East Lancashire Railway

This is Chewie, Chewie is waiting in a queue, queues can be avoided by booking online and you can also save 10% off the price of your ticket!
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Book online for #SciFiontheSidings, 18 - 19 August 2018 now: https://goo.gl/nkt22w

Hey it's #NationalTellAJokeDay! What do you call a locomotive with a cold?
Achoo-choo train! 🤣😆😉
Well the chaps in the pic think its funny
... Tell your own locomotive jokes below (keep em family friendly folks)!
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Timetable for today's services below, scheduled locos are 6990 "Witherslack Hall" (Steam) and 105 DMU (Diesel). 🚆🚂😁

Well we came 2day for the scotsman in steam event and i cant praise it enough the staff and drivers have made my sons year thank u all so much

We travelled on the evening wine tasting dinner and enjoyed a very tasty 4 course dinner with some splendid wines. Would recommend this to anyone, you won’t be disappointed.

Very enjoyable day out, I travelled on the tornado, what a experience for any train enthusiast, and a family day out, different locomotives, both steam and diesel, took me back to what trains were like, fully enjoyed myself, and definitely will book again, keep up the excellent work guys, hope you raise the money for “city of wells” she deserves it, see you soon

The ladies and gents who provide your food and drinks are the friendliest you can imagine,smart and polite, nothing is too much trouble for them. The food is excellent and even a vegetarian selection. It was red carpet treatment as you boarded the train and greeted by a young lady and gent.It's a pity the journey isn't a lot longer as i could spend all day on a train ( it doesn't go too fast so you can enjoy the views of the countryside ) The only downside is the price of the food in the buffet bar on the station £3 for a Greenhalghes pie is a bit steep so i didn't buy one, the coffee and tea is reasonable at about £1:20 - £1:30 for a large cup, but all in all a fantastic few hours. Would highly recommend it !

OMG what a marvellous day yesterday on the OBBO,beautifully organized and delivered by Martin,Bryan and Eddie - we all felt so special and the afternoon tea was something else ( in a good way ) can't say thanks enough !

My wife and myself recently took our Grand Children on the train from Rawtenstall to Heywood then back to Bury and then into the Transport Museum and home to Rawtenstall. The children had an absolute ball.

Thanks you so much to all the volunteers etc who make all this possible.



Kind Regards, Peter and Kay Barcroft.

My wife & I took our two young boys (5 & 18 months) on the Santa special ride today and we all thoroughly enjoyed it.



All of the staff from the moment we got there to the monument we left couldn’t do enough for you, from helping us down the stairs with the pram, to making sure we all had drinks. All where fantastic, polite and really involved the boys.



The elves, band/ choir and magician where great and to top it off it snowed just as we got there!



Great day and start to our Christmas.

Please thank all of your staff on behalf of us & have a Merry Christmas ���

Me and the other half booked onto the 11:30 steam ride aboard the tornado and what a great experience it was, just want to mention the young chap who was looking after us in carriage e is a pleasure to your team :)

It's a railroad. Train and stuff like that. What's not to like? I would love to visit England and see all that marvelous country has to offer. Oh, who am I kidding. I'd like to live in England, or Wales. :D

I've been visiting the ELR since I was a kid, but the Friday just gone was the most enjoyable day ever. Thank you to the volunteers, the crew on the flying scotsman and the tour guide. And of course the folk behind the bar!

I would just like to say thank you so much for a brilliant time on the Santa special today. Every member of staff was so lovely and couldn't do enough to help. The magician, brass band, elves and Santa were all fantastic. I had a truly magical birthday which was my first with my little boy. Thank you � Merry Christmas �� xxx

Had a lovely day seeing the flying Scotsman the golden arrow and a ride in the tornado grand kids loved it too all staff where very friendly and happy to chat with us fantastic day can’t wait go again

Brilliant day out at the 40s at 60 event. Friendly staff. Good choice of food and drink BUT without a doubt the stars of the day were the locomotives. Congratulations to all the staff and volunteers for making it such a fantastic time.

Absolutely loved our day on the Santa train, the platform was decorated beautifully, the staff were all in fancy dress and were so helpful and friendly. In particular Cinnamon the Elf and the Toy Soldier were brilliant actors. The magician was fab again this year involving both the kids and the adults. We had a great time, lovely and magical 🎅🏼🚂

The Santa special was wonderful as it normally is but I’m not sure when watching Peppa Pig on a volume all around you can hear became acceptable! A member of staff was told, I even asked the people to turn it down. Maybe next time we can have a designated peppa free coach - after all if I wanted to watch or listen to it then I could have saved a lot of money by staying home! Disappointed.

