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Britain's longest established operator of scenic railway excursions
An SRPS Railtour is a rail excursion with a difference! Unpaid SRPS volunteers work hard to serve our passengers and enhance the friendly atmosphere of our tours.
![]() The SRPS Railtours volunteer staff are pictured at Penzance, destination of our longest ever tour, The Total Eclipse. As well as stewarding the trains on the day, these volunteers maintain and clean our special train, which is based at the Scottish Railway Preservation Society's steam centre at Bo'ness. This work has included repainting the SRPS Railtour carriages in the traditional maroon colour. The coaches, which date from the 1960's, are usually hauled by main-line diesel locomotives. SRPS Railtours is Britain's longest established operator of scenic railway excursions. Each year since 1970 SRPS volunteers have organised a programme of main-line day excursions on the main-line network. In 1997, in recognition of the Society's achievement, English, Welsh & Scottish Railways named a main line locomotive, 37413, The Scottish Railway Preservation Society. SRPS Railtours give the opportunity for passengers to travel on a traditional train and enjoy the splendour of Britain's most scenic lines - the Kyle Line, the West Highland Line and the Settle & Carlisle Line. The most popular destinations in Scotland are Kyle of Lochalsh, Mallaig and Oban. Destinations south of the border have included Chester, Llandudno, York, Scarborough, Harrogate, Whitby & the North Yorkshire Moors, Keighley & the Worth Valley, Buxton, London, and Penzance. In recent years the Christmas Cracker excursions to Lincoln for the Christmas Market have been a feature of the programme. Most SRPS Railtours are diesel-hauled.
From the earliest Railtours, carriages from the SRPS collection were a feature of these trains. In the 1970's several pre-Nationalisation vintage coaches were used on Railtours, including the North British Railway Saloon, Great North of Scotland Royal Saloon, Gresley Buffet, Caledonian and LMS coaches. In the 1980's & 90's a fleet of former British Rail Mark 1 coaches was acquired by the Scottish Railway Preservation Society. These carriages, repainted in maroon livery, are maintained by members at Bo'ness, the only volunteer group to maintain a set of passenger coaches to the high standards required for running on Network Rail lines. The Railtour coaches have been based at Bo'ness since 1991, using the link line at Manuel to gain access to the Edinburgh-Glasgow main line. A feature of SRPS Railtours is the catering. Meals are prepared in the kitchen car and served to passengers at their seats. On some trains over 800 meals are served. There are also two buffet cars in the train. Since 1992 a computer ticketing and seat reservation system has been used, and this also gives detailed information on meal requirements. When not required for SRPS Railtours the train is available for charter by other organisations. Such charters have taken the coaches to the South and West of England. A charter on 24 August 1996 was the first passenger train to proceed beyond Birkhill and onto the main line by means of the connection at Manuel. As well as providing an enjoyable day out for thousands of passengers, SRPS Railtours have been a major source of funds to develop the Bo'ness and Kinneil Railway. |
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SRPS Railtours | SRPS Website Contents | Bo'ness & Kinneil Railway |
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