The Midland Venturer

A railtour almost 30 years in the making!

125 Group are thrilled to announce the first main line rail tour using our very own HST!

Running on SATURDAY 28 OCTOBER 2023, the trip will start in the Midlands with calls at Ilkeston, Nottingham, Derby and Sheffield before running along its former route to London St Pancras.

After a break in the capital, we retrace our steps with set downs at Loughborough (connections available for Derby and Sheffield), Nottingham and Ilkeston.

Outbound: Ilkeston (PU 07.48) – Codnor Park Jn – Trowell Jn – Radford Jn – Nottingham P1 (PU 08.30 / RM) – Radford Jn – Trowell Jn – Alfreton – Chesterfield P3 (PU 09.04) – Beighton Jn – Woodburn Jn – Sheffield P8 (PU 09.35) – Chesterfield P2 – Derby P6 (PU 10.16) – Loughborough P2 – Leicester P3 (PU 10.56) – Kettering – Bedford – Luton – London St Pancras P3 (SD 12.06 / break)*

Return: London St Pancras P3 (PU 16.19) – Flitwick P4 – Bedford P2 – Wellingborough P3 – Kettering P2 – Leicester P2 (SD 17.54) – Loughborough P3 (SD 18.14) – Nottingham P3 (SD 18.40 / RM) – Radford Jn – Trowell Jn – Ilkeston (SD 19.16)*

The train will be formed of six trailer vehicles (4 standard, 1 caterer and 1 first class) with power cars MTU 43159 in its stunning Midland Mainline livery and VP185 43089 in EMT colours providing the power. The coaches will utilise our recently installed tanked toilet system to comply with Network Rail standards and our catering vehicle will supply hot and cold food and drinks throughout the trip. The menu for the railtour can be found here. A limited number of first class places are available and a selection of light refreshments will be included in the booking price for First Class (Update: FC is now full).

Bookings are being handled for us by our good friends at the Branch Line Society. 125 Group members are asked to add their membership number on the booking which can be made here.

*Please note the routing and timings are subject to change and are correct at time of posting.

The Master Cutler – Friday 15th March 2024

Interior image of a 125 Group MK3 coach

125 Group, in conjunction with Retro Railtours, RailAdventure and Chiltern Railways are pleased to be supporting this tour by providing a rake of MK3 coaches to work with RailAdventure power cars from Sheffield to London Marylebone station as part of the stations 125th Anniversary celebrations.

This is a rare opportunity to travel into London Marylebone by HST! Information including timings, pricing and planned route can be found on the Retro Railtours website here.