![SteamAtRockIslandDepot](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/SteamAtRockIslandDepot.JPG)
An excursion train is a chartered
train
In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and Passenger train, transport people or Rail freight transport, freight. Trains are typically pul ...
run for a special event or purpose. Examples are trains to major sporting event, trains run for
railfan
A railfan, rail buff or train buff (American English), railway enthusiast, railway buff or trainspotter (Australian/British English), or ferroequinologist is a person who is recreationally interested in trains and rail transport systems.
Rail ...
s or tourists, and special trains operated by the railway company for employees and prominent customers.
United Kingdom
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
Mallaig (; gd, Malaig derived from Old Norse , meaning sand dune bay) is a port in Lochaber, on the west coast of the Highlands of Scotland. The local railway station, Mallaig, is the terminus of the West Highland railway line (Fort William ...
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
Settle or SETTLE may refer to:
Places
* Settle, Kentucky, United States
* Settle, North Yorkshire, a town in England
** Settle Rural District, a historical administrative district
Music
* Settle (band), an indie rock band from Pennsylvania
* ''S ...
,
Cumbrian Coast line
The Cumbrian Coast line is a rail route in North West England, running from Carlisle to Barrow-in-Furness via Workington and Whitehaven. The line forms part of Network Rail route NW 4033, which continues (as the Furness line) via Ulverston an ...
,
Shakespeare line,
Scarborough line,
West Coast Main Line
The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...
and
East Coast Main Line
The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between London and Edinburgh via Peterborough, Doncaster, York, Darlington, Durham and Newcastle. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Great Britain running broa ...
.
As well as using steam locos that saw use for
British Rail
British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
ways 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
A train operating company (TOC) is a business operating passenger trains on the railway system of Great Britain under the collective National Rail brand. TOCs have existed since the privatisation of the network under the Railways Act 1993.
The ...
that operate steam locomotives on the national network include:
West Coast Railways
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 comp ...
,
DB Cargo UK
DB Cargo UK (formerly DB Schenker Rail UK and English, Welsh & Scottish Railway (EWS)), is a British rail freight company headquartered in Doncaster, England.
The company was established in early 1995 as ''North & South Railways'', successful ...
,
Locomotive Services Limited
Locomotive Services Limited is a train operating company in Great Britain. The company operates rail tours using heritage steam, diesel and electric locomotives with support from associated companies and trusts.
History
In August 2017, Locomo ...
. and
Vintage Trains
Vintage Trains is an operator of heritage railtours in the United Kingdom. It is a subsidiary of Birmingham Railway Museum Trust, and is based at Tyseley Locomotive Works, the trust's other subsidiary.
Mainline locomotives
Vintage Trains opera ...
.
Tour operators in the UK include: The Railway Touring Company, Steam Dreams, Statesman Rail, Torbay Express, Vintage Trains, Orient-Express, UK Railtours and Saphos Trains. Further details can be found on the Main Line Steam Tours index page.
United States
![Triple headed mainline steam in Illinois](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/Triple_headed_mainline_steam_in_Illinois.jpg)
The
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...
ran special excursion trains from New York City and Washington, D.C. to the
Army–Navy Game
The Army–Navy Game is an American college football rivalry game between the Army Black Knights of the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point, New York, and the Navy Midshipmen of the United States Naval Academy (USNA) at Annapo ...
in years when the game was held in Philadelphia at
Municipal Stadium (1936–1941, 1945–1975).
The special Pennsylvania trains were discontinued as the railroad, then known as
Penn Central
The Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American Railroad classes, class I railroad that operated from 1968 to 1976. Penn Central combined three traditional corporate rivals (the Pennsylvania Railroad ...
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
to take recuperating wounded veterans from the
Walter Reed Army Medical Center
The Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC)known as Walter Reed General Hospital (WRGH) until 1951was the U.S. Army's flagship medical center from 1909 to 2011. Located on in the District of Columbia, it served more than 150,000 active and ret ...
in Washington and the
Bethesda Naval Hospital
The Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMMC), formerly known as the National Naval Medical Center and colloquially referred to as the Bethesda Naval Hospital, Walter Reed, or Navy Med, is a United States' tri-service military medi ...
in Bethesda, Maryland to the game in Philadelphia.
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.
The Army-Navy football game is a big enough event in Philadelphia that the local rail transit company
SEPTA
The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) is a regional public transportation authority that operates bus, rapid transit, commuter rail, light rail, and electric trolleybus services for nearly 4 million people in five coun ...
also runs extra trains on game day.
Since 1908, an excursion train has carried travelers between
Denver, Colorado's Union Station and the
Cheyenne Depot Museum
The Cheyenne Depot Museum is a railroad museum in Cheyenne, Wyoming. It is located inside the historic Union Pacific Railroad depot, built in the 1880s. The depot, a National Historic Landmark, was the railroad's largest station west of Council B ...
to attend the
Cheyenne Frontier Days
Cheyenne Frontier Days is an outdoor rodeo and western celebration in the United States, held annually since 1897 in Cheyenne, Wyoming. It bills itself as the "World's Largest Outdoor Rodeo and Western Celebration." The event, claimed to be one of ...
rodeo event. The train was sponsored by ''
The Denver Post
''The Denver Post'' is a daily newspaper and website published in Denver, Colorado. As of June 2022, it has an average print circulation of 57,265. In 2016, its website received roughly six million monthly unique visitors generating more than 13 ...
