Railtour

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A railtour is a special train which is run in order to allow people to experience rail travel which is not normally available using timetabled passenger services. The 'unusual' aspect may be the route of the train, the destination, the occasion, specific sections of railway track (for example, freight-only lines), the locomotive hauling the train, the rolling stock (passenger carriages), or any combination of these. Organisers may own or hire locomotives or rolling stock, or tours may be organised by railway management or other bodies outside the railway fraternity. Perhaps the most famous railtour in England was the Fifteen Guinea Special, the last steam hauled main line train run by British Rail. Railtours are often identifiable through the use of a train headboard, often identifying the name of the specific tour or the tour operator. On TOPS, railtours are usually given a 1Zxx headcode. Exceptions to this rule include regularly scheduled railtours such as the Belmond British Pullman operated Venice-Simplon Orient Express trains.

A 'destination' railtour is often associated with a special event of railway significance. Open days or special events at heritage railway locations such as Barrow Hill Engine Shed and the West Somerset Railway have been destinations for railtours originating from large cities. Similarly, organisations such as the Crusader Union may hire a train to take a large number of people to a specific event.^[1]

A 'locomotive' railtour focuses on the type of locomotive hauling the train. This may be a preserved locomotive, a type not usually used for passenger trains, or a type of locomotive which normally works some distance from the chosen route. Railtours in the 1980s saw a Class 52 running to York and a Class 55 to Exeter.

One type of railtour which is currently popular is the nostalgic excursion using a preserved train, or sometimes a train hired from a railway operator. Preserved steam locomotives are popular performers on UK railtours, sometimes covering 400 miles in one day at speeds of over 75 miles per hour. Train, branding and route are often chosen as to reflect a common theme, sometimes tracing an aspect of railway history. Railtours are organised both on a commercial basis and as a fund-raising method for railway preservation societies.

A track or route railtour is focused on travelling over sections of railway track that are not used by scheduled passenger trains. Locations – such as Carne Point at Fowey, Cornwall – which have not seen passenger trains for several decades, or locations that have never had a public passenger service – such as the MOD depot at Long Marston – can be traversed by such trains.

Several established railtour operators include:

• Branch Line Society
• Belmond British Pullman
• Deltic Preservation Society
• Pathfinder Tours
• Scottish Railway Preservation Society
• Steam Dreams (operator of the Cathedrals Express railtours)
• Orient Express British Train
• Vintage Trains
• West Coast Railways (operator of The Jacobite (steam train) railtours from Fort William to Mallaig, which runs on every weekday throughout the summer months, and the Scarborough Spa Express)

Former railtour operators include:

• Compass Tours (defunct 2014)
• Hertfordshire Rail Tours (defunct 2006)
• Torbay Express (merged into Pathfinder)

Enthusiast Railtours

• Irish Railway Record Society
• Modern Railway Society of Ireland
• Táilte Tours
• Railway Preservation Society of Ireland

Luxury Railtours

• Steam Dreams (Emerald Isle Explorer)
• Railtours Ireland (Emerald Isle Express)

Former Railtour operators

• Southern Railtours
• ITG Railtours Ltd
• Ian Walsh
• Westrail
• Belmond Grand Hibernian (Starting August 2016)

• Mainline steam trains in Great Britain
• Railway enthusiast