The Steam Dreams Rail Co

Went on the Flying Scotsman June 5th as a birthday treat for my other half. The trip was brilliant , staff were great and the food fantastic had not expected it to be so good. Would definitely recommend had a great time 😊

We took the Fife and Stirling Evening Circular on the Flying Scotsman and it was something we will never forget, if you can get a seat you will remember for the rest of your life......

We had a previous experience when The Flying Scotsmen was not able to run our trip. We were devastated....

Today we went from Essex to Salisbury. How lucky were we with the whole trip, the food, the service, the weather.... the whole experience has been delightful.

We are having a fabulous time. You only realise how much planning, such as taking on water via The Firebrigade, goes into these trips when you visually see how it all works like clock work.

Is it value for money... Yes it sure is. Is it a lasting memory... Yes it sure will be.

Support this company because the people make it special.

Shout out to Kamel for the most excellent service .

See you next time.

The Flying Scotsman is certainly a thing of magnificent beauty and admired by thousands. Privileged to have been pulled along behind her yesterday. All the staff were excellent - tried their best to make sure you were enjoying yourself and kept you informed all the time. Was breath taking seeing Golfers on the golf course all stop hitting their balls to gaize in wonderment as Flying Scotsman chugged by with steam bellowing from her.

My first trip with this company and I have to say what a fantastic time I have had, the staff on board are extremely helpful and knowledgeable. Particular mention to the catering staff who worked so hard and remained so cheerful and friendly. Thank you to everyone involved I highly recommend this company.

Me and my partner went from Leatherhead to oxford on the Horsham to oxford trip for Christmas carols and we were amazed how brilliant it was!! The service the food the whole experience and the lovely Mayflower engine!!! Plus Oxford is a lovely place anyway!!! When all goes well a fantastic experience

Just returned from a fabulous weekend to Edinburgh on the historic Flying Scotsman. What an amazing experience. Top class food and service. Staff are lovely and we were looked after by the fabulous George. Make sure this is on your bucket list!

I treated my mum on the Horsham to Bath trip - 26/04. We sat in in Pullman Style Dining & from the very start, we were pleasantly surprised.

The service level by the catering staff, as well as all the others is great - very friendly, ask about you & just very good customer service.

The food was brilliant - especially the pudding at dinner time!

There was an incident just outside of Bath which held us up for an hour, but we were kept well informed as to what was going on.

Overall, I would definitely recommend a trip on The Cathedral's Express!

I had the absolute pleasure of being able to go on a trip from the 18th to the 21st of June up to Carnforth on the Lakes Express behind the Flying Scotsman and a Black 5. I can say that my experience is one I will cherish dearly! Everything was perfectly orchestrated by Marcus and his team, who were extremely accommodating and friendly. The train ride itself was incredible; the weather couldn't have been more perfect, the engines performed wonderfully, and the overall atmosphere on the train was jovial and warm! My stay in Carnforth was equally brilliant, and the train ride back to London behind an 8F to Crewe and then two 47 class locos to Victoria was wonderful also! This trip exceeded expectations, and I cannot wait to hopefully join the Steam Dreams again for future tours!

I actually went on the very first trip with steam dreams and normally try to get one one once s year, the team and the company have grown into the best steam operator I've ever know well done, I admire your work and your business you have built ����

Despite many problems that were beyond the responsibility of the staff and this company, how they dealt with that and communicated with us was perfect when we travelled to Edinburgh behind the Flying Scotsman between the 14th and 17th May. We thoroughly enjoyed our trip and will have no hesitation in booking with Cathedrals Express again soon. Many thanks to everyone involved

Brilliant day, travelled from basildon to Bath. Same those people missed the train all the tickets I saw where printed from e mails. Very common practice these days. Our carriage steward was Charlie, met him last year going to York. Very efficient as were all the crew looking after our refreshments. They worked very hard but had time for us. Very enjoyable day despite a long delay due to a signal fault which put us out of our slot.

Amazing 4 hour trip around the Surrey Hills the evening of 5/6/018 with the Flying Scotsman.I shall never forget this experience it was faultless.Will try and go again this year a must.

Traveled from St Neots to York last Sunday on the Duchess of Sutherland and it was wonderful from beginning to end. The service we received was excellent and the food delicious and nothing seemed to be too much trouble for the staff. Admittedly we had quite a long delay before steaming back to St Neots but this was beyond the control of the company, and we where kept informed as to what was happening. When we eventually started our return journey we had a full head of steam and arrived back right on time! Well done Steam Dreams!

Lovely trip from Kent to Salisbury. Cheerful and helpful on board staff and excellent catering - even in our less-expensive seats. Just unfortunate that we had so little time in Salisbury due to a delay out of S-D's control.

It was a shame we had to wait 2hrs in the cold for our train but was a problem with network rail. Then it was freezing on the train as heating was broken. We were going to Winchester but the trip was cancelled due to late arrival. We still went and made our own way back. Apart from all of that we had a lovely day!

I was rather disappointed with our recent trip to Poole from Hockley. Not full steam hauled sadly due to weather conditions which I fully appreciate. My sister and I got off at Poole and were told to be back by 5pm so not much time to spend there. The train had to go back to Southampton and then come back to pick us up at Bournemouth. We had to get a passenger train to Bournemouth and then wait a while for the steam train to arrive. Was this not all organised beforehand. We were in Standard Class compartment and were impressed with the attentive waiting staff. The heat was unbearable though being such a hot day with very little air getting in and as my sister and I are tall with very long legs we were rather cramped at our seats.

On the Southend Victoria to Bournemouth & Poole today. The steam train the Union of South Africa arrived late, being pushed by diesel so no steam there then.

Then there was a problem with the brakes so we were late leaving. Service on board very good. Staff excellent. Fellow passengers a delight. I got off at Bournemouth, as I was getting off the train the guards person swung the door open which promptly swung back and hit me extremely hard on the knee and caused a nasty cut. Not impressed. Was expecting about 4 hours in Bournemouth got just under 3 hours.

Was asked to be back at Bournemouth train station not later than 5.15pm, arrived promptly to be told the train was running late due to the delay in getting the rolling stock ?

Would I do it again? Noooooooooo !!!!!

About a quarter of the journey (if that) was actual steam. I was advised by Charlie Robertson that due to the hot weather and the risk of sparks catching the surrounding outside area alight it was decided to run most of the journey by diesel.

Was it value for money? Nooooooooo !!!!!

If you want value for money go to the Watercress line on a themed weekend.

We bought 2 tickets on the Surrey Hills Evening Tour on Flying Scotsman for a cost of £75 per person. If it was Steam Dreams intention to capture the mediocrity of 1970's British Rail travel then kudos to them, it was spectacularly rubbish!! I suspect the coffee was originally served in 1975.



We naively expected to be able to have an opportunity to see the Locomotive at some point in the journey but we did not. £75 is a lot of money to pay to sit in a stuffy poorly maintained carriage at the end of train that may as well been a freight train for all the romance of it.



The staff were very good and tried to keep spirits up but I can't help but think this is because they knew most people were going to start to realise that they had been charged a lot of money for what was basically just a poor commuter experience.