The Dalesman
The Railway That Refused to Die
Steam on the Settle to Carlisle line. 150 years on, you can still ride it the way it was meant to be ridden.
8 dates. June to September 2026. From £98 return.
The Dalesman is a full-day heritage train excursion with steam from Hellifield, across the most celebrated railway in England. Seventy-two miles of Victorian engineering cut through the Pennines, over 20 viaducts and through 14 tunnels. This year, the line turns 150. Eight dates. Then nothing like it until 2027.
Choose Your Route
From York
Tuesdays
Dates
7 July, 21 July, 11 August, 25 August, 15 September 2026
Join at
York, Castleford, Woodlesford (Leeds), Keighley, Skipton
The Route
The full Settle to Carlisle line experience, both ways. Steam-hauled from Hellifield across Ribblehead Viaduct, through Blea Moor Tunnel, past Dent and over Ais Gill summit to Carlisle.
The complete railway, there and back. The way it was built to be seen.
From Chester
Thursdays
Dates
11 June, 6 August, 10 September 2026
Join at
Chester, Frodsham, Warrington Bank Quay, Leyland, Preston
The Route
The Settle to Carlisle line outbound with steam from Hellifield. The return runs over the West Coast Mainline with steam all the way to Carnforth, past Shap summit and the edge of the Lake District.
Two great lines in a single day. Unique in Britain.
Classes and fares
Every passenger rides in lovingly restored vintage carriages. What changes is the travel class and service.
Standard
Classic heritage travel experience
£98 adult
£49 child (16 and under)
First Class
Enhanced comfort and service
£185 adult
£85 child (16 and under)
Premier First
Premium service and dining
£225 adult
£130 child (16 and under)
Premier Dining
Full English breakfast and Bucks Fizz outbound.
Champagne reception and four-course dinner with wine on the return.
£329 adult
£240 child (16 and under)
What happens on the day
You join the train at one of five historic stations on your route. The carriages are vintage Mark I and Mark II stock, restored by the workshop at Carnforth with corridor connections between coaches, and the particular click and sway of a train built before anyone was in a hurry.
At Hellifield, a working heritage steam locomotive backs on to the train. The whistle goes, and you begin the crossing. Twenty-four stone arches of Ribblehead, 104 feet above the moor, the Three Peaks on the skyline. The long plunge into Blea Moor, the longest tunnel on the line. Dent, the highest mainline station in England. Ais Gill summit, where the rivers split east and west. Then the slow descent through the Eden Valley, the Howgills rising to one side, the distant Lakeland fells on the other.
Two hours in Carlisle. Then home.
The line they tried to close
British Rail announced the closure of the Settle to Carlisle line in 1984. For five years, local campaigners refused to let it go. In 1989, the Transport Secretary reversed the decision. Every mile you travel on the Dalesman is a mile the public fought for.
Today the line carries 1.2 million passengers a year. Lonely Planet ranks it in the top ten most scenic railway journeys in Europe. On the 1st of May 2026, it turns 150.
Your two hours in Carlisle
A border city with 900 years of history, six minutes on foot from the platform. Carlisle Castle, built in 1092, with ramparts looking north toward the Scottish border. The cathedral, ten minutes in the other direction, with its famous medieval star-vaulted ceiling. Tullie House Museum sits between the two. A proper Cumbrian lunch in the old town, and you are back on the platform with time to spare.
2026 is the 150th. 2027 is not.
Eight chances to do this the way it was meant to be done, and then it is gone.
Book Your Seat