Favorite Steam Train Ride

[SilverArrow]

That's about the extent of steam train repertoire I'm afraid :-(

You are most fortunate to be in Britain. Per extensive research, I have determined that Great Britain and England especially is the world's steam train mecca. What appears to be the most notable operation on the island are the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railways, which are based in Porthmadog, Wales ~90 miles west of Telford. Interestingly, afaik, there are no longer any proper steam trains in amusement parks in Britain.

I lied - you just reminded me that I've been on one of the Welsh Highland Railways too. Can't remember which one, I was only a kid, but yeah it was lovely. I've also been on the one that goes up to the top of Snowdon, but can't remember whether or not it was steam-driven.

You should see the Cass Scenic Railroad in West Virginia when they have three of their locomotives pulling one train. The whole sky gets blacked out. Absolutely glorious. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUlJzfQ-Blc

Wouldn't exactly say I'm 'into' steam trains... but that video of the 3 locos? Wow....


EDIT: ^ Silver Arrow - The one that goes past West Midlands Safari Park IS the Severn Valley Railway that I mentioned earlier. It runs from Bridgnorth to Kidderminster and runs right past the animal enclosures of the Safari Park, often giving better views than if you actually paid to go in.
As far as I know, the train doesn't stop at the park and is not affiliated to it in any way.

Oh ok. I'd seen photos but didn't get round that bit of the park when I dropped in. Makes sense.

Got the bluebell and lavender line near me but only been to bluebell and haven't been in years.

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[Peter]

I had to rise from the depths of lurking to post in this topic.

Most themepark trains don't interest me that much and usually only get ridden once everything else has been done, but there are exceptions to these, especially when steam is involved! Dollywood easily wins in this category with its impressie locomotives. I don't care all that much for the history of railways, but the sights, sounds and smell as it works its way up the hill is impressive for a themepark.

Outside of parks, my favourite goes to Moors Valley Railway by Bournemouth, UK. I am biased as I used to work full time there as a steam engine driver during the summer and still volunteer my time a few weekends a year to drive as its so much fun - I've even had the pleasure of driving visiting CF members in the past! A brilliant little family run country park railway where all the staff and volunteers clearly love the work that they do. They have about 20 steam engines, most of which are all built by hand by the people on site and its one of the only fully signaled narrowgauge railways in the UK, with (very!) steep hills, tunnels, crossings and a complicated layout for a railway of its size.

Since moving away from the south i've taken up volunteering at Nene Valley Railway (Cambridgeshire) on the footplate driving & firing. Its quite unique as it supports a wider gauge and has lots of European rolling stock so is used in film & tv; although it doesn't really have the same character or charm as other railways out there - especially as you start to approach Peterborough city centre.

Honorable mention to the Welsh Highland Railway and Ffestiniog in Wales. An incredibly impressive railway now to the two are linked together with stunning views and some impressive locomotives (The Garretts on the WHR are still my favorite locos!) Other mentions go to Swanage Railway, Mid Hants (Watercress line) and the Severn Valley Railway.

 

[jackdude101]

Outside of parks, my favourite goes to Moors Valley Railway by Bournemouth, UK.

I thought I had covered all the active narrow gauge steam operations in Britain, so I was intrigued when you mentioned that one, as I had never heard of it. I looked it up and I see why: it's 7.25-inch gauge and I only cover railways that are 12-inch gauge (~300 mm) or higher. Typically, railways that size would be considered ridable miniature railways and not narrow gauge, but its Wikipedia page claims their locomotives are full-size and not scale models, so that just makes it all the more fascinating.

 

[TommyAlex]

Pleasure Beach Express is a pleasure to ride on every visit, as it passes nearly everything in the park!

The idea of miniature railways in a theme park has always fascinated me, I don't know why but just the idea is quite strange, a theme park having its own railway.

 

[Shirofukurou]

Gotta have a shout out to BGW's train and its beautiful trestle bridge <3

 

[CoastinBear]

The Romney , Hythe and Dymchurch Light Railway in Kent uses narrow-gauge steam engines and carriages to the same scale. It's a long, long track, running from Hythe to Dungeness.

The Wicksteed Park railway opened in 1931 and used diesel engines (albeit built to look like steam engines) from the start. If you go on one of their steam weekends, they sometimes get a proper steam locomotive to pull the trains. I used to love this railway when I was a kid. It ran all the way around the lake, past the vintage water chute, through a tunnel, over bridges just wide enough for the train. The ride was the best part of ten minutes long, so plenty of time to relax and enjoy the ride.

 

[Ben]

^Where did you grow up if you went Wicksteed as a kid?

If we have another Ntown local I swear xD

 

[jackdude101]

Pleasure Beach Express is a pleasure to ride on every visit, as it passes nearly everything in the park!

The idea of miniature railways in a theme park has always fascinated me, I don't know why but just the idea is quite strange, a theme park having its own railway.

The concept of having a real live-steam train ride in an amusement park, and miniature ones made for amusement parks specifically, have been around since at least the late 1800s. The concept of having a full-size one in a park started to become a trend in the late 1950s after Disneyland opened with its railroad. Actually, one of the primary reasons why Walt Disney wanted to have his own amusement park was so that he could have a place to build his very own full-size steam railroad that he could drive whenever he wanted. He would sometimes secretly enter the park, put on an engineer's outfit, send the regular engineer on break, and drive the steam trains around the park with passengers on board. If you are old enough to have visited Disneyland prior to December 1966 and rode the railroad, there is a chance that Walt himself may have been driving your train!

 

[jackdude101]

The Romney , Hythe and Dymchurch Light Railway in Kent uses narrow-gauge steam engines and carriages to the same scale. It's a long, long track, running from Hythe to Dungeness.

Per my Steam Railroad Rankings spreadsheet, the RH&D is the top-scoring stand-alone miniature steam railway. It looks impressive from videos and it's especially interesting that it's considered a public railway that actually transports people from place to place. The most interesting aspect about it is how it was used during WWII. At that time, the miniature trains were modified to be armored and have machine guns to patrol the coast in view of the line. They even have a re-created one of those WWII armored mini trains at one of their stations!

In Britain, trains = serious business.

 

[wolfwynd]

I love the Liesebergbahnan (sp?) at Liseberg, Gothenburg. It's built into the side of a mountain and I could ride it all day!

 

[jackdude101]

I love the Liesebergbahnan (sp?) at Liseberg, Gothenburg. It's built into the side of a mountain and I could ride it all day!

Pretty sure that's a roller coaster and not an actual steam train, but whatever.

 

[Colossus]

Dollywood Express for me, really pleasant experience, the ride guide we had was also very enthusiastic which added to the whole experience, not to mention the loco is beautiful.

 

[KingOfI305]

Model Railways in theme parks

So this may be in the wrong area for this topic, but do people ever go crazy for a theme park's railroad? I live near Hersheypark for example, and their railroad is called the Dry Gultch Railroad, and they have two steam locomotives, not fake steam engines - real genuine oil-fired steam locomotives.

It's my obsession outside of this obsession - railroading. Can anyone else relate?

 

[Hixee]

I've moved your post into the discussion that we'd have previously about Steam Trains in parks.

You'll see there's a few people interested in this on CF.

 

[Jer]

I always enjoy Knoebel's train

It takes you along the backwoods of the park, and right under Twister. Its a very relaxing ride.

 

[KingOfI305]

Just got back from a trip to Busch Gardens Williamsburg,

Not sure what gauge the track is or where that park got their locomotives, but I want that on my property.