First time I went was back in 2015 for the flying Scotsman preview event. The weather isn't to blame for the poor review but the guard telling me to fuck off was. Especially when I was standing in a public wide vestibule and made no objections to him (there was no seats.) Duty manager didn't care - he told me to right my feelings on a piece of paper which he then threw away.



Gave them a second chance however for the diesel gala this year and it was fantastic (apart from taking an eternity to run round at Heywood) much improved and everyone was so friendly, the real ale bar was excellent and I found a new favourite beer and the bar staff were very knowledgeable and the local fresh food was great. I would visit again, I just hope they don't let the standards slip back to that of the grumpy guard in 2015. (Probably had a power rush)



And yes I can talk as I work for both the mainline and preserved railways and uphold high standards on both ;) �

I felt that the price increase for the Thomas event wasn't justifiable. Especially the increase from 0 to 12 pounds for under 5s. There was not a great deal of Thomas related things going on. I felt that it was unclear about the Thomas train ride and the info gave no real idea what to expect but it still fell below my expectations. The ride on Thomas was short and there was nothing interesting to see at all along the way. There should have been some props placed along the route but from within the carriage you would never know it was a Thomas experience. If you want a Thomas experience you must go to Thomas Land.



Also, we were waiting on a still carriage for 45 minutes as the locomotive broke down. To kill time during the wait I took my son to get his certificate signed by Topum Hat - but was told to wait 15 minutes by his staff as he was hot and needed a break. Sure, it was a hot day but you need a stone heart to turn away a 2 year old like that. That put a damper on things and there were not enough saving graces afterwards to make up for it. Sadly, too much waiting around to keep children interested.

Turn up for a black 5 and a class 40 turns up! The ELR seem to have gone back to “playing trains” like it did in the early 00s, swapping locos round and not telling anyone! Apparently for operational reasons! SVR has to cancel their diesel diagram they announced it on Facebook, Twitter and on their website! You’re catering for real customers so step it up!

The amount of times we come to take my 1 year old to see the trains at Bury and Rawtenstall, buy a drink and some food and watch the trains, then you want us to pay 5 pound each to go on the platform and see the flying scotsman? I would of willingly made a donation, bought something from the cafe. I'm so annoyed and what a wasted journey. It may not seem a lot to some people but to others it is.

Well we came 2day for the scotsman in steam event and i cant praise it enough the staff and drivers have made my sons year thank u all so much

We travelled on the evening wine tasting dinner and enjoyed a very tasty 4 course dinner with some splendid wines. Would recommend this to anyone, you won’t be disappointed.

Very enjoyable day out, I travelled on the tornado, what a experience for any train enthusiast, and a family day out, different locomotives, both steam and diesel, took me back to what trains were like, fully enjoyed myself, and definitely will book again, keep up the excellent work guys, hope you raise the money for “city of wells” she deserves it, see you soon

The ladies and gents who provide your food and drinks are the friendliest you can imagine,smart and polite, nothing is too much trouble for them. The food is excellent and even a vegetarian selection. It was red carpet treatment as you boarded the train and greeted by a young lady and gent.It's a pity the journey isn't a lot longer as i could spend all day on a train ( it doesn't go too fast so you can enjoy the views of the countryside ) The only downside is the price of the food in the buffet bar on the station £3 for a Greenhalghes pie is a bit steep so i didn't buy one, the coffee and tea is reasonable at about £1:20 - £1:30 for a large cup, but all in all a fantastic few hours. Would highly recommend it !

OMG what a marvellous day yesterday on the OBBO,beautifully organized and delivered by Martin,Bryan and Eddie - we all felt so special and the afternoon tea was something else ( in a good way ) can't say thanks enough !

My wife and myself recently took our Grand Children on the train from Rawtenstall to Heywood then back to Bury and then into the Transport Museum and home to Rawtenstall. The children had an absolute ball.

Thanks you so much to all the volunteers etc who make all this possible.



Kind Regards, Peter and Kay Barcroft.

My wife & I took our two young boys (5 & 18 months) on the Santa special ride today and we all thoroughly enjoyed it.



