The Buxton Spa Express

Join us for a contrasting main line steam run from Preston and the North West to the Peak District of Derbyshire and the spa town of Buxton. We will travel via the West Coast Main Line to Wigan, and then Manchester, before tackling the iconic Copy Pit line and then through to Peak Forest via Chinley. A tour of Pennine grandeur and Derbyshire peaks with the afternoon in the spa town of Buxton.

Our train leaves Preston diesel hauled and we head south up the West Coast Main Line to Wigan North Western, where we stop to pick up more passengers. We then travel eastwards to Manchester Victoria and a further stop is made here to pick up passengers. From Manchester we will be steam hauled by a locomotive from the Carnforth Pool, which will require a reversal of our train to run northwards to Bolton. Here we will take the steeply graded 1 in 72 climb of 6 miles to Sough tunnel and Darwen, before pausing briefly at Blackburn* to pick up passengers. It is quite a few years now since a steam hauled train went this way over Sough.

Running now via Burnley, the next challenge for our steam locomotive will be the severe climb graded at 1 in 68 to the summit at Copy Pit. Expect some hard work all the way to the summit before we descend steeply towards Todmorden, where we will now take the Manchester line by means of the reinstated Todmorden curve. Running via Rochdale, we will skirt the suburbs of Manchester and take the Brewery Curve through to Ashton Moss North Junction, where we will then head for Denton for a water stop.

After Stockport, we will head through Hazel Grove and onwards towards Chinley as we enter the Peak District. Leaving the main line behind at Chinley East Junction, we take the freight only Peak Forest line through Dove Holes tunnel, itself on a 1 in 90 gradient for nearly two miles. We descend to Millers Dale past the huge stone quarry at Tunstead and then run through attractive Ashwood Dale towards Buxton, our destination for the afternoon.

You will have a couple of hours in Buxton, the highest market town in England, with the famous spa waters in the Pump Room, The Crescent and the Pavillion with its extensive gardens. During your stay our steam locomotive is serviced for the return journey.

We will return from Buxton via the LNWR route through Whaley Bridge to Stockport, with a water stop at Denton to replenish supplies for our steam locomotive. From here we return to Manchester Victoria, Bolton, Wigan North Western and finally arrive at Preston after an unforgettable day out in the spectacular scenic Peak District.

On Board Catering