The White Rose

Join us for an exhilarating main line steam run from London’s King’s Cross to the historic city of York. York is world famous for its variety of visitor attractions and home to the National Railway Museum. Our train will be steam hauled from London to York and as far as Peterborough on the return journey.

We leave London King’s Cross in the morning behind our steam locomotive and follow the East Coast Main Line route of famous express trains like the Flying Scotsman. We storm up the gradient through Gasworks Tunnel and Finsbury Park, and northwards, calling at Stevenage, Huntingdon and Peterborough to pick up more passengers.

Our steam locomotive then tackles the 15-mile climb up the famous Stoke Bank. Here on 3rd July 1938, “Mallard”, an A4 class ‘Pacific’, achieved a world record speed of 126 mph when travelling in the opposite direction. Once over the summit we should have a good, fast run down the 20 mile descent to the Trent Valley and on through Grantham, Newark and Retford. We steam through Doncaster and continue northwards to our afternoon stop in York.

There will be a couple of hours for passengers to enjoy the city and all it has to offer. York has some major tourist attractions including the National Railway Museum, the largest museum of its type in Britain; the Shambles; the splendid Gothic York Minster, one of the largest of its kind in northern Europe; and the city walls. There are a number of other interesting museums, quaint alleyways, and a good variety of shops.

Our train leaves York in the afternoon and return via a different route, we run steam hauled through Gainsborough, stopping for our locomotive to take on water at Saxilby before continuing through Lincoln and Spalding. We say goodbye to our steam locomotive at Peterborough and continue diesel hauled, stopping to set down passengers at the same stations as on the northbound journey, arriving at King’s Cross in the evening.

On Board Catering