Royal Mail Train in North Yorkshire is an abandoned train that sits close to the Hellifield junction between Gargrave and Long Preston. The train is a diesel powered Class 44 – C1 Royal Mail goods engine freight train consisting of five locomotives, each with two to three carriages. Three Royal Mail and two England Scotland and Wales railway service trains make up the large abandoned freight. The train will have been used as a Parcels Van under the RES (Rail Express Systems).
This sector of British Rail was responsible for the transport of mail and parcels, mainly for the Royal Mail. As part of the privatisation of British Rail in the mid-90s, RES was the first freight company put up for sale. In 1996, it was integrated into English Welsh & Scottish Railway (EWS) and a number of trains were decommissioned. This train has been sitting disused near Hellifield train station for over 10 years, with evidence onboard suggesting it was abandoned in 2002. There have been numerous attempts to sell it that have all failed to come to fruition.
