The Swanage Railway has an incredible opportunity for steam fans as the always impressive and powerful No. 70000 ‘Britannia’ has availability for twelve premiere, hour-long driver experiences pulling a full train of carriages on Monday the 27th, Tuesday the 28th and Wednesday the 29th of March.
In order to take part in a driver experience you will need to be 18 years of age or older and complete a health and safety declaration.
The stunning locomotive is an icon of the steam era and is famous for hauling the funeral train of King George VI from Kings Lynn to London in 1952.
The driver experience will see one participant onboard the roomy footplate of ‘Britannia’ and will be guided by an experienced crew on the 11-mile, one-hour return trip from Swanage, passing the stunning ruins of Corfe Castle and on to Norden.
Robert Patterson, the volunteer chair of the Swanage Railway Company said: “This is an amazing opportunity for the public to drive a historic leviathan of steam that had the sad honour of hauling the funeral train of King George VI, from King’s Lynn in Norfolk to London, during February 1952, and there are currently only 12 slots available across two days.
“It’s like offering people the chance to pilot the iconic Concorde or drive a classic Formula One racing car – the stuff that amazing memories are made of.
“Unlike the Swanage Railway’s usual driver experience trains, this exciting premiere ‘Britannia’ taster driver experience offers the participant double the driving miles and double the driving time at the regulator of No. 70000 through the beautiful Purbeck countryside,” added Robert who is also a volunteer station porter on the popular heritage line.
The locomotive was built in Crewe in January 1951 and was the very first British Railway Standard design locomotive and also the first 55 Britannia class locomotive built. Britannia saw 15 years of mainline express service operating out of north London to the east coast and also through the London Midland Region until her withdrawal from British Rail service in May 1966
Swanage Railway Trust volunteer chair Gavin Johns said:
“No. 70000 ‘Britannia’ is historically important because it was the first steam locomotive of the new early 1950s range of standard designs to be built by British Railways aimed at taking our country’s railway network through the 1950s and the 1960s and replacing worn-out steam locomotives from the late Victorian and Edwardian era.
“The early 1950s saw British Railways design a range of standard steam locomotives, of varying power classifications, that shared common parts with the new steam locomotives being cheaper to run and maintain.
“The last of the British Railways standard design of steam locomotives worked right up to the final day of steam traction on British Rail, in the north of England, during August 1968,” added Gavin who is a volunteer signalman on the Swanage Railway.
This special opportunity will see a rare double mileage, double distance and double the drive time at the regulator of the stunning No. 7000 ‘Britannia’ and is reflected in the cost of £550 per person.
To find out more or to book a place on Britannia, please click here and choose Event and Experiences from the top of the home page before selecting Driving Experiences from the drop-down menu.
Responses
I bet there is a maximum age limit as well. How long do you get for £550?
It would have been a lovely thing to do, just a pity that, to stand on a footplate and feel the power of a large steam engine like Britannia through my legs has to be at great expense.