On Saturday, 18th April, UK Railtours is running a special train, The Plant’, from London King’s Cross to Leeds in aid of the Railway Children charity.

En route, the train will visit Wabtec’s Doncaster Works, which Wabtec has slated for closure, with work moving to Barton-under-Needwood in Derbyshire.

The special train will give visitors a rare and exclusive journey by train into the works’ site before it closes, a journey that very few will have experienced on a passenger train.

A Class 57/3 locomotive will depart from London King’s Cross with ‘The Plant’ special train at 07.15, pick-up at Potters Bar at 07.40, Stevenage at 08.05, and Peterborough at 09.20, from where the train will travel via the Joint Line, Sleaford, and Lincoln.

On arrival at Doncaster, a GBRf Class 66 locomotive will be attached to travel a short distance around the rear of the station before reversing on the Down Leeds Goods line into Wabtec’s site.

A Wabtec Class 08 will then be attached to the front of the train, and pilot it around the back of the main works buildings, giving participants a view that very few people have experienced from a passenger train.

After visiting Doncaster Works, the Class 57 locomotive will head the train to Adwick, where it reverses on a triangle, before continuing past Freightliner’s Midland Road depot to Leeds for a two-hour break.

The return journey is via Wakefield Westgate to Doncaster Works and the East Coast Main Line. Return arrival times are Peterborough 20.20, Stevenage 21.20, Potters Bar 21.40, and London King’s Cross 22.10.

A buffet car will be included in the train formation for hot and cold drinks and snacks. Adult fares are from £159, and further information and booking details are online at https://www.ukrailtours.com/product/the-plant/

Opened in 1853, Doncaster’s railway works, often referred to as ‘The Plant’, has built many of the icons of British railway engineering and design, and is the birthplace of such famous locomotives as Mallard and Flying Scotsman.