25 Apr 2019
Tags: steam trains, Luxury, London, historical
This summer, The Steam Dreams Rail Co. is launching The Royal Windsor Steam Express, the first regular steam train service in modern history from London Waterloo to Windsor. The company is also launching the The Sunset Steam Express, a sunset dining experience through the picturesque Surrey Hills. Both trips will run from 4th June to 3rd September 2019.
The Royal Windsor Steam Express will leave Waterloo at 08.02, 11.10 and 14.10 every Tuesday. This is the first time in modern history a regular steam service has operated between London Waterloo station and Royal Windsor. There will be three classes of travel including elegant 1950's Pullman Style Dining carriages as well as comfortable First Class Restaurant Cars.
The journey will follow the same route of the earlier Royal Trains that would transport members of the Royal Family, such as Meghan and Harry, from London to their castle in Windsor. First built in the 11th century, it is the largest continuously occupied castle in the world and home to English Kings and Queens from William the Conqueror to the present Elizabeth II.
Tickets start at £35 (approx. AUS $64/NZ $68) up to £85 (approx. AUS $156/NZ $166) per person for the Pullman Style Dining experience with Champagne brunch. Table service for snacks and drinks will be available throughout the rest of the train and picnics welcome. Tickets can be purchased online or at the station on the day.
www.royalwindsorsteamexpress.co.uk
The Sunset Steam Express will leave London's Waterloo Station at 18:00 for a four hour round trip through the Surrey Hills – an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). Dinner will be served en route in the elegant 1950's Pullman Style Dining carriages.
The train will head south across the suburbs of London, pass through the historic Cathedral town of Guildford and take the steep climb through the Surrey Hills before descending the Vale of Holmesdale and back to Waterloo via the market towns of Dorking and Reigate.
Prices from £99 (approx. AUS $182/NZ $194) per person in Premier Dining up to £129 (approx. AUS $237/NZ $253) per person travelling Pullman Style Dining; a private compartment for four with dinner will cost £449 (approx. AUS $826/NZ $879). A standard ticket at £49 (approx. AUS $90/NZ $95) offers seating at tables where snacks can be purchased and picnics are welcome.
Both trains on these experiences will usually be pulled by a B1 Class Locomotive - 'Mayflower' - built in 1948 and sporting its original British Rail apple green livery.
High resolution video and interior and exterior shots available on request.
To book please call + 44 (0)1483 209888 between
9.00am – 5.30pm on weekdays.
-ENDS-
For further information contact WixHill PR:
Tim Fordham-Moss / Pippa Evans
tim@wixhill.co.uk / pippa@wixhill.co.uk
+44 (0) 771 491788 / + 44 (0) 7545 522292
Editor's Notes:
61306 MAYFLOWER
Built for the London & North Eastern Railway in 1948, 61306 Mayflower is one of two surviving B1 Class locomotives. Designed as mixed traffic locomotives capable of hauling express passenger trains as well as freight traffic, the B1s are powerful, go anywhere engines and worked across most of the UK rail network from East Anglia to Scotland.
Mayflower was built by the North British Locomotive Company in Glasgow but was delivered post-nationalisation and acquired the number 61306 by British Railways. She was first allocated to Hull Botanic Gardens Depot followed by a spell at Hull Dairycotes Depot before being finally transferred to Low Moor Depot, Bradford. She was the last B1 in service, her final trip was hauling the 'Yorkshire Pullman' from Leeds in September 1967.
Mayflower was immediately purchased for preservation and was initially based at Steamtown in Carnforth. She was fully restored for mainline operation and worked a number of railtours in the 1970's. Acquired by Steam Dreams owner David Buck in 2014, she returned to the mainline in 2015 before being withdrawn for an extensive overhaul. Resplendent in the early British Railways apple green livery as she was originally given when delivered in 1948 she returned to full mainline operation in early 2019.Mayflower has two cylinders, 6 driving wheels, a firebox grate area of 30 square feet and can operate at 75mph.
Carbon Offset
The Steam Dreams Rail Co. is the first rail charter to be carbon neutral. Every year the company makes a donation to carbon reduction projects, to offset the carbon emissions that steam engines produce.
This year, Steam Dreams Rail Co. is sponsoring a solar project based in India, supporting India in the transition to a low carbon economy through renewable energy generation and ask all their passengers to contribute a small £1 voluntary supplement towards this cause. www.eco-act.com.
