>>1410368>Settle to Carlisle lineThat's pretty much the ultimate meme British heritage train experience. It's the line used by the Hogwarts Express in that one movie series that only I have seen (the Olton Hall locomotive is currently a display piece in the Warner Bros. London Studio, though).
Best standard gauge lines:
Great Central Railway (full-speed mainline trains passing each other is a creme-de-la-creme experience)
Bluebell Railway (first standard gauge preserved line and has tons of wooden coach stock in use)
Severn Valley Railway (best in the West)
North Yorkshire Moors Railway (DA KING A DA NORTH!)
Best narrow gauge lines:
Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railways (oldest-operating railway company on Earth had the combined length of the line is the longest preserved line in the UK)
Talyllyn Railway (this is the one on which Wilburt Awdry volunteered and it served as inspiration for several of his stories)
Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway (pretty much the ultimate miniature railway, as it's used for everyday public transport, and it used armored trains in WWII to patrol the coast)
Museums:
National Railway Museum (duh!)
Manchester Science & Industry Museum (the building is a former train station of the Liverpool & Manchester Railway, which started it all, and they have a working replica of an 1830s train)
Didcot Rialway Centre (lots of unique operational things, such as a beyond rare steam-powered wooden motor coach that's allowed to operate on the main line, which is impressive, as most wood-bodied rolling stock is forbidden on the main line)
