Red carpet for the £750-a-head train

A former British Rail express locomotive called Tangmere will pull the 1930s Pullman-style carriages of the Northern Belle over the spectacular Settle-Carlisle line.

And champagne-sipping passengers are paying up to a whopping £750 to tuck into a slap-up seven-course lunch washed down with wine during the trip of a lifetime.

But despite that the trip which sets out from Derby at 6.45am on Saturday, October 26, before picking up more passengers at Chesterfield at 7.45, has almost sold out.

It will be pulled by a vintage diesel engine as far as Carnforth in Lancashire – the station where the classic black and white 1940s movie Brief Encounter was filmed – where Tangmere takes over.

A spokesman said: “Our steam-hauled trips are always in big demand. But not everybody pays £750 – that is only those passengers who demand the very finest Krug champagne during the journey.

Fares on our trains start at a very reasonable £295.”

The Northern Belle, once part of the iconic Orient Express set-up, was described by actor Bill Nighy as “the Grand Dame of luxury travel” when it featured on a Channel 5’ The World’s Most Scenic Railways programme.

Passengers are serenaded by the train’s own musicians while they dine and a conjuror wanders through the hand-decorated carriages to add an extra touch of magic.

The Northern Belle will be back in the Derby on November 20 and 23, for two shopping trip to Edinburgh, followed by a special Christmas Lunch trip on Friday, December 6.

“You’d be crackers to miss that,” said the spokesman.

Fares on the Northern Belle start at £295. For more details and to book, see www.northernbelle.co.uk