On 11th August 1968 British Rail ran their last steam hauled train which became affectionately known as the ‘Fifteen Guinea Special’. The train ran from Liverpool via Manchester to Carlisle. To commemorate the 45th anniversary since steam disappeared from everyday use a special ‘Fellsman’ will run on Wednesday 7th August. It is expected that this week's excursion will be hauled by two engines - LMS Royal Scot 46115 ‘Scots Guardsman’ & LMS Jubilee 45699 ‘Galatea’ offering a return journey over the spectacular Settle to Carlisle railway.
The train is already fully booked but visitors to the area should be able to see this special excursion crossing the Ribblehead Viaduct at about 11.15am and again at 17.30 on its return journey.
Friends of the Settle Carlisle Line will be offering the weekly tour of the Ribblehead area and visitors on this tour will have an opportunity to view the steam 'double header' as it crosses the viaduct in the morning.
On Sunday 11th August - the actual anniversary of the original trip another steam excursion will follow the same route from Liverpool to Manchester and then on to Carlisle. The locomotives expected to be used will be
LMS Class 5 45305 Liverpool Lime Street-Longsight
Britannia Class 70013 Oliver Cromwell Longsight-Carlisle
LMS Class 5 45231 (44871 unavailable) and LMS Stanier Class 5 44932 as 44781 Carlisle-Longsight
LMS Stanier Class 5 45305 Longsight-Liverpool Lime Street.
Expected timings for many steam hauled excursions can be found on the UK Mainline steam rail tours web site