A famous named train will make a comeback for one day as it helps to celebrate the 125th anniversary of London Marylebone station.
‘The Master Cutler' will make the trip from Sheffield to London on Friday 15 March and has been organised as a joint venture between Retro Railtours, Rail Adventure and the 125 Group, in association with Chiltern Railways train operating company.
The original ‘Master Cutler' first ran in 1947 and took the Great Central route from Sheffield Victoria to the same London terminus. It also called at Nottingham Victoria and Leicester Central before making its way to Marylebone, the last of the main line termini in London to be built.
The commemorative train will run exactly 125 years to the day that the station first opened to passengers.
As most of the Great Central route is no longer in use, the train will run along the Midland Main Line as far as Leicester. It will then travel westwards towards Tyseley and then along the Chiltern Main Line, which will take it into Marylebone.
The train is provisionally booked to leave Sheffield at 06:47, calling at Chesterfield at 07:03, Derby at 07.23 and Leicester at 07:49 before arriving into London Marylebone at 10:53.
The return trip is scheduled to depart at 15:21, arriving in Leicester at 18:52, Derby at 19:16, Chesterfield at 19:39 and finally arriving at Sheffield at 19:55.
Passengers will be offered a rare opportunity to travel on a rake of InterCity 125 carriages into Marylebone, a highly unusual event for the London terminal. Power cars have been provided by Rail Adventure. Travellers will also experience festivities at the station to celebrate its 125th birthday.
Standard and first class carriages will be available and, for a £50 supplement, passengers travelling first class can reserve a table for two. Standard class tickets can be reserved for £95 per adult and £75 for a child. First class tickets cost £143 for an adult with a child fare available at £133.
The Marylebone project is set to benefit from the train trip as 10% of proceeds will be donated to the Central London charity. It provide a life-changing service to help women overcome homelessness. There will also be a raffle on board the train to raise further funds.
I remember once seeing the Master Cutler passing through Amersham station in 1950s
drawn by V2 Green Arrow
I remember the Master Cutler stopping at Leicester London Road station on the Midland Line out of St Pancras and on checking I see that it was moved onto this route on 7 October 1968.