A GIANT steam locomotive that once hauled crack express trains between London and the South Coast will take champagne-sipping passengers from Newton-le-Willows on a slap-up trip over the spectacular Settle-Carlisle line next month.
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They will pay £440 each to travel in the gleaming 1930s-style Pullman carriages of the Northern Belle, which used to be part of the iconic Orient Express group and was described by actor Bill Nighy as “the Grand Dame of luxury train travel”.
One of the Northern Belle’s luxuriously-appointed 1930s-style Pullman carriages
Green-painted Battle of Britain class engine 'Tangmere', number 34067, was built in Brighton in 1947 and named after the Sussex RAF base where world war two fighter ace Douglas Bader was stationed.
Until diesel locomotive took over during the 1960s, it would regularly haul famous expresses like the Golden Arrow and the Bournemouth Belle to the South Coast from London’s Waterloo station.
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The Settle-Carlisle line through the rugged Yorkshire Dales and over the spectacular Ribblehead Viaduct is regularly voted one of the greatest railway routes in the world.
A Northern Belle trip over the line featured on Channel 5’s The World’s Most Scenic Railway Journeys last year.
Famous steam loco Princess Elizabeth hauling the Northern Belle over the Settle-Carlisle line Picture: CHANNEL 5
Narrator Nighy told viewers that passengers on board were “lapping up all the luxury” the train offered.
The Northern Belle will set out from Liverpool at 9.10am on Saturday, September 17, before calling at Newton-le-Willows at 9.40am and then Preston at 10.20am.
Passengers will be welcomed aboard over a red carpet with a glass of champagne before tucking into a three-course brunch during the journey to Carlisle.
Diners study the menu before dinner aboard the Northern Belle
After a break in the border city, there will be more champagne before a five-course dinner with wine is served during the journey to Settle.
The train, which will be hauled by a diesel locomotive to Carnforth where Tangmere takers over, is due to arrive back in Newton-le-Willows at 7.05pm.
The Northern Belle will not be back in the town again until September 2023. But there will be other trips this year from Manchester, Liverpool and Preston.
Excited passengers waiting to board the Northern Belle’s 1930s-style Pullman carriages
- For more details, see www.northernbelle.co.uk
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