During the month before Christmas, Vintage Trains operated a number of Polar Express special trains for families from the Great Western Railway’s original terminus in Birmingham at Moor Street station.

The trains ran between 25th November and 23rd December and carried 25,000 passengers, many of whom had not travelled on special trains before, with many of them being recent Eastern European migrants.

A total of 74 main line trains operated, and thanks to splendid co-operation by Network Rail’s charter team for timetable planning and Chiltern Railways for the use of Moor Street station 71 arrived on time, the three others being delayed due to points failures.

Before the trains departed, there was an interactive musical repertoire at Moor Street station, whilst on the trains, there were theatrical performances with music by the Wise Owl Theatre Company, dancing chefs and conductors, and a magical appearance of Santa landing on the roof of the train at the ‘North Pole.” Performance courtesy Wise Owl Theatre Company.

The trains achieved around £1m turnover for Vintage Trains, and generated surplus revenue.

All trains were hauled by GWR Castle Class No. 7029 Clun Castle with a Class 20 or 47 diesel locomotive on the rear in ‘top and tail’ mode. During one of the trips, the company passed out its second steam driver, Kevin Cronin.

Four, sometimes five trains ran each operating day along the Chiltern main line to Dorridge, formed of two Pullman carriages and six Tourist Class carriages with a capacity of 400 passengers, and with many trains operating at full capacity

Besides the Polar Express, Vintage Trains also ran trains to Christmas Market at York and Bristol. Because of the prevalence of railway strikes, the company had a strike cancellation recovery plan that worked extremely well Only three days were lost to strikes, and nearly all booked passengers were either re-booked on alternative days or on extra trains that were operated.

Last year, Vintage Trains operated over 80 express steam trains into and out of Birmingham hauled by GWR Castle Class locomotives. The company is based at Tyseley Locomotive Works in Birmingham where a thriving heritage engineering workshop preserves the skills of the steam age and trains young people in manufacturing.

In 2017, the company established a Community Benefit Society which is now licensed to run express steam trains nationwide with a range of tours including:

• The Shakespeare Express between Birmingham and Stratford-on-Avon;
• Diesel Explorers to popular tourist destinations and seaside towns;
• Express Steam Trains running at up to 75 mph on the main line;
• Private special trains offering tailor-made tours.
• The Polar Express Train Rides from Birmingham at Christmas

Further information about Vintage Trains can be found on its website at www.vintagetrains.co.uk