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An excursion train is a chartered train run for a special event or purpose. Examples are trains to major sporting event, trains run for railfans or tourists, and special trains operated by the railway company for employees and prominent customers.
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An excursion train is a chartered train run for a special event or purpose. Examples are trains to major sporting event, trains run for railfans or tourists, and special trains operated by the railway company for employees and prominent customers.
A number of excursion trains are run in the United Kingdom and in some cases there are regular steam worked passenger services over some routes, one such train being The Jacobite which runs Monday to Friday from Fort William to Mallaig from April to October. A second afternoon train also runs from May to mid September but on weekdays only, weekend services running from June to October. A number of Christmas Jacobite's have even started running on select days in December. There are also a number of routes across the UK which are famed for running excursion trains, examples include: Settle & Carlisle line, Cumbrian Coast line, Shakespeare line, Scarborough line, West Coast Main Line and East Coast Main Line.
As well as using steam locos that saw use for British Railways and other mainline operating companies, new build steam engines are shown to be as popular as vintage steam engines. The youngest steam engine to run railtours being 60163 Tornado built in 2008.
The train operating companies that operate steam locomotives on the national network include: West Coast Railways, DB Cargo UK, Locomotive Services Limited. [1] and Vintage Trains. [2]
Tour operators in the UK include: The Railway Touring Company, [3] Steam Dreams, [4] Statesman Rail, [5] Torbay Express, [6] Vintage Trains, [7] Orient-Express, [8] UK Railtours [9] and Saphos Trains. [10] Further details can be found on the Main Line Steam Tours index page. [11]
The Pennsylvania Railroad ran special excursion trains from New York City and Washington, D.C. to the Army–Navy Game in years when the game was held in Philadelphia at Municipal Stadium (1936–1941, 1945–1975). [12] The special Pennsylvania trains were discontinued as the railroad, then known as Penn Central was on the brink of declaring bankruptcy, with the last trains running for the 1975 game. The tradition of running excursion trains to the Army-Navy college football game was resurrected in 2005 when philanthropists Bennett and Vivian Levin chartered a special train composed of their own locomotives and some donated passenger cars [13] to take recuperating wounded veterans from the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington and the Bethesda Naval Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland to the game in Philadelphia. [14] [15] [16] [17] The Army-Navy Game trains ran in 2005–2008, were suspended in 2009 due to a death in the sponsors' family, and again in 2010. [14] The Army-Navy football game is a big enough event in Philadelphia that the local rail transit company SEPTA also runs extra trains on game day. [18]
Since 1908, an excursion train has carried travelers between Denver, Colorado's Union Station and the Cheyenne Depot Museum to attend the Cheyenne Frontier Days rodeo event. [19] The train was sponsored by The Denver Post and the Union Pacific Railroad, the latter which provided the rolling stock. However, it was announced in 2019 that the excursion would no longer operate, with the Union Pacific Railroad's vintage fleet being a contributing factor. [20] [21] [22]
Southern Pacific Railroad operated a Suntan Special from San Francisco Bay area cities to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk every summer Sunday and holiday from 1927 through 1959. [23]
Since 2013, Amtrak has operated the Autumn Express every year during late October or early November. It is an excursion train that runs on lines normally used only for freight. The train originates and ends at the same station. Past trips have included Philadelphia–Harrisburg via the NEC, the port road branch, and the keystone corridor; Philadelphia–Harrisburg via Reading, and Albany/Schenectady to East Deerfield, Massachusetts via the Hoosac Tunnel.
The Union Pacific Railroad has hosted an excursion program since 1960. The fleet includes two historic steam locomotives and three historic diesel locomotives, accompanied by a fleet of historic passenger cars. Included in the fleet of steam locomotives are Union Pacific 4014, the largest operating steam locomotive in the world, and Union Pacific 844, the only steam locomotive never retired by a North American Class I railroad. [24] Also included are Union Pacific 949, 951, and 963B, a trio of historic streamlined locomotives. There was also a third steam locomotive: Union Pacific 3985, which operated in excursion service from 1981 to 2010. It was retired from excursion service in January 2020 as a result of its poor condition. [25] Union Pacific 6936, the only operating example of the longest single-unit diesel locomotive ever built, was also used in excursion service until 2016. In April 2022, Union Pacific donated Nos. 3985 and 6936 to the Railroading Heritage of Midwest America, where they will be restored to operating condition. [26]
Seasonal excursion trains in the U.S. include ski trains which operate in winter, with emphasis on weekend service, and the Train to the Game in the New York City area, which goes to Yankee Stadium in the summer and the New Jersey Meadowlands in the fall.
Pictures of excursion trains in various countries.
