@Cliff_Jennings, this year is the Bicentenary of the first passenger-carrying railway, the Stockton and Darlington. There are events all over the UK, culminating in the trip along the original route [what there is of it left] using a replica 1825 steam loco and 2 cars. (All the replicas are built to mainline standards so they can use Network Rail tracks.)
My sister lives in Darlington, I lived very close to Stockton as a teenager, and my wife’s ex-college-roommate lives near Skipton, about 1 hr away. My sister-in-law lives in the Midlands near the Border Counties (Welsh border.) So I figured, why not do a trip to visit the railways that I’ve never seen and visit friends and family - very bucket-list.
So the trip involves stopping to see sister-in-law, who is close the Bridgenorth on the Severn Valley RR (seen that a couple of times.) The we head off to the Welsh coast to visit the Talyllyn narrow gauge, the first restored railway in the world. We stay in Porthmadog for the night, right next to the Cob and the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland RR, then I get a Boston Lodge works tour the following morning.
Then we drive over to wife’s college roommate, which will be our base for a few days. I go see trains, she stays home and another of the roommates from college visits.
One trip which is pure nostalgia is to the Wensleydale RR, which runs up in the Yorkshire Dales. (“All Creatures Great & Small” territory.) When I was at high school, my pal’s dad, who worked for the railways, bought the old station buildings, with the station master’s house, at Constable Burton, which is on the same line. We spent many weekends there, milking cows, shooting rabbits, etc., etc.
https://wensleydale-railway.co.uk/
Another more serious day trip is to Locomotion in Shildon, an offshoot of the National Railway Museum, where they have a lot of locos stored indoors and open to the public.
https://www.locomotion.org.uk/home
The same day, I’m hoping to visit Hopetown, Darlington. It used to be North Road Station, which they filled with a few locos when the trains stopped running. Now it still has the main hall but also the restoration shop for the North Eastern Locomotive Preservation Group and the Darlington Locomotive Works, where they are building a brand-new 2-8-2 “P2” class locomotive.
https://www.hopetowndarlington.co.uk/
https://www.hopetowndarlington.co.uk/media/rjjbvjgo/dlw.webp?v=1dae810484dccf0
And then we scoot to Leeds RR Station, drop the car, take a 125mph train to London and stay at the Great Western Hotel, built on Paddington Station, before we fly home.
Phew, makes me tired just thinking about it!
