Way back in the early 1980's, I had membership of both the Railway Enthusiasts Society Ltd and the Lancashire Locomotive Society, until business commitments meant I had to resign my membership of both these two societies who used coach tours to visit depots and stabling points and sometimes even works visits. Many of these longer distance visits would leave on a Friday evening and return on the Sunday.
I remember a lady organiser called Alison (Woodrow ?) who lived somewhere in the Whitefield area and worked for National Express being a North-West tour leader and I am sure as I can be that it was the Railway Enthusiasts Society Ltd to which she belonged, but thirty years elapsing of time can play tricks with my memory these days.
I imagine that both societies found matters rather difficult as time went by both in terms of finance and the cost of running the coach tours at an affordable price and also of the availability of access to depots.