Going back to England and maybe Scotland this August 2-16th. This is NOT my first time going but does anyone know if there is still a "Britrail pass" like they had in the 1990's?
Whats to do in Scotland say around Edinborough.
Also looking for things to do OUTSIDE of London.
On my "bucket list" is the York Railway Museum and spend a day on the Romney Hyth and Dymechurch Rwy on the southeast coast.
Any suggestions? Is Stationmasters worth visiting? Thank you in Advance.
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Severn Valley Railway.
Since l am interested in old RR oriented structures like grain elevators and stamp mills, l like castles and there is that in and above Edlnborough. Railroad.. l took the train from London to Inverness for Loch Ness (no luck seeing Nessie) but rented a car to drive around the loch and photo castles. The Firth of Forth has the famous RR bridge. Also took a train, London to station near Stonehenge, to see that... Missed "Amesbury?" for monoliths you can drive through. RR again, ride the Ffestiniog, and check out the RR station with the longest (Welsh) name. I saw another Welsh narrowgauge road but did not get to ride. Google. I have read that there are several tourist steam roads in England but didn't get to see others.
Hi,
I spent 3 days in Scotland and 3 more in London.
Edinburgh: National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh Castle, Harry Potter walking tour, Old Town
Day trips to Loch Ness and the Jacobite Train (just ok)
Took LNER to London...absolutely fantastic.
York Railway Museum was tremendous....probably the best overall train museum I've visited.
Have a great time!!!
Bob
The Great Western Railway Museum in Swindon is also worth a trip. And if you are interested in I.K. Brunel, GWR's original engineer and promoter of its 7-foot gauge, keep going West to Bristol, where Brunel's revolutionary iron ship Great Britain is on display in dry dock.
If you have a chance to go further afield, visit the Isle of Man, which still has late victorian trolly cars from the main town of Russell to the summit of Mt. Snaefell as well as narrow-gauge steam lines in operation.
You might also consider a visit to the Didcot Railway Centre, also devoted to the history of the Great Western Railway.
The museum at Didcot is home to a beautiful replica of the GWR broad-gauge engine Fire Fly, which went into service on the broad-gauge in 1840.
A journey to Didcot, or Swindon, or further West to Bristol has the added attraction of starting at Paddington Station.
Within the city of London, the London Transport Museum covers the history of transportation in London (the buses, the Underground, etc.)
The Welsh narrow gauge railways might be interesting…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ffestiniog_Railway
If you go up to Scotland I would recommend the museum in the link below. I was there back in the 1990's before it relocated. The Model Ship Display (Clyde Room) was the best in the world, if you like models other than just trains. The ship models in many cases are the builders models produced by the shipyards prior to full scale construction. Not sure how much is on display in the new museum.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riverside_Museum
https://riversidemuseum.wordpress.com/tag/queen-mary/
The Queen Elizabeth is S Scale 1/64.
The Queen Mary is larger at 1/58 scale. The real Ship is 1019' long so the model is 17.5 feet long.
I was last there in 2019 and the rail pass was still in use. What a great way to get around. The Jacobite on the West Coast Railway also travels from Ft. William to "Mallaig" across the Glen Finnan viaduct, as filmed for the Hogwarts Express. Yes, the rail museum is well worth the time.
Another vote for the National Railway Museum in York - it's fantastic. The NRM has a satellite museum called Locomotion in Shildon - about an hour north of York. I haven't been there yet.
The North Yorkshire Moors Railway (https://www.nymr.co.uk/) has great excursions from Pickering. If you go, I'd suggest only going as far as Grosmont. If you're in Wales, the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Rwy is definitely worthwhile.
As a general suggestion, if you have a general itinerary, look for heritage railways that are near where you're going. There are so many that you're sure to find something you'll enjoy.
Have a great trip! I'm jealous.
If you have a couple days in Edinburgh you could probably do all the Royal Mile stuff and still have time to take a ride across the Forth bridge. My wife and I rode to Inverkeithing from Waverley one afternoon just to see the bridge and found a lovely little pub there before heading back. Just hanging around Waverley for an hour or two is pretty cool. We also rode the reopened Borders route to Tweedbank. I would also recommend an open return ride to Glasgow just to see the stations. My wife had a conference to attend so I took a ride over, came in via Queen Street and goofed off a bit before heading back to Edinburgh via the amazing Glasgow Central.
We were in London last October and did a nice side trip down to Bluebell Railway. We rode a Southern train out of Victoria to Grinstead and had a great time.
Didn’t realize I took this pic in Waverley years before we actually visited the Bluebell:
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