Rail Tours and excursions started from the early days of railways - with Thomas Cook arranging the very first one in the summer of 1841 - see
((here)) for the story of the first excusion from Leicester to Loughborough to take his supporters to a temperance meeting.
Over the years, excursions and special trips have blossomed - taking people to specil events (though temperance meetings seem to have faded out) and to interesting destinations - even "mystery trips" which were a personal favourite. Other trips were run for railway advocates and enthusisast to lines rarely used for passenger trains (some, sadly, as a final train before complete closure) or using unusual motive power, or even running part of their route over heritage lines.
From
29th January 1977 - Railway Pictorial Publications Railtours - "Western Memorial" from Paddington to Crewe via the Severn Tunnel - as logged on
Six Bells Junction - 10 hours of travel for just 2 hours at destination.
"Specials" carry on to this day - at one time very big business but with the reduction in spare trains they are just a shadow of their former selves. They have for the most part moved from being really good value for all with Merrymaker (see
((here))) to being still good value but for a premium product, catered now far better than standard scheduled trains, and with rolling stock to modern standard but often of heritage derivation and using historic technology
