Railway Day Trips: 160 classic train journeys around Britain

Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s magnificent Paddington station, the starting point for day trips to Oxford and Bath.

LONDON VICTORIA TO SHEFFIELD PARK

This day trip only became possible in March 2013 when the Bluebell Railway opened its extension northwards from Kingscote to East Grinstead, where it connects with the national rail network. The start of our journey is at London’s Victoria station, once the jumping-off point for cross-Channel services such as the ‘Golden Arrow’ and the ‘Night Ferry’ and now the capital’s second busiest station after Waterloo. Electric trains for East Grinstead thread their way through the South London suburbs en route for East Croydon and South Croydon. Trains diverge from the main line at South Croydon Junction to take the double-track Oxted line through Riddlesdown, Upper Warlingham and Woldingham before passing through the 1-mile 501-yd Oxted Tunnel to Oxted station. From here, trains pass through Limpsfield Tunnel before calling at Hurst Green station, the junction for the 25-mile branch line to Uckfield.

Heading due south, trains call at Lingfield and Dormans before terminating at East Grinstead, formerly known as Low Level station. The now-demolished High Level station was once served by trains on the Three Bridges to Tunbridge Wells route. The line westwards to Three Bridges is now a footpath and cycleway known as the Worth Way. Passengers change trains at East Grinstead to take an 11-mile steam-hauled trip along the Bluebell Railway to Sheffield Park, the railway’s headquarters, calling at Kingscote and Horsted Keynes en route. Sheffield Park National Trust house and gardens are but a 10-minute stroll from the station.

DESTINATION HIGHLIGHTS

trip on an 11-mile steam heritage railway; railway museum; visitor centre; Sheffield Park and Garden (NT)

FREQUENCY OF TRAINS

Victoria to East Grinstead: 2 per hour East Grinstead to Sheffield Park: 3-7 trains per day (Sat-Sun all year; daily Apr-Sept)

41¼ MILES 55 + 45 MINUTES

NUMBER OF CHANGES: 1

(East Grinstead)

The first through train to reach Horsted Keynes, on the Bluebell Railway, from London for over 50 years arrives behind Class 66 diesel No. 66739 on 28 March 2013.

LONDON VICTORIA TO BRIGHTON

This trip follows the same route as the ‘Brighton Belle’ Pullman train in the BBC’s famous 1952 film ‘London to Brighton in 4 Minutes’, but takes a while longer! On leaving Victoria Station, trains for Brighton wend their way through the sprawling South London suburbs, negotiating Clapham Junction – the busiest junction in the world – to East Croydon. After continuing southwards through Purley, the alternative Quarry Line and Redhill Line part company, both heading through tunnels and under the M23 before rejoining at Earlswood. From here, the Victorian railway builders had to conquer the North Downs, the Wealden Ridge and the South Downs, an immense feat that was completed in 1841 and involved excavating deep cuttings, high embankments, 7 tunnels and the 1,475-ft-long Ouse Valley Viaduct.