Tourist Train Rides | Scotland and North England

Tucked amid the Grampian Mountains, Scotland's oldest 2 ft/610 mm narrow gauge passenger railway steams along a riverside route segment stretching between its museum station home and bucolic Haughton Country Park. Highlights include play and picnic areas. Trains operate seasonally. Selected features: rail museum, holiday/event excursions.

Steam trains chug through landscaped former rail yards along the Firth of Forth's southern shore... then climb woodland hills to Birkhill Station, site of an historic fireclay mine. Highlights include mine tours and the Scottish Railway Preservation Society museum. Trains operate seasonally. Selected features: rail museum, station cafe, holiday/event excursions, train charters, gift shop, wheelchair access.

Remote countryside and an imposing slope lie in the path of the steam and diesel trains that roll between the Victorian terminus at Brechin and the former Royal stopover at Bridge of Dun. Highlights include a nearby National Trust property and bird sanctuary; driver experiences. Trains operate seasonally. Selected features: rail museum, holiday/event excursions, train charters, gift shop, online ticketing, wheelchair access.

Scotland's only island passenger railroad is a 40-minute ferry ride from Obnan. The narrow-gauge line extends to Torsay where a baronial castle, prize-winning gardens and woodland paths await. Highlights include "Mull Experience" train/castle tour combo. Trains operate seasonally. Selected features: train charters.

No operating days are scheduled for 2010.

The world's oldest railway began as a horse-drawn colliery line in 1726. Today, vintage trainsets connect half-a-dozen historic stations along a 6 mi/10 km route. Highlights include active railway shed and the world's oldest railway bridge. Trains operate year-round (selected days). Selected features: station cafe services, holiday/event excursions, gift shop.

The Liverpool suburb of Birkenhead, on the Wirral Peninsula, in Merseyside, is home to the oldest street tramway in Europe -- circa 1860. Today's fleet mixes heritage trams with later day replicas built in Hong Kong in 1992. Trains operate year-round.

Based in the market town of Bury, this heritage line follows the Irwell Valley linking several of Manchester's northern suburbs. Highlights include steam-hauled diner excursions on selected days; driver experience courses available. Trains operate year-round (selected days). Selected features: rail museum, onboard and station cafe snack services, holiday/event excursions, train charters, wheelchair access.

The Lake District's only standard gauge railway shuttles holiday merrymakers through the scenic Leven Valley to Lakeside, on Lake Windermere's southern shore. Highlights include train/lake cruise combo and train/aquarium combo. Trains operate seasonally. Selected features: station cafe, holiday/event excursions, train charters, gift shop.

A Lakes District fixture for nearly a century, the narrow gauge La'al Ratty -- "little narrow way" -- crosses "two of Lakeland's lovliest valleys" on its 7 mi/11 km run. Highlights include extensive schedule of steam-hauled runs. Trains operate year-round (selected days). Selected features: holiday/event excursions, train charters, gift shop, wheelchair access.

Some 875 ft/267 m above sea level, Northern England's highest elevation narrow gauge railway rolls along a 2.5 mi/4 km line coursing through the scenic South Tyne valley. Highlights include steam-hauled runs on selected days. Trains operate seasonally. Selected features: holiday excursions.

A roster of vintage trains make runs of between 7 mi/11 km and 15 mi/24 km in distance -- all within the confines of the Corus Steelworks. highlights include loco shed visits; winter tours by coal-heated open brakevan; footplate experience days. trains operate year-round (infrequent schedule). Selected features: onboard and station cafe/snack services, train charters, gift shop, gift certificates, online ticketing, wheelchair access (some restrictions).

The upland pastures of the picturesque Yorkshire Dales provide a bucolic setting for this 4 mi/6 km preservation line. Highlights include the award-winning, newly reconstructed Bolton Abbey Station and Stately Trains series of summer heritage runs. Trains operate year-round (selected days). Selected features: rail museum, station cafe services, holiday/event excursions, train charters, gift shops, wheelchair access.

Named "one of Britain's 10 best train trips" by The Sunday Times, this classic steam railway's 5 mi/8 km length cuts through the heart of Brontë Country. Highlights include dining trains; behind the scenes guided tours. Trains operate seasonally. Selected features: rail museum, station buffet services, holiday/event excursions, train charters, gift shop, limited wheelchair access.

In continuous operation since 1758, and first to employ steam power in 1812, the world's oldest railway in continuous operation treats visitors to a 1 mi/1.5 km heritage run. HIghlights include restored engine house. Trains operate seasonally.Selected features: rail museum, holiday/event excursions.

Among the UK's oldest, this circa 1836 steam railway operates along an 18 mi/29 km stretch through wooded valleys and heather moorlands of the North York Moors National Park. Highlights include Pullman Diner runs and footplate courses. Trains operate seasonally. Selected features: station cafe services, holiday/event excursions, train charters, gift shop, gift certificates, wheelchair access (some restrictions).