A very special train trip takes place to mark Mother’s Day on Sunday.

The volunteer-run Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway – which boasts the UK’s finest collection of luxury carriages – will unveil its latest masterpiece, a lovingly restored 1906 rail directors’ coach.

As it makes its first journey on the line, it will be an emotional moment for Stephen Middleton, who spent three years single-handedly restoring a wreck riddled with woodworm.

Stephen worked three or four days a week, often in freezing conditions, alone in the engine sheds at Embsay and paid for most of it out of his own pocket.

The carriage has been on loan to the National Railway Museum at York, where it starred in an adaptation featuring the steam engines of E Nesbit’s classic, The Railway Children.

Now it is “the jewel in the crown” at Embsay and, for a couple of pounds extra, passengers can travel in Edwardian splendour.

No expense was spared in the original construction of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway directors’ saloon, which doubled as a mobile boardroom and place to entertain dignitaries.

“It was a very special coach just for the use of the directors. No-one ever paid for a ride in it,” said 53-year-old Stephen. “These days, trains are like buses, but in their heyday these carriages made travel an adventure, something to look forward to.”

Step into the luxurious saloon and you are transported back in time. It is lined with rich, dark, intricately-carved mahogany panelling – as featured in the finest gentlemen’s clubs. All the soft furnishings have been re-upholstered and there are magnificent large windows.

Among the most charming relics is a bell system. Rung five times, it told the driver to go faster. Rung once, it told him to stop. Among items stored on board were a champagne nipper, sardine knife and cheese plates.

The attention to detail is amazing and there’s a rare show of harmony in the toilet, with a beautiful floor mosaic showing a white rose and red rose, symbolising the connection with both Lancashire and Yorkshire.

“I’ve always been surprised by how fashions in domestic interior design were pioneered on the railway,” said Stephen.

“These carriages provided a showcase for what was best on the planet. The railway introduced electric lighting in 1889 whereas it was not available in most homes until the 1920s.”

Stephen will be serving tea and scones to passengers on Sunday and he says it will give him a real buzz to treat them as VIPs.

“The aim is to offer people something really special,” he said. “The carriages provide a real glimpse of the past and show how royalty would have travelled.

“It’s good for people to see not all train enthusiasts are anoraks and, hopefully, our enthusiasm will be infectious.”

There’s no need to book on Sunday. Just turn up at Embsay or Bolton Abbey station. Trips start at 10.30am.