Christmas has arrived, and like most other heritage lines throughout the UK, the Middleton Railway was ready and waiting to welcome aboard passengers on its Santa Express.
Santa specials are now as traditional as the festive season itself, but what the thousands of schoolchildren and hundreds of families who travel during the railway’s eight-day celebration rarely, if ever, see is the amount of work that goes into planning and preparation – which begins in June – and the continuing efforts that go on behind the scenes to ensure the line, its locomotives and its rolling stock are primed and ready to roll for next year’s season.
Middleton Railway commercial director Janet Auckland and Fran Bailey, who helps to run the shop, are among a number of volunteers who help to make this event happen.
