General Discussion

SPECIAL HERITAGE TRAIN ARRIVES IN DAWLISH BRINGING 700 VISTORS FROM WEST YORKSHIRE ON SATURDAY 24th APRIL ‘GREEN TOURISM IN ACTION’ Green Express Railtours are running a special train from Leeds, Dewsbury, Huddersfield, Stalybridge and Stockport to Dawlish on Saturday 24th April. Green Express Railtours, aim to promote better use of public transport and a great way to do this is by serving smaller local stations; this provides a direct train from the convenience of resident’s local station. Many passengers have not used a train in the last year, some not in the last 40!. It is rare these days that an excursion train comes to Dawlish, especially one with 13 coaches and two locomotives! The Green Express is also a practical example of ‘Green Tourism’ taking people away for the day and leaving the car at home, bringing 700 people to a city with no car parking problems. On the train, paper, cans and bottles are also recycled.’ Green Express Railtours was formed in 1989 to campaign again the closure of the famous Settle & Carlisle railway line, which was subsequently reprieved. The Green Express special train will leave Leeds at 5.25 am, arrive in Dawlish at 12.29, and pass through Newton Abbot at 12.44 on its way to Paignton. The heritage train will head through Newton Abbot at 16.47 and pick up passengers in Dawlish at 17.02 to arrive back in Leeds at 23.43, a round trip of 649 miles, all in one day! The train will comprise of 13 heritage coaches from the 1950’s and 60’s. All passengers on the train will be seated around a table of four, so they can enjoy the scenery from the large picture windows. The train will have a buffet car service on board and all passengers have reserved seats. A travel guide is produced giving a description of the journey and also information about Dawlish. The train is operated by West Coast Railways of Carnforth, Britain’s smallest independent train operating company. They are rather unusual in Britain, in that, they own (rather than lease) their own depot, locomotives, coaches and maintenance facilities and have a growing team of dedicated train crew to staff their trains. West Coast Railways will be using two locomotives from their fleet of heritage traction based at their Lancashire depot. We would be pleased to hear from local traders and tourist attraction in Dawlish who may like to promote their services to our passengers. (We make no charge for this service) Advance publicity about tourist destinations enables our passengers to get the most out of their day by planning in advance what they would like to do. For the local economy the arrival of a special train is a welcome boost to the local areas income, it is also a help as the numbers on the train are guaranteed, being booked in advance, rather than dependant on the weather on the day. The Heritage Train is often of great interest to local residents, when we arrive with the special train, we like to let residents know in advance so that they can see the train arrive. The train offers the rare chance to travel back in time. The diesel locomotive and coaches were built almost 50 years ago in the 1950’s and 60’s. For many it will bring back fond memories of the British Rail ‘Merrymaker Tours’ which provided great days out by excursion train in the 1970’s. They certainly brought the local community together and were sorely missed when they were stopped. Details from Green Express Railtours 66, Stonegate, Hunmanby, Filey, YO14 0PP 01723 891400

Excellent news! Let's hope that the weather is kind for them.