Tickets cost £40, and the trains will run on March 19, April 23, September 10 and October 15, with bar car Kate open throughout the journeys.

DAVID STAINES In the dark: The setting sun provides a backcloth as Swanage Railway-based Southern Railway M7 class 0-4-4T No. 30053 climbs Birchden Bank on the Spa Valley Railway during a two-week visit to the line in October 2011. Evening trains will return to the Spa Valley with a mystery fish and chip special on March 19, followed by further trips on April 23, September 10 and October 15.