Hi Adam;
Please feel free to drop me a line - PM, I have been living in the UK for 21 years, and have more suggestions than can fit in one or three messages. One quick source of good ideas is http://www.heritagerailway.co.uk . There are some big events happing here this year, steam railway wise. Various celebrations marking 150 years of the Metropolitan Line of London Underground, with special steam trips on the LU, The Bluebell Railway completing it's northern extension, all 6 surviving A4 pacific’s together again including the Eisenhower from Wisconsin and the Dominion of Canada from Montreal, a three year old main line pacific on fan trips, and also few American WW2 vintage US Army 2-8-0’s in operation.
Hope all is well – David Notarius, living in East London, London UK, an ex Black River & Western firemen from New Hope Pa

There is enough footage here to keep you in research material until the day you leave

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=e ... QlBL8&NR=1

I think you will have to decide whether this is a once in a lifetime trip, in which case perhaps you wish to get around as many major railways as possible, or whether you may come back again, and perhaps concentrate on one or two regions, spending less time travelling about.

York has been mentioned. There you have the NRM and two railways in the major league, NYMR and KWVR, within around an hours drive, plus the Embsay Steam Railway and the Wensleydale Railway within about the same radius. The scenery of the Yorkshire Moors and Dales is marvellous, but I should plan alternatives for wet weather as well as fine. Once you have the dates settled then keep an eye on the railway websites for news of gala events with multiple locos in steam.

Just outside York is the Yorkshire Aircraft Museum based on a wartime RAF airfield. If you took a day trip up the East Coast Main Line then in around an hour you would be in Durham, and the view of the fortress cathedral from the viaduct is stunning.

Tim

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Beamish. Formerly known as "The North of England Open Air Museum," it's now called the Museum of the North. It's got a little of everything, including steam trains, trams, coal mining, grand house, village, farm, big industrial machinery, etc. Things run, things are operated, there are costumed docents. It's sort of a 19th century industrial Williamsburg place. Check it out.

http://www.beamish.org.uk/

Beamish is wonderful. These days you drive through the frame of a massive steam hammer at the entrance. Some thirty years ago I used to cycle past it from Durham to volunteer at the Tanfield Railway which is about 3 miles up the road. But where do you stop?

Non-railway steam experiences: look up the pumping stations at Crossness, Clay Mills and Papplewick, especially Crossness.

Tim

I know it is an old thread here, but we finally got the tickets to England booked for Aug 2nd-16th of this year.

Here's the list I have so far of places to visit;

1. Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway
2. North Yorkshire Moors Railway
3. Ravenglass and Eskdale
4. Ffestinog & Welsh Highland Railways
5. Astle Park Traction Engine Rally (Cheshire)
6. Severn Valley Railway
7. National Railway Museum in York
8. Swanage Railway

According to my wife I am allowed to make some swaps but I can not add to the 8 above. The ones in bold look to be the mandatory places that I don't see myself swapping in. Also on the list of maybe's are as follows;

Beamish museum

Steam Museum of the Great Central Railroad Swindon Shops http://www.steam-museum.org.uk/Pages/Home.aspx

Myself I am more of a steam guy than a railfan so Beamish as well as the Swindon shops sound quite appealing too. It is a rather difficult choice to say the least. I think my best bet would be to kind of pick places that have significant differences from one another as opposed to similar sites, and then go to the best in class. Anyone here been to these places? If so what ones are must see, vs what can I swap? Anything that I missed that I would regret?

Thanks,

Adam

Instead of Bemish, what about the National Tramway Museum in Critch? It is impressive, so I've been told RYPN Interchange Frank Hicks recently visited there.

Also, what about the Great Central Railway? Double track, signaled line, about as close as you get to being on the mainline, without being on the mainline.

Also, what about a mainline excursion one weekend? Plenty to choose from.

STEAM Museum in Swindon was a place that had a lot of money spent on it but was like a ghost town when I was there. The displays and space were excellent, but the business was not. I don't know why....there was a lot of history told from the workers perspective rather than tech geek stuff. The site was shared with a shopping mall which was densely populated by busloads of visitors. Go figure......

York is a must.

The museum in Birmingham is excellent but Birmingham sucks. Nasty ugly town full of nasty ugly goth and punk posers. Sidearms are forbidden, but a good cosh comes in handy.

I really enjoyed the Keighley and Worth valley - the context and ambiance had changed very little, so it was a good time machine ride into England's past.

I think you will find many things close together and a lot of opportunities for steam and history no matter which you choose. If your wife is literary, Hay on Wye is a whole town filled with used book stores which is worth a day or two. Safe trip.

dave

I agree, and you'll find them running on weekdays,too, throughout the summer.

Relax and enjoy! You will figger out all the railroad related stuff! Your biggest challenge is driving on the left side! You will feel very much at home--Northern England and Scotland are sort of like Wisconsin and Minnnesota. We drove from Glasgow to Loch Ness to York and took the train to London. Best of luck!

Driving? In a civilized part of the world in which public transport can get you anywhere? Leave the driving to them and enjoy the unfamiliar world out of the window. Choosing to drive there is a much a mistake as driving in San Francisco.

dave

Some of the more remote heritage railways may be difficult to reach by public transport, but my wife and I didn't think of renting a car "over there". One photo I took on the ride from Gatwick Airport to our first lodging in Sydenham shows an five-way intersection that probably started out as five cow trails coming together. We stayed a few days in York, within walking distance of the Railway Museum, and on one day I took local trains from York to Manchester to ride their then-new light rail line, while my wife visited a stately mansion.

If you're doing York (check out the Transport Museum and station) then the NYMR isn't far away. Take TransPennine Express on the Scarborough Line to Malton and catch the bus to Pickering to get the North Yorkshire Moors (steam hauled, often with a visiting A4 Pacific) to Whitby. Whitby is an awesome little seaside town with lots to do for you and your wife plus there's a good model shop there. You won't regret doing it.

The Romney would definitely be on my UK bucket list. That said, I agree with trying to do the Great Central (I believe it was the heritage railway used in the BBC Top Gear episode with the travel trailers made into a train - rolling on the floor funny). I would add to that alternate list the Blue Bell. If you could swing it in your mainline travels, seeing the Firth of Forth railway bridge in Southern Scotland would probably be a sight even your wife would find impressive.

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forth_Brid ... sferry.JPG

It all depends how you want to manage the spread. If you make the Romney, then Dover, and Dover Castle is not very far away - an ancient fortress and the command base for the Dunkirk evacuation. In the other direction, the Kent and East Sussex Light Railway is around an hour's drive from Romney.

At Porthmadog, the "replica italianate village" at Portmeirion is well worth a visit - and you can book to stay there. The Royal Sportsman Hotel is a good base in town, for somewhere completely different try Gwydir Castle further north, though it is more expensive to stay there than it used to be.

The Llangollen Railway has become a sophisticated operation and there are at least two well advanced new build projects based in their workshops.

The Sandbeck Hotel in Whitby is also a good base, so quiet they have an "honesty bar" - you go in, put the money in the till and serve yourself.

Tim