Scarborough Spa Express

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I’d like to leisurely write about a leisure summer heritage train ride in the historic county of Yorkshire in the Northeast of England. This train, named the Scarborough Spa Express, is currently operated by West Coast Railways, a privately owned charter train company.

The Scarborough Spa Express at York

The history of the Scarborough Spa Express began in 1981 as a twice weekly summer steam service offered by British Railways, 13 years after the withdrawal of mainline steam operation. The train was discontinued in 1988 by British Rail, operation had been changing hands a few times (including the National Railway Museum in the 2000s), until 2008, when it landed on her current operator.

The train is hauled by various steam locomotives. Approaching Scarborough.

This train ride begins in the beautiful City of York at her grand Victorian railway station (the Royal York Hotel and National Railway Museum are just steps away from the station) and goes in a loop via Wakefield and Leeds back to York to pick up passengers, then heads northeast towards the charming seaside town of Scarborough. I shall leave you, and encourage you to visit for more information about this train and her destinations, the links to the official website of the Scarborough Spa Express, York and Scarborough tourism sites.



If you happen to be trekking in the territory during the off-season of this steam train, not to worry, you can still travel to Scarborough from York by the First TransPennine Express on the very much still pleasant modern Siemens Desiro diesel multiple units.

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