'' and the
Union Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...
, 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.
Southern Pacific Railroad
The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...
operated a ''
Suntan Special
The ''Suntan Special'' (sometimes styled as ''Sun Tan Special'') was a summer excursion train service operated by the Southern Pacific Railroad between San Francisco and Santa Cruz, California, from 1927 to 1959.
History
When ''Suntan Special'' ...
'' from
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a large tidal estuary in the U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the big cities of San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland.
San Francisco Bay drains water from a ...
area cities to the
Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk
The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk is an oceanfront amusement park in Santa Cruz, California. Founded in 1907, it is California's oldest surviving amusement park and one of the few seaside parks on the West Coast of the United States.
Description
...
every summer Sunday and holiday from 1927 through 1959.
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 Hoosac Tunnel (also called Hoosic or Hoosick Tunnel) is a active railroad tunnel in western Massachusetts that passes through the Hoosac Range, an extension of Vermont's Green Mountains. It runs in a straight line from its east portal, alo ...
.
The Union Pacific Railroad has hosted an excursion program since 1960. The fleet includes two historic steam locomotives and four historic diesel locomotives, accompanied by a fleet of historic passenger cars. Included in the fleet of steam locomotives are
Union Pacific 4014
Union Pacific 4014, also known as the "Big Boy", is a steam locomotive owned and operated by the Union Pacific Railroad, Union Pacific Railroad (UP) as part of Union Pacific Heritage Fleet, their heritage fleet. It is a four-cylinder simple Art ...
, the largest operating steam locomotive in the world, and
Union Pacific 844
Union Pacific 844, also known as the "Living Legend", 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 Compan ...
, the only steam locomotive never retired by a
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
n
Class I railroad
In the United States, railroad carriers are designated as Class I, II, or III, according to annual revenue criteria originally set by the Surface Transportation Board in 1992. With annual adjustments for inflation, the 2019 thresholds were US$ ...
. 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
Union Pacific 3985, also known as the "Challenger", is a four-cylinder simple articulated 4-6-6-4 "Challenger"-type steam locomotive built in July 1943 by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) of Schenectady, New York, for the Union Pacific Rai ...
, 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.
Union Pacific 6936
Union Pacific 6936 is an EMD DDA40X locomotive built for the Union Pacific Railroad ( UP). Previously a part of UP's heritage fleet, 6936 was for several decades the last remaining operational "Centennial" type, and thus the largest operational d ...
, the only operating example of the longest single-unit diesel locomotive ever built, was also used in excursion service until 2016. As of April 2022, both 3985 and 6936 were donated to the Railroading Heritage of Midwest America, where they will be rebuilt to operating condition.
Seasonal excursion trains in the U.S. include
ski train
The ''Winter Park Express'' is a passenger train operated by Amtrak on winter weekends between Denver Union Station and Winter Park Resort, Colorado. The scenic route uses the same line as the ''California Zephyr'', climbing into the Front R ...
s which operate in winter, with emphasis on weekend service, and the
Train to the Game
The Metro-North Railroad New Haven Line is a commuter rail line running from New Haven, Connecticut to New York City. It joins the Harlem Line at Mount Vernon, New York and continues south to Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan. The New Haven ...
in the New York City area, which goes to
Yankee Stadium
Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx, New York City. It is the home field of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball, and New York City FC of Major League Soccer.
Opened in April 2009, the stadium replaced the origi ...
in the summer and the
New Jersey Meadowlands
New Jersey Meadowlands, also known as the Hackensack Meadowlands after the primary river flowing through it, is a general name for the large ecosystem of wetlands in northeastern New Jersey in the United States, a few miles to the west of N ...
in the fall.
Other countries
Pictures of excursion trains in various countries.
File:Arhs 4501 berowra.jpg, Australia
File:Skoda 498104 02.jpg, Austria
File:Zeletice train stop.JPG, Czech Republic
File:Schienenbus in Gladbach.jpg, Germany
File:JR_East_E001_series_Train_Suite_Shiki-shima_20170619.jpg, Japan
File:Ol49 59 Gorzow Wlkp.JPG, Poland
File:Korail_Donghae_Station_with_Haerang.jpg, South Korea
See also
*
Dinner train
A dinner train is a relatively new type of tourist train service whose main purpose is to allow people to eat dinner while experiencing a relatively short, leisurely round trip train ride. This contrasts with conventional passenger trains, whose ma ...
s usually operate on a schedule instead of for special events
*
List of heritage railways
This list of heritage railways includes heritage railways sorted by country, state, or region. A heritage railway is a preserved or tourist railroad which is run as a tourist attraction, is usually but not always run by volunteers, and often seeks ...
*
Heritage railway
A heritage railway or heritage railroad (US usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) i ...
*
Joyful Train
is the name given to railway rolling stock or train sets operated by the JR Group in Japan primarily for charters, special events, tourist excursions, and other similar purposes.
History
The "Joyful Train" concept can be traced back to 1960, whe ...
*
Private railroad car
A private railroad car, private railway coach, private car, or private varnish is a railroad passenger car either originally built or later converted for service as a business car for private individuals. A private car could be added to the make- ...
that may be hauled by special arrangements
References
{{reflist
Passenger rail transport