A tender or coal-car is a special rail vehicle hauled by a steam locomotive containing its fuel and water. Steam locomotives consume large quantities of water compared to the quantity of fuel, so their tenders are necessary to keep them running over long distances. A locomotive that pulls a tender is called a tender locomotive. Locomotives that do not have tenders and carry all their fuel and water on board the locomotive itself are called tank locomotives or tank engines.
The Union Pacific Big Boy is a type of simple articulated 4-8-8-4 steam locomotive manufactured by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) between 1941 and 1944 and operated by the Union Pacific Railroad in revenue service until 1962.
Milwaukee Road 261 is a class "S3" 4-8-4 "Northern" type steam locomotive built by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) in Schenectady, New York in July 1944 for the Milwaukee Road.
70013 Oliver Cromwell is a British Railways Standard Class 7 preserved steam locomotive. The locomotive is notable as one of the four steam locomotives which worked the last steam railtour on British Railways (BR) in 1968.
West Coast Railways (WCR) is a railway spot-hire company and charter train operator based at Carnforth MPD in Lancashire. Using buildings and other facilities previously owned by the Steamtown Carnforth visitor attraction, in June 1998 the company became the first privately owned company to be given a licence as a train operating company.
Denver Union Station is the main railway station and central transportation hub in Denver, Colorado. It is located at 17th and Wynkoop Streets in the present-day LoDo district and includes the historic station house, a modern open-air train shed, a 22-gate underground bus station, and light rail station. A station was first opened on the site on June 1, 1881, but burned down in 1894. The current structure was erected in two stages, with an enlarged central portion completed in 1914.
Tyseley Locomotive Works, formerly the Birmingham Railway Museum, is the engineering arm of steam railtour promoter Vintage Trains based in Birmingham, England. It occupies part of the former Great Western Railway's Tyseley depot, built in 1908 to accommodate expanding operations in the West Midlands, particularly the opening of the North Warwickshire Line as a new main line from Birmingham to Bristol.
Union Pacific 844 is a class "FEF-3" 4-8-4 "Northern" type steam locomotive owned and operated by the Union Pacific Railroad for its heritage fleet. Built in December 1944 by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) of Schenectady, New York, No. 844 is one of four surviving FEF series locomotives and the only one in operation.
The Torbay Express is a named passenger train operating in the United Kingdom.
The Fillmore and Western Railway was a heritage railway which operated on track owned by the Ventura County Transportation Commission. Visitors to Fillmore would see filming activity as well as sets and support equipment at the company's rail yard and along the tracks between Santa Paula and Piru. They stopped operating on the line in 2021.
The Yreka Western Railroad Company is a shortline railroad operating freight trains between the Union Pacific Railroad interchange at Montague and the City of Yreka, California. Railmark Holdings acquired the Yreka Western Railroad in 2017.
Compass Tours was a UK railtour organiser specialising in excursions with heritage diesel locomotives such as the Class 37, Class 40 and Class 47 and also using Steam Engines such as the LMS Black 5.
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, the locomotive hauling the train, the rolling stock, 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.
The Rio Grande Scenic Railroad of Colorado was a heritage railway that operated from 2006 to 2019 in and around the San Luis Valley as a subsidiary of the San Luis and Rio Grande Railroad. The heritage railroad ceased operating excursions following a wildfire that damaged some of their facilities, as well as the parent company SLRG entering Chapter 11 bankruptcy in late 2019.
A headboard is a board hung on the front of a locomotive. Generally it can depict a named train. Headboards are distinct from locomotive nameplates.
The Oregon Rail Heritage Foundation (ORHF) is a registered non-profit organization based in Portland, Oregon, United States. Composed of a partnership of several all-volunteer non-profit groups dedicated to maintaining regional vintage railroad equipment, the ORHF was initially formed "to secure a permanent home for the City of Portland's steam locomotives, preserve the Brooklyn Roundhouse, and establish a Rail and Industrial Heritage Museum.”
Union Pacific 4014 is a steam locomotive owned and operated by the Union Pacific (UP) as part of its heritage fleet. It is a four-cylinder simple articulated 4-8-8-4 "Big Boy" type built in 1941 by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) at its Schenectady Locomotive Works. It was assigned to haul heavy freight trains in the Wasatch mountain range. The locomotive was retired from revenue service in 1959 and was donated to the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society; thereafter, it was displayed in Fairplex at the RailGiants Train Museum in Pomona, California.
The history of the Union Pacific Railroad stretches from 1862 to the present. For operations of the current railroad, see Union Pacific Railroad; for the holding company that owns the current railroad, see Union Pacific Corporation.
The Union Pacific heritage fleet includes commemorative and historic equipment owned by the Union Pacific Railroad. The fleet currently consists of two historic steam locomotives, three historic diesel locomotives, seventeen modern diesel locomotives in historic or commemorative paint schemes and nearly four dozen passenger cars used on office car specials and excursion trains.
