June 2026 – RailwayWorld.net

Summer specials in the South-West

37521/667 are about to pass signal LD34 with 1Z51 from Derby (04.50) to Penzance

SIX MONTHS before nationalisation threatens to cost me my FirstGroup employee travel concessions on GWR, as has already happened on SWR, and the promise of fine weather tempts me to take a couple of rail trips to the South-West on consecutive Saturdays (20/27 June 2026) to photograph special workings heading to Devon and Cornwall.

First up was a trip to the famous sea wall at Dawlish on 20 June, where in the space of less than five minutes there was the sight of two special workings bound for Torbay, with LNER B1 Mayflower (61306) heading to Kingswear, closely followed by Hastings units 1001/1013 on an epic run from Hastings to Paignton.

Steaming down the Main Street

99-2322 approaches Bad Doberan Stadtmitte on 23 June with the 06.40 from Kühlungsborn West

Being the proud holder of a Deutschland Ticket (D-ticket) for the month of June 2026 (€63.00) I am tempted to follow-up my highly enjoyable visit to the Harz Mountains with a visit to another of the splendid steam-worked narrow gauge systems in eastern Germany, and spend a couple of nights at Bad Doberan, near the Baltic Coast.

Returning for the first time in seven years (Baltic beauties-October 2019) and once again staying in the hotel with a railway station on its doorstep (Bad Doberan Stadtmitte) I am back to savour the charming 15.4km (9.6-mile) 900mm-gauge Mecklenburgische Bäderbahn, better known as the Molli (Mollibahn).

Harz steam action with a Deutschland Ticket

Moments after a heavy downpour 99-7243 almost slips to a halt on 11 June 2026 as it storms out of Alexisbad with train 8963 from Quedlinburg (10.35) to Strassberg (Harz)

German Railways (Deutsche Bahn) may come it for a lot of criticism these days over reliability and punctuality, but for anyone visiting this fascinating country and happy to avoid the faster IC/ICE trains, there is a remarkable bargain to be had in the month-long Deutschland Ticket (D-ticket), costing just €63.00 (£55.00).

Not only does this offer unlimited travel on all local and regional trains and buses, but it is also valid for travel on a host of narrow-gauge railways in eastern Germany, including most of the world’s finest steam-worked network, the remarkable Harzer Schmalspur Bahnen (HSB) metre-gauge system.

Major signalling changes for the Harrogate Line

170473 approaches Hessay down distant signal H5 on 31 May 2026 with 2C31 from York to Leeds

Plans for the automation of two level crossings on the York-Leeds “Harrogate Line” will mean a major reduction in semaphore signalling at the remarkable eastern end of this fascinating route, between Harrogate and Poppleton, a growing village three miles north-west of York city centre.

Over the course of 5¾ miles of single line between the stations of Hammerton and Poppleton the half-hourly trains between York and Harrogate will pass three level crossings – Wilstrop, Marston Moor and Hessay – each currently boasting gate boxes with up and down home and distant signals, all but one of which are semaphores.