Creating social harmony through song
Community arts space on the Weardale Railway
The Story Train opened to the public for the first time on 3 December 2022. The First Class Buffet Car that once ran on the East Coast Main Line is now a special storytelling carriage inspiring visitors, schools and local communities in the story of the railways in the North East of England.
In partnership with Weardale Railway and The Auckland Project, The Story Train is a creative hub of stories, art, music, theatre and other arts forms engaging communities in the story of passenger travel. The coach is currently stabled at Stanhope Station on the Weardale Railway and will be open during the railway's open days as well as for special occasions.
The Story Train's first public appearance was 'A Christmas Tale in the Dales' and opened 3-23rd December 2022 during Weardale Railway’s Christmas season. Each public day, the coach hosted a new Christmas tale in the Dales, along with poetry, songwriting and creative writing from local creative groups and schools.
To follow updates on The Story Train, please visit our Instagram page:
If you would like to get involved, volunteer or work with The Story Train, please drop us an email.
Background
​
The Story Train is a former InterCity 125 High Speed Train Buffet Car; a train that revolutionised rail travel in the UK, once serving the East Coast Main Line and the route of the Flying Scotsman. The former first-class LNER Mk3 Buffet Car (no. 40701) retired from 43 years of public passenger service last year, finishing on the East Midland Railway where it had been in operation since retiring from the East Coast Main Line in 2019.
Citizen Songwriters - a North East arts-based social enterprise - plan to use the buffet car as a community arts space to inspire and engage communities in the rich story of the railways in the North East along the Weardale Railway, an 18 mile heritage railway line in the Durham Dales.
​
The North East’s railway history is already a core focus of Citizen Songwriters’ community arts engagement, through storytelling projects with the Friends of the Stockton & Darlington Railway in Shildon. The buffet car will further their scope of activities in the run up to the bi-centenary celebrations in 2025 of the birth of the passenger railway; a significant cultural and heritage event for the North East.
Citizen Songwriters plan to curate unique experiences on board the buffet car, inviting schools and community groups to experience the social and mental health benefits of art, led by a host of local creative practitioners in music, theatre, poetry, painting and photography etc.
On their plans, musician and Citizen Songwriters founder Sam Slatcher says:
“We’re absolutely delighted to acquire this buffet car and can’t wait to see it alive with food, arts and community spirit. We look forward to working with the Weardale Railway and The Auckland Project”
Laura Emerson-Roberts, Head of Community Engagement for The Auckland Project, a partner in the buffet car project, says:
“We’re excited to be working with Sam and Citizen Songwriters on this innovative project and can’t wait to engage with communities in new ways up and down the Weardale line”.
Nigel Yule, Fleet manager of East Midland Railway, who oversaw the last renovation of the coach remarked:
“I’ve spent the last 32 years in some form associated with these trains. I don’t think this country will ever have another train quite like this one. They’re probably more reliable now than when they were built. I’m really glad to hear this coach is being saved”
The directors of Citizen Songwriters would like to extend their sincere thanks to Porterbrook for the donation, as well as Reid Freight and the staff at the Weardale Railway for assisting the move of the coach which arrived at the Weardale Railway on Tuesday 8th June 2021
​
