Steam locomotive 45596 Bahamas set for Blackpool visit

Picture of Roger Smith

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Steam locomotive 45596 Bahamas set for Blackpool visit

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Picture of Roger Smith

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45596 Bahamas on the North Wales Coast. // Credit: Keith Whitmore
45596 Bahamas on the North Wales Coast. // Credit: Keith Whitmore

Jubilee Class No. 45596 Bahamas will venture onto the West Coast Mainline on Saturday, 16th November when it hauls The Blackpool Illuminations Express from Birmingham to Blackpool.

Departing from , at 9:00 am, the train will pick up at Coleshill Parkway at 9.20, at 9.45, Stafford at 10.25, and Crewe at 11.30, and arrive at at 1.00 pm.

The return journey will depart from Blackpool North at 6:30 pm, and stop to drop off passengers at Crewe at 8.10, Stafford at 8.45, Nuneaton at 9.25, Coleshill Parkway at 9.50, and arrive back at Birmingham New Street at 10:10 pm.

From Birmingham, the train will head east to Nuneaton, where it will join the West Coast Mainline for the journey northwards to Blackpool.

The run up the West Coast Mainline will recreate evocative memories of when Bahamas would routinely be seen on the route when, for many years, it was allocated to Edge Hill shed in Liverpool.

An early afternoon arrival in Blackpool will allow plenty of time to enjoy the town’s many attractions including Blackpool Tower, Madame Tussauds, and the town’s historic collection of Heritage Trams.

An after-dark departure is timed so that passengers can view the seaside town’s world-famous illuminations at their best.

45596 Bahamas Railway Touring Company
45596 Bahamas. // Credit: Railway Touring Company

This will be Bahamas’ second main line outing this year, after hauling ‘The Shakespeare Express’ from Derby to Stratford-upon-Avon on Sunday, 27th October.

Bahamas also appeared at a ‘Super Saturday’ event on the Severn Valley Railway at the end of August.

Further information about The Blackpool Illuminations Express and ticket application details are online at https://vintagetrains.co.uk/blackpool-illuminations-express/

Bahamas was purchased for preservation by the and is normally based at Keighley & Worth Valley Railway.

It still carries the double chimney it was fitted with when it became the last steam locomotive modified by British Railways.

45596 Bahamas at Edale on the Jubilee Buxton Spa Express
45596 Bahamas at Edale on the Jubilee Buxton Spa Express // Credit: Cameron White/RailView

has thanked the Bahamas Locomotive Society for allowing Bahamas to be used on this rail tour.

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  1. Why, given that 45596 has been off the main line for months, has the Rail Advent site shown so many excursions incorrectly as being due to be hauled by 45596, and why has this information usually not been corrected until just before the trio was due to run?

    1. As explained previously some of these tours have been in for 9+ months, and the updates to loco’s are done by volunteers for those well in the future. For those upcoming in the next few days these are done by a different team.

  2. The jubs live on saw sturdee on one of my spotting trips was going to kingmoor to hoover up the brittannias remember upperby being a disappointment canal depot was closed would like a time machine to put me back to 1960 the new standards alongside the established classics

    1. The engine is as original with a steam controlled vacuum brake, so it is unable to operate air brake stock. The trip to Blackpool is with Vintage Trains who are able to use their vacuum fitted stock, which are being fitted with CDL.

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