My son adores trains and train journeys, and I like to indulge him, so when we have the time, we like to go on a trip somewhere exciting. This month we took a long anticipated train journey from Manchester Victoria to the Ribblehead Viaduct in Carnforth, Yorkshire, otherwise known as the Yorkshire Dales Explorer.

The train runs twice on a Saturday, so it’s worth planning ahead for. I was keen to avoid the early morning train, mostly because it was a weekend and a girl needs a lie in sometimes, so we got the 3.15pm from Manchester Victoria Station.

Putting aside hopes of a glamorous steam train, we boarded a Class 150 Northern train and settled in for the two and a half hour long journey (well, if you do the whole route it’s two and a half hours, ours was a smidge under). Originating from Rochdale, for ease we joined the train at Manchester Victoria. It was very much a stopping service, which takes in the urban sprawl of Manchester, Salford and Bolton, eventually rewarding us with wide countryside views and stopping at ever prettier and smaller stations.

The twenty stops on the Yorkshire Dales Explorer are; Rochdale, Castleton, Mills Hill, Moston, Manchester Victoria, Salford Central, Salford Crescent, Bolton, Hall I’ Th’ Wood, Bromley Cross, Darwen, Blackburn, Ramsgreave and Wilpshire, Langho, Whalley, Clitheroe, Hellifield, Settle, Horton-in-Ribblesdale and Ribblehead.

As I mentioned earlier, this train runs only on Saturdays, and the train times are below –

Rochdale to Ribblehead

Departs 07:52 – Arrives 10:19

Departs 14:52 – Arrives 17:26

Ribblehead to Rochdale

Departs 11:08 – Arrives 13:29

Departs 18:05 – Arrives 20:29

The two carriage train filled up at Manchester Victoria, but we shed a lot of the Saturday shoppers as we went along. It was a fairly quiet journey, and whilst the Class 150 Northern train isn’t known for its luxury or comfort, it was comfortable enough, and the conductors were happy to chat.

We brought along with us my partner, Simon, who is from Whalley, so we were treated to some pointing at distant landmarks and stories about Clitheroe Market, Whalley Viaduct and various pubs he’s been to in many of the places we passed through. He’s also keen on trains, so there was a lot of technical train chat, which delighted Ben and possibly some of the other passengers too.

My son is a huge fan of viaducts, so going over the Whalley Viaduct was a dream come true, and our ultimate destination, the Ribblehead Viaduct was something he’d been fizzing with excitement about for months.

Once we alighted at Ribblehead, we had just half an hour before the return journey, so we raced down the short track to the pub, The Station Inn for a quick drink, an excellent sausage roll and some beer garden views of the viaduct. If I were to do the journey again, I would have got the earlier train and then we would have had more time to walk to the viaduct itself, but the beer garden views were worth the trip.

There were a handful of other people, who like us were doing the journey in full, or more or less in full, so we all scrambled back on the train to begin the journey home.  I have to say, nearly five hours of train travel was more tiring than I thought it would be, and we all managed a bit of a nap on the way home.

It’s the kind of trip we will most likely do again, but next time we will take a proper picnic, we will get the earlier train and we will hike up to the Ribblehead Viaduct and have a proper look at it. We might even squeeze in a pub lunch at The Station Inn, which looked great, but time did not allow us to linger.

Apparently the Yorkshire Dales Explorer started running on 8th June 2024, and in the last year it has transported 2,500 people from Rochdale to Ribblehead. It’s perhaps not the most popular service Northern run, but it’s definitely beautiful, unique and one off the bucket list for train enthusiasts.

In terms of cost, a return ticket costs about £26 each, but we have a family railcard which cut our costs by a third. We all felt that around five hours of travel, through some very beautiful countryside was worth the ticket price. And it’s a journey which attracts all kinds of people, families, train enthusiasts, keen walkers and dog walkers. So if you’re looking for a bit of an interesting day out, maybe slightly off the beaten track, then the Yorkshire Dales Explorer is well worth looking at.

For more information or to book tickets, visit the Northern Trains website.