RAIL enthusiasts are in for a treat this summer as two heritage trains are set to depart from Warrington.
‘The North Wales Coast Express’ is scheduled to leave town on Sunday, July 17, from Warrington Bank Quay and two days later on July 19, ‘The Welsh Mountaineer’ will also depart the station.
The former will be steam hauled from Liverpool, Broad Green, Warrington Bank Quay and Chester into Wales, along the Dee Estuary with views across to the Wirral, through Prestatyn, Rhyl and Colwyn Bay to Llandudno Junction.
It will go onwards to Bangor and across the Menai Strait to Holyhead on Anglesey. Passengers will be able to choose from visiting Llandudno, Bangor or Holyhead.
‘The Welsh Mountaineer’ will depart from Preston, Warrington, Frodsham and Chester on Tuesday, July 19, and head up into stunning Snowdonia to visit Blaenau Ffestiniog, known as the Victorian slate capital of the world and a popular tourist attraction.
Steam locomotives for both dates are not confirmed yet, but they will be one of the pool of historic locos based at Carnforth including 45690 Leander and 45699 Galatea, both, appropriately for this Queen’s Jubilee year, Jubilee Class locos built in 1936, 1945-built 35108 British India Line, 1927-built 46115 Scots Guardsman or LMS Stanier Class 8F.
‘The North Wales Coast Express’ and ‘The Welsh Mountaineer’ have been regular visitors to the north west each summer for the last 14 years, both taking around 320 passengers each year for a dose of nostalgia and a taste of the ‘golden age’ of rail travel.
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