Czech Autumn Steam Gala

Join an exciting new steam tour to Prague and Central Bohemia, which features as its signature attraction the Benesov Steam Locomotive festival with a number of main line steam traction and also an impressive lineup of other heritage locomotives.

• Enjoy a private steam gala at the Zamberk narrow gauge railway and a visit the Czech railway museum in Luzna u Rakovnika with a private charter there.
• Take advantage of a having the Benesov festival rover ticket for both Saturday and Sunday, allowing you to ride all the different gala trains featuring main line steam, vintage diesel or old electric traction with an assortment of motive power from all over Central Europe, including visiting flagship locomotives from neighbouring countries.
• Based throughout in the stunning city of Prague, the relaxed format of the tour is ideal for enthusiasts and companion travellers, with ample free time to enjoy all that Prague has to offer from a centrally located hotel near the main railway station, plus the added convenience of a public transport rover ticket.

Wednesday 16 September

London to Prague

You have a direct flight from London to Prague, the Czech capital. After arrival you transfer to your centrally located hotel, where you will enjoy a welcome lunch. The rest of the day is to be spent at leisure exploring the capital city and all of its historical and cultural attractions (L)

Thursday 17 September

Private steam gala at the Zamberk narrow gauge railway

In the morning you travel with an Intercity train east to the Eagle Mountains near the Polish frontier. There you visit the wonderful narrow gauge railway and industrial heritage museum at Zamberk, located at an old textile mill dating from the 1830s. You will have your own private steam gala today with two locomotives in steam on the dual-gauge 600 and 750 mm railway. It will be possible to enjoy haulage by both engines and also film the locomotives with attractively staged run-pasts. Additionally, you will be able to visit the wonderful ‘Museum of Old Machines and Technologies’ and see its fabulous collection of classic cars, old motorbikes, stationary steam engines and old textile equipment. Various classic engines will be in use for observation and demonstration purposes. Lunch is served at the museum restaurant. After your day out, you return by Intercity train to Prague in the early evening. (B L)

Friday 18 September

Steam on the festival train 

Today the Benesov festival formally commences with the launch of the festive inaugural train from Prague by scenic bylines to Benesov. You have reserved seats on the train and can enjoy the very best of Czech railway ambiance and atmosphere.

The train will feature steam haulage and classic coaches, transporting you back in time. On arrival in Benesov there is time to sample the wonderful festival atmosphere at the historic railway station and roundhouse, with numerous attractive exhibits. In the late afternoon you return to Prague for an evening at leisure. (B)

Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 September

Full throttle at the Benesov Steam Festival

For these two days you will have the freedom of the festival rover ticket, allowing you to travel on all of the many main line steam and vintage diesel trains hauled by the large line-up of local Czech and exciting visiting locomotives from other countries. In the morning there will be an express festival train from Prague to Benesov, where you will have reserved seats. The festival trains typically travel over all of the rural branch lines near Benesov, including the stunning Sazava Valley route with its rocky cliffs and rugged riverside scenery. Aside from turntable shows for photography the festival programme also includes a freight train demonstration that f ilmers can enjoy. (B)

Monday 21 September

Steam in Moravia at the Mladejov narrow gauge railway

Today you explore the other principal region of the Czech Republic, the more eastern Moravia. You arrive in the quaint little town of Mladejov by service train and then visit the local industrial museum, which is the base of the name-sake 600 mm narrow gauge railway. This line was in active mining use until the 1980s and since then an attractive heritage park has been developed. You will have the opportunity to visit the steam shed and see all of the railway's preserved locomotives, which includes an impressive collection of two different Engerth type tank engines, dating from the 1920s. Your private steam charter will use the larger of these two 0-6+2 Engerth locomotives, specifically, the railway's flagship locomotive No. 5, built by Krauss Linz in 1929. Between Mladejov and Veksl, the steam locomotive will stage various run-pasts and photo stops, before diving into the deep woods and running as far as Nova Ves. From there you return steam-hauled to Mladejov, where a warm lunch will be served in the museum cafe. In the late afternoon you return by Ceske drahy service train via Ceska Trebova to Prague. (B L)

Tuesday 22 September 

Rack Railway in the Giant Mountains, Korenov Railway Museum and Vintage Train to Harrachov

After breakfast you take a service train from Prague’s elegant 1909 main station through much of Central and North Bohemia to Tanvald. Along the way you will pass through the so-called ‘Czech Paradise’, marked by rugged cliffs and romantic hilltop castle ruins. You arrive at Tanvald in the late morning, from where you will have a private charter train hauled by the gigantic Austrian rack locomotive T 426.001 dating from 1961. This is only one of two operational rack locomotives on the only cog railway in the Czech Republic. At Korenov you have lunch and then visit the local railway museum in the beautifully restored roundhouse. The museum features an international collection of rolling stock, including teak-bodied heritage trains from the Jungfraubahn in Switzerland. Originally the recently restored tank engine 312.3629, an industrial 0-6-0 dating from 1957, would have hauled our second private charter train over the curved Jizera Viaduct to the Czech border station Harrachov, but as this green steam engine unfortunately failed in early September, an unsilenced, heritage diesel locomotive of the T 435 'Hektor' type will instead pull our train through the beautiful mountain landscape. Photo stops and run-pasts at superb locations are included today. In the late afternoon you return to Prague by service train. (B L)

Wednesday 23 September

Travel to London

You have a free morning and early afternoon to enjoy Prague and do anything in the city you didn’t manage to do on the previous days. In the mid-afternoon you transfer to Prague airport for the flight back to London. (B)

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