Almost £500 a ticket as luxury train Northern Belle set to visit Shropshire
One of Britain's most famous trains is to visit Shropshire next month and it is to be pulled by a steam locomotive with a rich history.
The Northern Belle is travelling over the Settle-Carlisle line during April, where passengers will board in Telford and Shrewsbury before being taken over the moorland line.
The famous coach is being pulled by Tangmere on the trip, a Battle of Britain class steam locomotive named after war hero Douglas Bader’s former RAF base in West Sussex.
The trip will see passengers will pay almost £500 to spend the day travelling and dining on the gleaming 1930s Pullman-style train that once formed part of the iconic Orient Express group.
Red carpets will be laid on Telford station platform before the train departs at 7.30am on Saturday, April 22. It will then pick up more passengers at Shrewsbury at 7.55, and make two further stops at Wrexham and Chester.
Passengers will then enjoy a three-course brunch on the way to a stop in the picturesque Appleby in Westmorland, which will be followed by a six-course dinner as Tangmere hauls the train over the moorland line to Settle.
Earlier this year the Northern Belle was voted Britain’s most luxurious train by readers of Condè Nast, who rated it better than Canada’s famous Rocky Mountaineer and India’s Maharajah’s Express.
A spokesman for the Northern Belle said: “We are delighted to have Tangmere operating again for us this year over the scenic Settle-Carlisle line, one of the most beautiful railway routes in the world.”
For many years, Tangmere, number 34067, hauled express trains like the Golden Arrow and the Bournemouth Belle between London and the South Coast at speeds of up to 100mph.
But it was sent to a scrapyard to be turned into pots and pans when it was withdrawn from service by British Rail in 1965 after travelling nearly 600,000 miles.
Fortunately, it was rescued by railway enthusiasts and now fully restored, it is a favourite sight hauling special charter trains like the Northern Belle, which actor Bill Nighy described on Channel 5 as “the Grand Dame of luxury travel”.
There will be another steam-hauled trip over the Settle-Carlisle line from Shropshire in September. For more details or to book see northernbelle.co.uk
