FULLY UPDATED 6th FEBRUARY 2008
   

The Scottish Rover 2003
Undertaken in the summer of 2003, this was the first major railtour that the Webmaster embarked on. The tour consisted of a huge circular journey, starting in Inverness and travelling over all the Highland lines via the major cities and remote outposts. Of special note are the wonderful West Highland and Kyle Lines - providing the most scenic rail journeys anywhere in the UK.
   
The North East Rover 2003
This trip took place in late Summer of 2003, from a base in Chesterfield, Derbyshire. The tour took in a large part of northern England, including journeys over the famous Settle to Carlisle Line. Cities visited include Derby, Nottingham, Durham, Newcastle, Carlisle and Leeds.
   
The Welsh Rover 2004
Spring 2004 saw the Webmaster embark on an ambitious railtour across most of the Welsh rail network, from a central base across the English border in Shrewsbury. Many interesting and scenic locations were visited along the way, from Conwy in the north to Carmarthen in the south.
   
The North West Rover 2004
The North West Rover took place in mid summer 2004 and was undertaken from a central location in Wigan. The tour took in the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales National Parks, a brief trip into southern Scotland and many of the region's major cities, such as Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds and Carlisle.
   
The Wessex Rover 2004
This tour took place in late summer 2004 and has been the longest of the rovers to date. The itinerary took in the English counties of Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, Somerset & Dorset, plus parts of south Wales, with plenty of rural railway lines to be explored.
   
The Anglia Rover 2004
Autumn 2004 saw the Webmaster travel to Norwich for a week of rail roving across Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire. Destinations included the cities of Ely and Lincoln, as well as many smaller towns across this mainly rural part of eastern England.
   
The Heart of England Rover 2005
This weekend-long tour took place in mid January 2005 and consisted of three day's roving across Central England, concentrating on the counties of Warwickshire, Staffordshire, Derbyshire, Worcestershire and the West Midlands. Places visited included Matlock, Derby, Stratford-upon-Avon and Lichfield.
   
The North East Rover 2005
This tour took place in March 2005 and consisted of a week's roving to many previously-unvisited locations in the North East of England. Highlights included visits to Whitby, Berwick-upon-Tweed and, of course, the Settle to Carlisle Line - this time in its winter glory.
   
The Scottish Rover 2005
This tour took place throughout June 2005 and notched up 3000 rail miles. The Webmaster travelled to and from Scotland using the Caledonian Sleeper service and used bases in Fort William, Pitlochry, Edinburgh and Inverness from which to explore the country. All the scenic railway lines were travelled over at least twice and the gallery contains dozens of photos taken throughout the trip.
   
The Three Nations Rover 2006
The first tour of 2006 was unusual in as much that it was divided into two distinct halves. The first part concentrated on southern Scotland, visiting areas on the west coast, as well as the big cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow. The second half involved touring around places in the north of England and north Wales, from a base in Manchester, and took in the adjacent counties of Derbyshire, Cheshire and Staffordshire as well as a day out to Llandudno.
 
   
The Devon & Cornwall Rover 2006
The last tour, in April 2006, saw the Webmaster head for the South West of England to embark on the Devon & Cornwall Rover. Cornwall is a county that the Webmaster had only limited experience of rail travel in, and therefore took in many previously-uncovered routes. This beautiful part of Britain is home to dozens of picturesque fishing ports, a rugged coastline and historic towns. There are a number of branch lines radiating out from the main route to Penzance, which provided plenty of travel options throughout the week-long trip. All of Devon's passenger rail routes were also covered.
   
The North West Rover 2007

Cancelled due to adverse weather
   
The Webmaster has now suspended any future railtours in order to concentrate on other interests
   
FOOTNOTE

All photographs contained within the Galleries on this site remain the property of the Webmaster. Visitors to this site are welcome to download and use any of these pictures, provided it is for personal use only. Please credit this site if used on other personal websites. Reproduction of these photographs in any manner for commercial purposes is not permitted without prior permission from the Webmaster.

Every attempt is made to ensure that prices and authorized routes stated on these pages are current. However, both are subject to change by the Train Operating Companies and may on occasion differ slightly from that shown. Consult nationalrail.co.uk for clarification.