All Aboard

Published 1 April 2012

On a North York Moors Railway train, after a day walking the Coast to Coast

There’s probably more, but so far I’ve only done one long distance walk which actually crosses, and I mean here, physically crosses, a steam heritage railway.

It’s Wainwright’s Coast to Coast and it crosses over the North York Moors Railway at a level crossing at Grosmont station. Indeed on our final day of walking, we got held up for about 15 minutes whilst the railway did some shunting of its steam trains.

Trust me, there are worse things to hold you up in the morning.

When we were walking the Coast to Coast I decided we should aim to get to Grosmont (where we were staying the night) as early as we could in order that we could take a trip on the steam railway. We just about made it in time for the last train of the day and set off on a lovely steam hauled journey.

Steam trains. I love them. I especially love the fact that almost everyone who gets on a steam train just seems to have an amazingly big grin on their face. Especially people who stick their heads out of the window.

It’s a fantastic feeling, even if a bit of soot from the engine gets in your eyes. And it’s an especially great thing to do after a long days walking. Sit back on a train, rest your feet and enjoy the ride.

In case you’re not convinced, Wainwright himself recommended a trip on the NYMR. And he’s the king of walking so don’t you dare argue with him.

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