The Railway Benefit Fund’s Auction of Rail Experiences returns this year as part of its Railway Family Week event which runs from 25 April to 30 April. The auction is now live.
A series of prizes has been grouped into five categories. In the ‘Experiences with a Difference’ section, bidders can win cab and helicopter rides in Scotland, a day at the BTP Dog School, drive a Routemaster bus, walk the Forth Bridge or spend a day with Network Rail on its New Measurement Train or observation saloon Caroline.
'Behind the Scenes' offers depot and Route Operating Centre visits, simulator drives and tours of major stations, while ‘Tickets to Travel’ includes trips on the Caledonian Sleeper, a Branch Line Society railtour or a family day out on the ‘Scarborough Spa Express’ or ‘The Daelesman’.
‘Great Days Out’ includes the opportunity to take part in the RBF Golf Day, travel on ‘The Royal Charter’ or take a tram tour in Blackpool, and bidders can also vie for a first class Pendolino seat or station signs.
RBF President Pete Waterman has donated three prizes – a day with him at his Making Tracks exhibition at Chester Cathedral, the change to visit his home in Cheshire to see and operate his model railway, and a day on the footplate of his Great Western Railway ‘Small Prairie’ 2-6-2T at Peak Rail.
Railway Family Week launched in 2021 and aims to raise £50,000 for the Railway Benefit Fund.
Bids can be placed at https://go.eventgroovefundraising.com/railwayfamilyweekauction, and if any organisation has experiences they would like to donate to the auction, they can contact fundraising@railwaybenefitfund.org.uk.
