IT’S full steam ahead for summertime in Chester, with passengers invited to enjoy a spectacular railway route in the lap of luxury.

One of Britain’s most famous railway locomotives will be carrying passengers from Chester over the Settle-Carlisle line. This 72-mile route, cutting through the northern Pennines and Yorkshire Dales, was a triumph of Victorian engineering and architecture when it opened in the 19th century.

And with 22 viaducts, including the magnificent 24-arch Ribblehead one, and 14 tunnels, it is regularly voted one of the 10 greatest train journeys in the world.

From June 1, the 85-ton Scots Guardsman engine will be pulling the train from Chester station.

The Royal Scot class engine, Number 46115, was built at Glasgow in 1927 for the old London, Midland and Scottish Railway and once hauled crack expresses over the West Coast mainline. Coupled up behind it will be carefully renovated vintage railway carriages.

Passengers on the Dalesman will be able to sip Buck’s Fizz while tucking into a full English breakfast on the outward journey – followed by a gourmet four-course dinner with wine and champagne on the way home.

And if some of those railway carriages look familiar, that might be because they starred as the Hogwarts Express in the Harry Potter movies.

The Dalesman will run from Chester on Tuesdays June 1 and 22, July 13, August 3 and 24, and September 14.

Another famous train operating to various destinations from Chester this year is the Northern Belle, which once formed part of the iconic Orient Express group.

West Coast Railways also runs the regular Scarborough Spa Express to the East Coast and the Jacobite between Fort William and Mallaig in the Scottish Highlands.