Trains that play music – how jolly

I arrived at Piccadilly station looking for platform number 3 1/2. Perhaps it would be staffed by a twinkly-eyed man wearing a 1950s-style British Railway uniform. “Looking for the folk train?” he would say. “Follow me.”

Alas, the reality was far more prosaic. Manchester Piccadilly’s platform 13 was instead full of shoppers blankly preparing themselves for a day of much the same. But I spied some grey ponytails, wide brimmed hats, leather waistcoats and instruments slung casually over shoulders. Ah ha. I was in the right place for the Furness Vale folk train (official name the Buxton Line Train.

Manchester folk trains have been running for about 12 years. For the price of a normal ticket, you get on, listen to some live folk music, get off at a countryside pub, have lunch and a few pints of real ale, and get on again, listening to the band all the way home.

Former railway worker and folk fan Tony Wills, 79, was a regular traveller before he recently volunteered to take over the band bookings. He reckons folk trains started around 12 years ago, and there are now three different services running out of Manchester - to Furness Vale, Glossop and Hathersage - while another runs from Sheffield to Edale.

The type of music found on the folk train is diverse. Cajun, Irish, bluegrass, jazz, and British folk can be heard alongside klezmer, an eastern European folk music, a jug band, who use homemade instruments, and an American thirties-style medicine band. The Hathersage service attracts up to 100 fans.

Oldham-based Irish and Lancashire folk trio Tap the Barrel provided the onboard entertainment on my trip. As they launched into their repertoire, startled passengers tried desperately to look elsewhere, while less self-conscious children stared open-mouthed in curiosity.

But people gradually relaxed, and lo, even started to talk to each other. They should run this on commuter services. It would have a palpable impact on people’s mental health.

“You see people coming on, and ringing their mobile phone, and looking a bit confused,” Josie Odoni, co-organiser, says. “But then they sit down and just break out into this big smile.”

“One of the nicest things is seeing the way people react. They are like, ‘What the hell’s going on?’” says Tap the Barrel singer Esmond. “When people get on the train, they don’t speak to each other, but you see people who don’t know about the train talking to those who do. It’s great. There’s nothing else like it. It’s just a great way of getting people to use the train.”

Guitarist Stuart adds: “I find it quite touching, the number of people that come up and thank you. We love that.”

But has the much-touted folk revival brought the youngsters through the automatic doors? A slightly bewildered looking group of twenty-something Manchester University medical students seemed to think so, despite calling the experience, “surreal”.

“I picked up a leaflet and I've been meaning to come ever since,” said Seamus, 21, himself a guitar player. “These guys obviously know what they are doing, and it’s a great way to get out into the countryside. It’s been different, quirky, and alternative. I will definitely be coming back, for sure.”

My trip cost £7.40. Throw in the fine £3 hotpot served at Furness Vale Community Centre, and you have a great day out, gig, and fresh country air for just over a tenner.

Formerly operated by the Hope Valley Railways Partnership - now the High Peak and Hope Valley Community Rail Partnership – the Furness Vale line formerly ran to Whaley Bridge, where the venue paid the small £60 band fee, as do the Hathersage and Glossop venues.

Derbyshire County Council maintain they have never funded the folk train, and only agreed to pay for publicity, in addition to a £60 contribution to ”pump-prime” the first two events at Furness Vale Community Centre.

But the centre say they can’t afford the fee - a fact that is causing Tony some consternation. He is worried that after all these years, the Furness Vale line may have to close in December.

“Derbyshire County Council won’t pay the band – but I am angry because I can’t pay personally,” he says. “I have already had to pay £30 twice. They are trying to do collections on the train to Glossop, but I'm not sure whether that’s legal. Why should the public pay for the whole lot?

“It started out to as a way for people to make use of the trains. People often come along and say they have got a band that would like to play, that sort of thing. Nobody has asked for any more money – yet.”

The folk train is a strange and welcome anachronism in a world of rail travel that is gradually losing any vestige of the magic it once had. It would surely be sad to see a part of it disappear for the lack of a few quid.

“It is a really lovely thing to do,” says regular Geraldine. “It has got a really nice atmosphere, and everyone loves to take part. It is much better than going shopping in Manchester. After all, the more things you do, the better you are.”

For more information on the folk trains, go to www.hvhptp.org.uk

All Aboard – when to catch a folk train

There are three folk trains. These are the next ones. All depart from Manchester Piccadilly
Hathersage line - 11.46am, Saturday 13 December 2008 with Ugly Mug Jug Band, good-time music from the US, 1930's style.
Glossop line – 6.49pm, Thursday 18 December with Eunice Bobcats with the ‘Kings of the Cajun Railroad’.
Buxton line (Furness Vale) – 11.36am, Saturday 20 December 2008 with Hatstand Medicine Band, blues and jug, 20s and 30s music