Steaming through Frome!

Three steam locomotives will be making the journey from Frome to the seaside this summer. Hurrah! Every Sunday from 17th July until 11th September The Railway Touring Company will be running a weekly service to Weymouth in Dorset , called The Weymouth Seaside Express.

The 1929-built '4936 Kinlet Hall', the '5029 Nunney Castle' from 1934, and the 1951 '70000 Britannia', will pull vintage carriages on the four-hour trip. Departing from Temple Meads, the Weymouth Seaside Express will pass through Bath, Westbury and Frome.

"The [service] will be a trip down memory lane for many," said managing director Nigel Dobbing. "These trains will evoke the past for a nostalgic experience for those of us who can remember the days of steam before British Railways' final steam passenger service back in 1968."

John Crane from the Heritage Railway Association said: "The running of regular trains such as the Weymouth Seaside Express is particularly welcomed as a way of showing the work of the railway preservation movement."

The journey will take four hours and you can find full details here.

The special train leaves Bristol Temple Meads at around 09:15, hauled by one of the three steam locomotive, and heads eastwards. They stop to pick up passengers at Keynsham and Bath and take the route up the picturesque Avon Valley, travelling southwards to Trowbridge and Westbury, where we make stops to pick up more passengers.

They head westwards from Westbury along the West of England main line and take the loop line to Frome, where they make the final stop to pick up passengers. Then they continue to Bruton and Castle Cary, where they leave the main line and head south on the Weymouth Branch. They pass through Yeovil Pen Mill and then there follows a long steep climb through the Dorset Hills up to the summit at Evershot Tunnel. The steam locomotive will be working flat out on this exhilarating climb. It is mainly downhill from Evershot Summit through Maiden Newton, and the picturesque town of Dorchester, to Weymouth.

There will be over four hours in Weymouth to soak up the atmosphere, and hopefully the sun, at this much-loved south coast seaside resort.

The train leaves Weymouth at 17:00 for the return journey. So pick up from Frome is around 10:25am & you will be back at around 19:00. Arrival time in Weymouth is 12:30 & leaving there at 17:00

Fares are £55 for an adult , £29 for a junior & £140 for a family ticket. There are also first class tickets available. A buffet car is available and serves tea, coffee, snacks and light refreshments.

The 3 steam trains running are ;

1. No. 4936 Kinlet Hall, Hall class 4-6-0, built at Swindon in 1929 by the Great Western Railway (GWR), a 'mixed traffic' locomotive for use on passenger and freight trains. (See photo by Dunc Harris)

2. No. 5029 Nunney Castle, Castle class 4-6-0, built at Swindon in 1934 by the GWR, for use on express passenger trains. (Photo by Elsie)

3. No. 70000 Britannia, Britannia class Pacific 4-6-2, built at Crewe in 1951 to British Railways 'standard' design, the first 'standard' to be built, and used on express passenger trains in East Anglia. (Photo by f4000)

Get in there! See more train pictures in the gallery.