West Coast Railways, also known as West Coast Railway Company, is a railway spot-hire company and charter train operator, based at Carnforth in Lancashire, on the site of the old Steamtown heritage depot. In 1998, the company became the first privately-owned company to be given a licence as a train operating company.

The company operates charter trains throughout the year, many of which are hauled by its fleet of steam locomotives.

The most famous of these trains is The Jacobite (named for the historic Jacobite political movement). It runs along the West Highland Line from Fort William to Mallaig, crossing Glenfinnan Viaduct. The Jacobite is the only scheduled steam-operated service on the National Rail network. West Coast also took over operations of the Cambrian Coast Express in 2010 from Arriva Trains Wales, running over the Cambrian Coast Line from Machynlleth to Porthmadog or Pwllheli in August. West Coast are also famed for their operation of steam locomotive 5972 "Olton Hall" under the guise of "Hogwarts Castle" for the Harry Potter film series, with the "Hogwarts Express" train being featured in each of the films.

The company also owns and operates a fleet of diesel locomotives, which are primarily used to haul charter trains, but have also been hired to other railway operators. The fleet is mainly composed of Class 37 and Class 47 locomotives, but also includes the prototype passenger Class 57, no. 57601. Several Class 37 locomotives were purchased from Ian Riley Engineering, which ceased its spot-hire operations in mid-2004, however these locomotives have now been sold on to Direct Rail Services, in exchange for four Class 33s. Its coaching stock consists of Mark 1 and Mark 2 coaches, mostly painted in the British Railways maroon livery, albeit with West Coast Railways branding on the bodyside.

In 2005, WCR won the contract to haul The Royal Scotsman luxury train. As a result, its two operational Class 37 locomotives and a Class 47 were repainted into a revised maroon livery, officially known as Royal Scotsman Claret, based on that of the Royal Scotsman carriages. The contract sees the West Coast locomotives in use all over Scotland.

In late 2005, WCR sold its two operational Class 37 locomotives (nos. 37197 and 37261) to Direct Rail Services (DRS), and received four Class 33 locomotives in exchange. WCRC later sold non-operational locomotive no. 37423 to DRS as well. In 2006, WCRC hired two preserved locomotives, nos. 37214 and 37248. 37214 is now owned by WCR, however, 37248 was owned by three Growler Group members under the venture 'Type Three Traction'. The hire period for the locomotive ended in 2009 and the engine was moved back into preservation at the Nottingham Transport Heritage Centre in May 2009. 37214 is currently undergoing repairs and has been out of action for around two years, as of May 2009.

In early 2007, WCR purchased five Class 47/7 locos from EWS. These were nos. 47760, 47776, 47786, 47787 and 47792. These locos had been stored at Healey Mills, near Wakefield, after being deemed surplus to requirements. Of these, 47792 was the first to be returned to service and returned to its former number, 47804. This was followed by the return of 47787 in September 2007, 47760 in April 2008 and 47786 in October 2008. These were supplemented by the purchase of 47772 from EWS at Margam, South Wales, in June 2008. 47772 and 47776 are currently under repair and expected to return to traffic at some point in the near future.

Later in 2007, WCR again added to its fleet by purchasing a number of Class 37s from EWS. 37676 was the first to be purchased in October, followed by nos. 37517, 37668, 37685, 37706, 37710, 37712 and 37717 in December. These were transferred across the Pennines to Carnforth in January 2008 in several batches. Of these locomotives, 37712 returned to traffic in July 2008, with 37676 following in November 2008 and 37706 working again in December. 37712 suffered a serious fire in November 2008 at Crewe while working an empty stock movement to Southall and has since returned to Carnforth for major repairs. 37717 was sent for scrap at Booths, Rotherham, and 37516 was bought from DB Schenker (formerly EWS) as a replacement. This locomotive arrived at Carnforth in February 2009 and returned to traffic in May 2009.

Routes commonly operated over by WCR include the nearby Cumbrian Coast Line and Furness Line, Little North Western Line, the Settle and Carlisle Railway and the West Highland Line. The company utilises several sidings at Hellifield railway station, south of Settle Junction, where the lines to Carlisle and Carnforth diverge, allowing easy access to the WCR home base.

Recently, WCR took over the lease of the former Great Western depot at Southall, West London. "The Green Train" is based here and is used on "The Cathedrals Express" workings for Steam Dreams. Steam locomotive 34067 "Tangmere" is often seen working these trains and is operated by West Coast Railways, although is owned by a private individual.

• West Coast Railway Company website
• West Coast Railway Company website
• Information on "The Jacobite"

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