A RIGHT royal experience awaits the people of West Devon as the ?Sleeping Beauty? rolls into Okehampton Station on October 19.
Saved from obscurity and returned to Edwardian opulence, this sleeping car from the former ?Queen of Scots? main line set, accompanied by a sister coach commissioned for King Edward VIII, has reduced people to tears from its sheer authenticity and grandeur.
You could be mistaken for thinking you had stepped onto a film set or transported to a railway museum but no, the latest attraction coming to Dartmoor Railway is 100 per cent the real thing.
Okehampton is the second station to be graced by the presence of the Sleeping Beauty which started its tour of 23 historic railways in the UK six months ago in Bodmin.
Since then people have been snapping up the opportunity to stay aboard this luxurious hotel on wheels and savour the experience of a bygone era, only ever enjoyed by the very rich or privileged in late Victorian or Edwardian times.
Decked out from ceiling to floor in mahogany and brass with the bed linen in each of the four suites alone costing £2,000, there has been no expense spared by the men behind this project ? American Art Fenwick, a former dancer and British engineer Jon Hurd.
But these two are no railway buffs ? until earlier this year they had no knowledge at all of steam railways but had an extravagant idea in their heads which they thought would be a real hit ? and so far they have been proved right.
Art explained: ?We wanted to bring back that old fashioned customer service which has disappeared from this country.
?In terms of railways it seems everything has been restored, from tracks to stations and dining coaches ? everything but sleepers from this era.?
Within half an hour of being on the internet, the men found what they were looking for, destined for a scrapyard in Llangollen, North Wales.
With few remnants of its glory days still in existence, carpenters, French polishers, plumbers and electricians were brought in to transform the Sleeping Beauty and the total restoration cost is somewhere approaching £100,000.
On top of this, the train houses half a million pounds of artefacts between the top two suites ? the Titanic and the Queen Mary.
Art?s great uncle survived the sinking of the Titanic and his father was present on the last voyage of the Queen Mary.
Memorabilia includes a letter from one of the ill-fated passengers of the Titanic to his wife just a few days before the vessel hit an iceberg and sank, original newspapers published in New York with pictures of all the survivors, postcards and passenger lists.
The exquisite attention to detail aboard the train comes from careful research: ?The panelling on the Sleeping Beauty was in fact done by the same company as that on the Queen Mary so already a link existed,? said Art.
A photo of King Edward VIII boarding the dining coach is on display and people will be invited to eat like a king when they book a table for the night.
Breakfast is served on bone china with a 14 carat gold trim and for each room, genuine Egyptian cotton towels and robes have been shipped in from Australia.
As guests arrive they are served champagne and a box of Belgium chocolates, exclusive perfumes and aftershaves are provided in each room, all adding to that feeling of being treated like royalty for a night.
Menus will be derived from those on the Titanic which Art?s mother will be cooking up when she arrives in this country this month.
Art said on the Sleeping Beauty First Class meant First Class: ?On first class train travel these days, 12 compartments are fitted into an area where we have four.?
Jon said the reward was seeing the expressions on people?s faces when they stepped onto the train.
?They are speechless when they see what we have done to the coach,? he said. ?In a million years they never thought that something from that era could be brought back in this way.
?I get goosepimples every time a guest enters their room and many ladies have burst into tears because they do not expect it to be quite so authentic.?
For one 86-year-old man, it was a dream come true: ?He could remember what the trains used to be like and although he could barely walk, he was determined to have a stay here before he was confined to a wheelchair,? added Jon.
Many trains from the Edwardian era were burnt and so now they are a serious commodity, especially those connected with Edward VIII.
Art said people were fascinated with anything to do with Edward and Mrs Simpson.
?Whereas we found the Sleeping Beauty, the dining coach came to us once people knew what we were planning to do ? even the carpets were the same ? it was really spooky but I suppose it was fate,? said Jon.
With his family connection with the Titanic, Art has been able to get hold of artefacts and memorabilia more easily.
A book containing the menu of the last dinner on the Titanic given to his family has already provoked a offer of £10,000 for its purchase.
?It goes without saying that this book is one of the things we will not be including on the train,? said the 30-year-old former dancer, who has worked with Michael Jackson, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera.
The Sleeping Beauty will remain at Okehampton Station for one year before it moves on to other locations in the UK and then the world.
Dartmoor Railway owns one of the longest historic railway lines in the country and the train will transport passengers up and down the 15 mile track before settling for the night.
Visitors to Okehampton Station will be able to have a tour of the train from Tuesdays-Thursday for free for the first few months as bookings are only be taken at weekends to start with.
Murder Mystery Weekends and jazz music on the train will be features coming up as the year progresses.
The average cost of an overnight stay is £150 for a couple and evening meals are £45 a head.
One ardent fan is Dartmoor Railway manager David Payne who has been lucky enough to stay on the train twice, once with his wife and then with his wider family.
?We all thought it was absolutely great and even the two young girls could not stop talking about it,? he said. ?The difference with this train is that it doesn?t just look authentic it is completely authentic.
?From Dartmoor Railway?s point of view it is wonderful to have something of this quality at the station for a year ? it raises our profile and will bring in the visitors and we will no doubt see a celebrity or two here in the future.?
The Sleeping Beauty, which is soon to be the subject of many TV programmes including Wish You Were, which will also put West Devon on the map, will be transported from Bodmin to Okehampton by lowloader and takes up residence on October 19.
Local producers and traders including bakers and butchers and florists are being sought to supply the business and job opportunities for local people may come up next summer.
l To find out more or book a reservation call 07973 819895. With Valentine?s Day almost booked up already, people are being advised to phone early.