Midland Pullman train renamed Whitby Jet for journey along Esk Valley line into Whitby

The eagle-eyed among you may have spotted an unusual visitor at Whitby Railway Station and at villages along the Esk Valley Railway line recently.

The Midland Pullman – aka The Blue Pullman - left Dundee in Scotland at 6.05am and picked up passengers from Kirkcaldy as well as Leuchars, Markinch, Inverkeithing, Edinburgh Gateway and Edinburgh.

The Midland Pullman waiting at Glaisdale on the service train to release the token to enable it to safely carry on its journey.placeholder image
The Midland Pullman waiting at Glaisdale on the service train to release the token to enable it to safely carry on its journey.

For this particular journey, the train was given the special name of The Whitby Jet as the final stage of its journey brought it down The Esk Valley and into Whitby itself.

Passengers on this train would have travelled over the Tay Bridge, Forth Bridge, The Royal Borders Bridge at Berwick on Tweed and the King Edward Bridge at Newcastle.

The Midland Pullman passing over the River Esk at Ruswarp.placeholder image
The Midland Pullman passing over the River Esk at Ruswarp.

Irene Sykes, who lives in Lealholm, took these pictures while the train was in the Esk Valley.

The Midland Pullman was Britain’s first luxury high speed diesel-electric train, running in the early 1960s between Manchester Central and London St Pancras.

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