going to England

nikos1

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This summer i will be going to Great Britain and staying in Oxford where my dad will be teaching at the international summer school there. I would like to get to see some of Britain railways and im hoping that some of you can give me suggestions. so far i plan to visit the Severn Valley Railway, the Ffestingoig railway, see the Forth Bridge and ride the Settle and Carlisle railway and the Fort William to Mallaig line. what is the best way to find out when Steam excursions are running on Settle and Carlisle and FT. William to Mallaig and is there a site where tickets can be booked online? if any one is familiar with the Oxoford area where are some good place to watch trains and are special trains (steam or early diesel) run on that line and where can i find out about them? if any one has other suggestions of places to visit i would greatly appreciate it, especially things close to Oxford that i wouldnt have to use up the britrail pass for.

thanks Nikos:)
 
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Ah, the trip of a lifetime :D

I think you are going to see some of the UK's railways and not just England looking at that list.

Not sure of any sites with tours off the top of my head. As for Oxford, the station and area is not great itself I am afraid but there are various heritage railway sites around the UK. I would suggest the North Yorkshire Moors Railway but that might be out of your way a bit. The UK Heritage Railways site http://ukhrail.uel.ac.uk/ might be of interest to you.

I can't honestly think of anything that close to Oxford off the top of my head I am afraid.

Andy
 
There's always the rail centre down at Didcot, and I'm sure there's a steam railway near Princes Risborough (check spelling :rolleyes: )

Paul
 
Yep as Paul said Didcot would be a good place to go - not only do you have the Railway Centre with plenty of Great Western steam locos but if you go to Didcot Parkway station (right next door) you'll get to see our HSTs whizzing right past your nose at 125mph :) Didcot is also quite a busy station so you'll get to see all sorts of rolling stock - Voyagers, Adelantes, Thames Turbos (we have great names for our trains) and the millions of GM Type 66s your Canadian neighbours have sent us :p

If you want to see as many trains as possible then I'd recommend a trip to the main London stations, where you'll get to see HSTs, Class 91 rakes (Intercity 225), Voyagers, Pendolinos, Meridians and all sorts of smaller units. That said, the rail service from Oxford to London isn't brilliant so it would need investigating beforehand. Sadly loco-hauled trains are becoming very rare here now and the only place you'll really see them in regular service is the East of the country (usually departing from London Liverpool Street). However these are mainly (only?) electrics now so no diesels I'm afraid, although you'll see plenty of them on freight trains.

Any questions just ask, we love our trains over here :p

JB
 
Take a camera and snap some picutres so i can see, Thanks in advance.

Have Fun.

The USA will wait for ya! :)
 
No fair, you get to go on a fun holiday to Britain and I'm stuck here with tweedledee the wonder dummy (my brother), get an old mini while you can:p.

WileeCoyote:D
 
This might interest you:

http://www.uksteam.info/tours/index.htm

Depending how far you want to travel you might want to visit here too:
http://www.gwsr.com/html/finding_us.html

Also, if you want to take in some Narrow Gauge railways, look for the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway (other tours to Cumbria are generally operated by Kingfisher - like this for example)

BidMod.

Tasters:
F%3A%5CMy%20Pictures%5CTrains%202006%5CRavenglass%20%26%20Eskdale%20Railway%20001.jpg
<- Northern Rock at Eskdale
F%3A%5CMy%20Pictures%5CTrains%202006%5CLakeside%20%26%20Haverthwaite%20006.jpg
<- Cumbria at Lakeside (Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway)
 
The poor guy needs some balance though, can't have him thinking that the GWR - Generally Wet and Rusty (aka the Great Western Railway) - is the only railway we have. He needs to get some LMS and LNER as well.

Andy
 
This website will be useful too -
http://nationalrail.co.uk/index.html

you can start planning your journey now!

Seriously, look about 2-3 months ahead for the best fares (2 singles are often cheaper than 1 return - don't ask!)

You can book train tickets with any railway company - not just the area you travel - choose one that doesn't add a credit card premium!

Oxford to London is ok - it's via Reading - you may want to spend some time here as well...

Cheers,

Colin
 
The poor guy needs some balance though, can't have him thinking that the GWR - Generally Wet and Rusty (aka the Great Western Railway) - is the only railway we have. He needs to get some LMS and LNER as well.
Andy
Yes i agree he needs some balance,but then Oxford is in the GWR/LMS region,and at the WSR there are BR locos as well.
 
Yes i agree he needs some balance,but then Oxford is in the GWR/LMS region,and at the WSR there are BR locos as well.

Point taken.

If he is going South at all perhaps the Bluebell or Mid Hants Railway? Or the East Lancashire Railway further North? I don't know much about any of them to be honest but they might be worth a visit. The NRM in York would of course be perfect if he can manage it.

Andy
 
If he is going South at all perhaps the Bluebell or Mid Hants Railway? Or the East Lancashire Railway further North? I The NRM in York would of course be perfect if he can manage it.
From what i've seen the Bluebell line is quite good,the NRM is the UK's Train Heaven.
 
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Well I have been to the MHR and Bluebell but my memories are sketchy. The Bluebell is all steam apart from an 08 that is working on the extension. It doesn't compare to the NYMR but it'll do :p

Andy
 
While you're in England, visit the best little railway in the world: The Keighley and Worth Valley Railway (open generally at weekends, but also opens weekdays throughout July and August). Yorkshire is a great county to visit, and you can take in the Bronte Parsonage too. Of course, the K&WVR is perhaps most famous as the location for the film "The Railway Children" (in fact the Bronte parsonage was used as the doctors house in the film) especially Oakworth station.

Best wishes, and I hope you enjoy England.
Padster
 
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