The ultimate, exclusive footplate experience with plenty of hands-on action!

• Full day courses for just four people
• Passenger train course Friday 20 July
• Freight train course Friday 14 September
• Large, main-line locomotive pulling a rake of coaches or freight wagons
• Just four participants and a total of four return trips to Cheltenham
• Inclusive of breakfast and packed lunch
• Visit to signal box
• Up to 2 guests can travel with each participant on 20 July only

Courses run only on the dates specified above. Unlike the experience offered by most other heritage railways, our Platinum Course participants will an extended experience of both firing and driving an historic, large main-line locomotive pulling a rake of passenger coaches or a train of freight wagons. There will be only four participants on the course. Please remember that this is not an exclusively male pursuit; ladies are also very welcome.

Participants have the option of joining the instructors at Winchcombe at 07.00 and helping to prepare the engine.  The course starts at 08.30 when you sit down to a 'full English' breakfast at Toddington and collect your packed lunch before continuing to Winchcombe Station to meet your locomotive and your instructors for the day.

When you arrive at Winchcombe your course instructors will give you a short talk about the day's activities and at about 10.30 you will join the train. The first two participants will step onto the footplate to be briefed and then undertake the role of driver and fireman respectively under the supervision of the two instructors. All participants get the chance to fire and drive over the full length of the line, in total about 30 miles on the footplate.  The route takes in the long, dark Greet tunnel.

You will also be able to spend some time with the Guard who will explain his role and you will be able to visit a signal box and discover how the trains are controlled. You will learn that this duty in the early days of the railways was originally undertaken by police constables and that even today the signalman is often referred to as "the bobby".

Throughout the day a knowledgeable railway member will accompany participants and passengers riding in the train to assist and to answer questions.

The day will normally end at around 17.00, back at Winchcombe, when participants will be presented with their certificates.

Adult family or friends can ride in the train subject to a maximum of two guests per participant but only on the passenger train on 20 July. These guests will also benefit from a cooked breakfast and packed lunch. Details of the extra passengers must be included on the booking form. Please note that we are unable to accept children.

Our Platinum Course operates on days which are otherwise non-operational and as a consequence facilities such as the shop and coffee room at Winchcombe will not be available.

Prerequisites

Please note that to take part in these courses participants must be over 18 years of age and be reasonably fit and agile with normal intellectual abilities, with reasonable hearing and sight (glasses and hearing aids are acceptable) and without any memory impairment. Bear in mind that access to and exit from the footplate is via vertical steps with a handrail, about six feet high. Participants must not be under the influence of drugs or alcohol. The footplate can be hot and dirty and time spent there can be arduous. Appropriate clothing and footwear must be worn; a 'T' shirt, shorts and trainers are definitely not acceptable. Overalls or boiler suit are preferable but in all cases it is recommended that clothing made from cotton should be worn next to the skin. Man-made fibres can melt onto the skin if inadvertent contact is made with any of the hot boiler fittings. Stout shoes and boots are needed with safety boots being preferable. A pair of gloves (Canadian rigger style) will be needed when firing and handling the controls.

Fees and Booking

Dates for the 2012 Platinum Firing & Driving courses are on the following Fridays. Please see below for booking details.

Friday 20^th July (passenger) just one place left

Friday 14^th September (freight)

The cost of the course is £695 per participant and £15 per additional passenger. This includes a cooked breakfast and packed lunch but we cannot make a price adjustment if these are not required.

The next step is to complete the booking form and return it to us. You can download the booking form by clicking on the icon (this is a PDF file). If you are intending to give this as a surprise present, please take a guess as to which dates will be preferred and let us have the completed form with a covering letter. We will send a confirmation that will allow the recipient to contact us directly after receiving your present to change the date, subject to availability, without incurring an administration charge.

Please note that we cannot accept bookings that specify any particular locomotive. The engine to be used depends on the maintenance needs of our operational locos and this can change at very short notice.

Family or friends who are not travelling with the participants as guests but who wish to take photographs of the train, may do so at any of our Stations which may be open but they must keep outside of the boundary fence if they wish to take photographs elsewhere along our line. They can also meet up with the participants at Winchcombe for the lunchtime stop.

For further details please contact the Steam Firing & Driving Course Administrator by post at PO Box 13323, Redditch, B97 9DP, by phone on 01242 621405 between the hours of 10.00 & 2.00pm, or by email to fireanddrive@gwsr.com.