Heywood man's steam loco hauls 50th anniversary special train

A Heywood man's historic steam engine that hauled British Rail’s last steam-operated passenger train to Manchester – before going on to become a TV star by appearing in Coronation Street and a BBC film about Morecambe and Wise – is to repeat the journey 50 years later.

Ian Riley, who runs Riley & Son (E) Ltd, former LMS William Stanier Black 5 class locomotive, number 44871, will be one of two steam engines hauling The Citadel Express from Carlisle to Manchester over the picturesque Settle-Carlisle line on two days in November.

Rail enthusiasts packed the special excursion train in 1968 with thousands more watching and waving along the route. It was nicknamed ‘The 15 Guinea Special’ because that was the high price of tickets in those pre-decimal currency days.

Crowds are expected to turn out again to watch the train thunder over the magnificent 440-yard long Ribbleshead Viaduct and plunge into the 1.5mile Blea Moor Tunnel as it crosses some of Britain’s most stunning countryside.

A spokesman for West Coast Railways, who are operating the train, said: “Everything will be just the same as on the original trip – apart from the catering.

“Instead of limp British Rail sandwiches, stale pork pies and weak milky tea, we’ll have a top chef on board serving breakfast and a slap-up four-course dinner!”

Six thousand navvies toiled for six years during the 19th century to build the 14 tunnels and 22 viaducts on the 73-mile line Settle-to-Carlisle line. It was considered an engineering masterpiece of its time, but sadly, hundreds of the workers perished in the harsh conditions.

Number 44871, built at Crewe in 1945 and weighing 125 tons, is one of the few locomotives never sent to a scrapyard after British Rail banned steam trains from the mainline network.

Instead it was purchased and preserved by two private collectors and operated on various private railway lines before Ian Riley, of Heywood, bought it in 2006.

The loco featured in an episode of Coronation Street in 2010 hauling Ray and Hayley Cropper’s wedding train.

The following year it was back on television hauling a train through Bury’s Bolton Street Station in a BBC film called Eric and Ernie about the comedy act Morecambe and Wise.

The engine usually operates on the East Lancashire Railway but recently it has been hauling the privately-operated Jacobite Express over the scenic 'Harry Potter line' between Fort William and Mallaig in Scotland.

While the 15-guinea ticket price on the original trip would equate to around £300 in today’s money, return tickets for the two special trains, run by West Coast Railways will start at £120.

They will depart Manchester Victoria at 7.29am on 8 and 10 November, picking up passengers at Bolton and Preston, before returning at 9.06pm.