Furness
Railway Number 20 made summer Tuesday evenings its own, with its Victorian
Evening special trains on the Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway for its first
ten years back as a working steam locomotive. Following a decision by the
L&HR Co. Ltd to withdraw this service, these trains are not being run
in 2009. The Trust's flagship locomotive is spending most of 2009 at the
prestigious Locomotion - the National Railway Museum at Shildon in County
Durham, as operational locomotive in residence.
The
1863 veteran was paired with the FRT's 19th
Century carriage and the Furness Railway Company's 1891 built Windermere
lake steamer MV Tern also joined in the fun.
Passengers were treated to a ride from Haverthwaite to Lakeside behind Furness Railway Number 20. The first fifty people have the added bonus of being able to get the complete picture of railway travel in a bygone age, by riding in the North London Railway 2nd class Coach.
During
the journey, the train stopped at Newby Bridge Halt, where the passengers
had the chance to take photographs of the locomotive and train (with the North
London Coach immediately behind the tender) as it performed a run past through
the station.
Then, at Lakeside, passengers transferred to the MV Tern for a half hour cruise on Windermere before the return train journey back to Haverthwaite.
Both the train crew and a fair number of passengers turned out in Victorian costume - and many passengers lingered after arrival back at Haverthwaite to savour the unique atmosphere.
The publicity poster for these popular trains was produced by FRT Volunteers Phil Cousins. It was based around an original Furness Railway publicity poster, and also features Roger Street's limited edition watercolour of FR Number 20 in action.
Meanwhile, keep in touch with this website for more details of events involving Furness Railway Number 20.
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