Steam train trips from Preston and Leyland on Settle to Carlisle line

Passengers can also enjoy premier dining with a slap-up four-course meal during the scenic trip.

Train enthusiasts in Preston and Leyland are being given the chance to enjoy one of the world’s most spectacular railway journeys, through the rugged beauty of the Yorkshire Dales and the Eden Valley, to mark the 150th anniversary of the route.

The Dalesman steam train crosses the 24 arch Ribblehead Viaduct, erected in 1875, in the Yorkshire Dales national park near Ingleton, | AFP via Getty Images

placeholder image — The Dalesman steam train crosses the 24 arch Ribblehead Viaduct, erected in 1875, in the Yorkshire Dales national park near Ingleton, | AFP via Getty Images

Three special trains will be hauled by a historic steam locomotive along the route between Settle and Carlisle, taking in viaducts, bridges and tunnels dating back more than 150 years.

The first Dalesman Express service will run on Thursday, June 11, setting out from Chester before picking up passengers from Preston and Leyland stations as well as pickups at Frodsham and Warrington Bank Quay.

For those who can’t make the initial date, there will be further trains on August 6 and September 10.

Historic dream locomotive Scots Guardsman hauls The Dalesman train | Malcolm Tattersall

Organisers say it is not yet known which steam locomotive will operate the Dalesman, but it could be Scot Guardsman, which once hauled famous expresses such as The Waverley and The Thames-Clyde Express over this route.

A spokesman for West Coast Railways, which is organising the journeys, said: “It will be 73 miles of pure nostalgia as the train plunges through 14 tunnels and steams across 22 viaducts, including the magnificent 24-arch, half-mile-long, Grade II-listed Ribblehead Viaduct, which is 104ft high.”