Footplate Experience

The information below includes prices and an illustration of what to expect:

Bronze Experience £330

A return footplate ride between Pickering and Grosmont.

The fee includes lunch; one-year Membership of the NYMR, a souvenir certificate signed by your driver and a polo shirt.

Your return journey will take you a total of 36 miles, a total elapsed time of 3 hours.

The course operates Mondays – Fridays (some exceptions) throughout the main running period. We regret, there are no weekend dates and the course does not run on special event days or Bank Holidays.

Gift Vouchers can be purchased for our 2012 Bronze courses via our online shop.

Silver Experience - £595

What to expect: 2 courses operate on each Silver day. The morning course meets at 0930 and will utilize the 1230 service out of Grosmont and the 1400 from Pickering, finishing at approximately 1515. The afternoon course meets at 1300 and will travel on the 1530 from Grosmont and 1700 from Pickering, finishing at 1900.

The fee includes; one-year Membership of the NYMR and a souvenir certificate signed by your driver. Please be aware that this course is a light engine movement only – no carriages attached.

Morning course: Report to our offices at Grosmont, enjoy a light breakfast and then join one of our instructors for a short walk to the Locomotive Depot for a safety briefing. Next under supervision you will prepare the engine; oiling up, examining, checking fuel and equipment and raising steam pressure. Once the enigne is ready you will be given instructions on how to operate and have time to familiarise yourself with the controls and how the engine works. A packed lunch will be provided to keep you going through the rest of the day.

Afternoon course: For those attending the afternoon course, please report to our offices at Grosmont, enjoy a light lunch and be given a safety briefing. You will then be taken to the Locomotive Depot and shown how to prepare an engine before your afternoon trip with the engine and your instructors. On your return to Grosmont, you will assist in the disposal of the locomotive before completing your day.

Silver Diesel Experience - £595

Silver diesel days are similar to the steam experience but with diesel engines only.

Gold Experience - £1495

5 Day Course (Maximum of 4 persons on each course)

Day 1: We meet you at Grosmont Tea Room for breakfast at 09:00 hrs. Then one of our instructors will take you on a short walk to the Locomotive Depot for a safety briefing, after which you will spend the day in the Engineman’s Mutual Improvement Classroom, for both theoretical and practical instruction on all aspects of locomotive and railway operation, including safety rules, signaling, boiler management, combustion, valve events, injectors, lubrication and braking systems. The day concludes around 17:00 hrs.

Day 2: Starting at 08:30 at the shed for more theory and practical instruction.

Day 3: At 08:30, under instruction you fully prepare the engine ready for work. You will familiarise yourself with the controls and how the engine handles by moving it around the shed yard, with precision stopping and coupling up; finally disposing of the engine around 17:00 hrs.

Days 4 & 5 The Real Thing: Starting at 08:30 we prepare the engine and work a train of passenger vehicles on two return journeys through to Pickering each day with you and the other participants driving and firing, concluding around 19:00 each day.

Full lunch is provided on days 1-3 with a packed lunch on days 4 & 5.

To download this information in a PDF document, click here

All courses are available for physically fit participants aged between 16 and 70 years only due to insurance purposes.

Please note that the price covers food and travel for the participant only.