Rail Ale

On the right track for beer and trains

Bob Barton has produced a loving guide that lists station bars and refreshment rooms offering good beer, along with preserved steam lines with real ale on board. The book also has a fascinating history of how trains and stations started to offer food and drink when the "iron way" replaced coaches
Added: Friday, September 20th 2019
Full steam ahead to two great rail bars

East Lancs Railway is a restored steam line brought back from the dead following the Beeching Axe. It has two superb bars at Rawtenstall and Bury stations serving a fine range of beers from local breweries plus top quality true lagers. Visitors will also find saison, sour and even a Bavarian-style Dampfbier. When the line reopened in the 1980s it received a visit from the Flying Scotsman (pictured)
Added: Sunday, July 8th 2018
The little train line with a big heart

The Romney Hythe & Dymchurch Railway is the world's smallest passenger train service, founded by two millionaires in the 1920s, one of whom -- Count Louis Zbrowski -- owned the original Chitty Chitty Bang Bang racing car. The RH&D criss-crosses the Romney Marsh and offers passengers the chance to visit some ancient pubs, Martello Towers and to spot Derek Jarman's beach cottage at Dungeness. And Hythe was once home to the famous milk stout, Mackeson
Added: Friday, September 26th 2014
Ludlow on the fast track to success

Gary and Alison Walters have built a brewery and bar in a former railway shed alongside Ludlow Station in Shropshire where they brew a variety of beers using locally-grown Maris Otter barley and hops from a local farm. The brewery tap welcomes both locals and visitors who can hop off the train for a pint before visiting the town with its castle and magnificent half-timbered medieval and Tudor buildings
Added: Wednesday, September 17th 2014
Going loco on a Hampshire steam line with great pubs and 3 breweries to visit
Not Boxed in: Wilts brewery steams ahead but pays homage to rail giant Brunel
Breakthrough on the Nene Valley line and find some perfect pints in Peterborough

You could be forgiven for thinking the Nene Valley Railway is in central or eastern Europe as the steam line has been used for filming James Bond and the Orient Express as well as the iconic Queen video for Breakthru. But the line is in Cambridgeshire and gives steam buffs the chance to also sample some good beer in Peterborough. Pictured: steam loco that will operate the Winter Torpedo specials in November
Added: Tuesday, October 15th 2013
Up hill, down ale on a railway masterpiece that crosses the Pennines to Scots border

The Settle to Carlisle railway was threatened with closure in the 1960s but it's survived and -- steam or diesel -- you can traverse the Yorkshire Dales and the Pennines and cross some spectacular viaducts, such as a steam train crossing the Ribblehead Viaduct (left). Along the route, you can enjoy some good beer and also visit a remote Cumbrian brewery
Added: Thursday, September 26th 2013
Full steam ahead for twin-track beer and trains on superb Midlands preserved line

Don't miss the beer festival this weekend on the Great Central line between Loughborough and Leicester. The line was axed following the Beeching Report in the 1960s but it's been restored to its Victorian glory and is now the only twin-track steam line in the country. And there are some fine pubs along the route.
Added: Tuesday, September 17th 2013
Irony on the iron track: Beeching Way heralds start of revamped Bluebell line

The Bluebell steam line in Sussex, preserved before the Beeching axe fell in the 1960s, has been linked at the cost of £11 million to East Grinstead and the main line to London. For steam and beer lovers, the line offers locos in their original liveries and some fine pubs with good beer and even food from a Michelin-star chef
Added: Saturday, August 24th 2013