Far by Rail

Journey class

Heritage railways and historic lines

Preserved lines, working steam and the old main-line routes still running to a timetable, grouped by what you actually board.

Heritage rail covers three different days out. A preserved railway is a short line run by a society or trust, usually a return trip of an hour or two with a locomotive as the attraction. A historic main line is an ordinary scheduled service over a route built more than a century ago, where the engineering is the interest. A period luxury train uses restored carriages for a premium journey, and is priced accordingly.

Operating seasons matter here more than anywhere else in the catalogue: many of these lines run only on set dates, and steam haulage is often advertised for particular departures rather than every service. Each page records the operator's own published season, and leaves it blank where no season is published.

56 published journeys · 4 groupings

Featured journeys

Start with these

24 journeys

Working steam

Lines where a steam locomotive is the reason to go, on advertised dates.

22 journeys

Narrow-gauge and mountain lines

Rack, cog and narrow-gauge railways built to climb rather than to hurry.

1 journey

Period luxury trains

Restored carriages sold as a premium journey rather than a preserved ride.

9 journeys

Historic main lines still in service

Scheduled routes whose age and engineering are the attraction.

Countries represented

Operators on this page

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