All of the staff from the moment we got there to the monument we left couldn’t do enough for you, from helping us down the stairs with the pram, to making sure we all had drinks. All where fantastic, polite and really involved the boys.



The elves, band/ choir and magician where great and to top it off it snowed just as we got there!



Great day and start to our Christmas.

Please thank all of your staff on behalf of us & have a Merry Christmas ���

Me and the other half booked onto the 11:30 steam ride aboard the tornado and what a great experience it was, just want to mention the young chap who was looking after us in carriage e is a pleasure to your team :)

It's a railroad. Train and stuff like that. What's not to like? I would love to visit England and see all that marvelous country has to offer. Oh, who am I kidding. I'd like to live in England, or Wales. :D

I've been visiting the ELR since I was a kid, but the Friday just gone was the most enjoyable day ever. Thank you to the volunteers, the crew on the flying scotsman and the tour guide. And of course the folk behind the bar!

I would just like to say thank you so much for a brilliant time on the Santa special today. Every member of staff was so lovely and couldn't do enough to help. The magician, brass band, elves and Santa were all fantastic. I had a truly magical birthday which was my first with my little boy. Thank you � Merry Christmas �� xxx

Had a lovely day seeing the flying Scotsman the golden arrow and a ride in the tornado grand kids loved it too all staff where very friendly and happy to chat with us fantastic day can’t wait go again

Brilliant day out at the 40s at 60 event. Friendly staff. Good choice of food and drink BUT without a doubt the stars of the day were the locomotives. Congratulations to all the staff and volunteers for making it such a fantastic time.

Absolutely loved our day on the Santa train, the platform was decorated beautifully, the staff were all in fancy dress and were so helpful and friendly. In particular Cinnamon the Elf and the Toy Soldier were brilliant actors. The magician was fab again this year involving both the kids and the adults. We had a great time, lovely and magical 🎅🏼🚂

The Santa special was wonderful as it normally is but I’m not sure when watching Peppa Pig on a volume all around you can hear became acceptable! A member of staff was told, I even asked the people to turn it down. Maybe next time we can have a designated peppa free coach - after all if I wanted to watch or listen to it then I could have saved a lot of money by staying home! Disappointed.

First time I went was back in 2015 for the flying Scotsman preview event. The weather isn't to blame for the poor review but the guard telling me to fuck off was. Especially when I was standing in a public wide vestibule and made no objections to him (there was no seats.) Duty manager didn't care - he told me to right my feelings on a piece of paper which he then threw away.



Gave them a second chance however for the diesel gala this year and it was fantastic (apart from taking an eternity to run round at Heywood) much improved and everyone was so friendly, the real ale bar was excellent and I found a new favourite beer and the bar staff were very knowledgeable and the local fresh food was great. I would visit again, I just hope they don't let the standards slip back to that of the grumpy guard in 2015. (Probably had a power rush)



And yes I can talk as I work for both the mainline and preserved railways and uphold high standards on both ;) �

I felt that the price increase for the Thomas event wasn't justifiable. Especially the increase from 0 to 12 pounds for under 5s. There was not a great deal of Thomas related things going on. I felt that it was unclear about the Thomas train ride and the info gave no real idea what to expect but it still fell below my expectations. The ride on Thomas was short and there was nothing interesting to see at all along the way. There should have been some props placed along the route but from within the carriage you would never know it was a Thomas experience. If you want a Thomas experience you must go to Thomas Land.



Also, we were waiting on a still carriage for 45 minutes as the locomotive broke down. To kill time during the wait I took my son to get his certificate signed by Topum Hat - but was told to wait 15 minutes by his staff as he was hot and needed a break. Sure, it was a hot day but you need a stone heart to turn away a 2 year old like that. That put a damper on things and there were not enough saving graces afterwards to make up for it. Sadly, too much waiting around to keep children interested.

Turn up for a black 5 and a class 40 turns up! The ELR seem to have gone back to “playing trains” like it did in the early 00s, swapping locos round and not telling anyone! Apparently for operational reasons! SVR has to cancel their diesel diagram they announced it on Facebook, Twitter and on their website! You’re catering for real customers so step it up!

The amount of times we come to take my 1 year old to see the trains at Bury and Rawtenstall, buy a drink and some food and watch the trains, then you want us to pay 5 pound each to go on the platform and see the flying scotsman? I would of willingly made a donation, bought something from the cafe. I'm so annoyed and what a wasted journey. It may not seem a lot to some people but to others it is.