The fee is arranged to suit you and starts at £450. “It’s a full day’s tuition” and is only one to one, YOU DO NOT SHARE the line or the day with anyone else, unless you wish to! Please use the contact details below for available dates for you to take part in this activity. Also inclusive in the fee is one year’s membership of the Spa Valley Railway (Insurance Cover), Tea and Coffee & Buffet Lunch. A certificate and photographs are sent to you afterwards.

About The Day

You have sole use of the Spa Valley Rly, the course covers various facets of a driver's experiences but will typically include:-

The use of a driver's bag for the day.

Trackside safety.

Preparing the loco.

Overview of locomotive's electrical and mechanical equipment.

Driving 'light-engine'.

Driving with loose coupled and/or 'fitted' wagons, shunting as required.

Or handle the coaching stock.

Try your hand at coupling-up and making those potentially awkward brake pipe connections.

Find out about and get a 'feel' for the direct air brake and train brake.

Dispose of the locomotive.

With professional railwaymen as mentors supervising you, you'll have the very best one-to-one tuition on what is involved in diesel driving. There's a lot more to it than meets the eye and you won't believe how quickly 7 hours can pass by!!

Don't Take Our Word For It....

.....Testimony from very happy customers!

Finally the big day arrived, the chance for myself and my wife, Louise to drive a Class 37 on the Spa Valley Railway!

Upon arrival at Tunbridge Wells West we made our way to the Mess Room where we eagerly "Signed On" for the days duties. The first thing that struck both of us, was how friendly and enthusiastic everyone was. Straight away we were made to feel like one of the team.

Our day commenced with an informative tour around both the inside and outside of 37 254. At this point we really began to appreciate both the effort involved in saving her from the cutters torch, and the level of dedication and knowledge necessary to keep her running.

After carrying out the necessary safety checks, we where given an overview of the controls and from here I was in the drivers seat ready to push the Engine Start button for my first time. With the sound of the loco gently Growling in the background we moved off shed and under the expert guidance of our instructor we headed down the line to Birchden Junction.

It has to be said that this was an amazing experience, and this was only the beginning. Later on during the day we had the opportunity of opening up the Power Handle, with a rake of vacuum braked coaching stock, and a dead class 73 in tow! Plenty of "Thrash" here!

There's a lot more to the day than the all important Driving, there's a whole Railway Experience, and most of all there was the feeling of being part of the team. We would just like to say many thanks to all who made it such a memorable day for us both.

Regards Steve & Louise Brett

Please email your requirements to