Vintage Trains has announced that 45596 ‘Bahamas’ will haul its first train of 2025, The Shap Mountaineer. 

On Saturday 29 March, the service will be diesel-hauled from Birmingham New Street to Carnforth (and from Hellifield to Birmingham on the return). Bahamas, a Jubilee-class locomotive, will take on hauling duties at Carnforth.

The 1935-built locomotive will haul the train up the challenging gradients of Shap and the West Coast Mainline, without the help of a diesel locomotive, up to Carlisle.

This will be Bahamas’ first run over Shap in preservation. 

Shap Summit is the highest point of the West Coast Mainline in England. It has gradients of up to 1-in-75 over a distance of five-and-a-half miles.

Passengers will be able to disembark at Carlisle and spend several hours in the historic city. Later in the day, Bahamas will haul the train along the world-famous 73-mile Settle and Carlisle route.

In 2024, Bahamas has hauled various services, including the Shakespeare Express. It has also put in appearances in Yorkshire, at the Nene Valley Railway, and more.

A Vintage Trains spokesperson has thanked the Bahamas Locomotive Society for allowing it to use the locomotive.

More information and tickets for The Shap Mountaineer are available here.

“The Jubilees were strongly associated with the Settle & Carlisle route, hauling the Thames-Clyde Express, so what better way to kickstart our 2025 programme, and our trains celebrating Railway 200, than to have Bahamas retread one of her old stomping grounds in the Settle & Carlisle but also take on the challenging gradient of Shap Summit.” 

Vintage Trains