Wensleydale Railway

This article is about the railway in Yorkshire, England. For the railway in Victoria, Australia between 1890 and 1948, see Wensleydale railway line (Australia).

Coordinates: 54°17′35″N 1°44′53″W / 54.293°N 1.748°W / 54.293; -1.748

Wensleydale Railway
Locale North Yorkshire
Commercial operations
Name Wensleydale Railway
Original gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Preserved operations
Operated by Wensleydale Railway plc
Stations 7
Length 22 miles (35 km)
Preserved gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Commercial history
Opened between 1848 & 1878
Closed to passengers 1954
Closed 1992
Preservation history
Headquarters Leeming Bar

Wensleydale Railway

Legend
East Coast Main Line

Northallerton National Rail

Northallerton West
Ainderby
River Swale
Scruton
Leeming Bar
A1(M)
Bedale
Crakehall
Jervaulx
Finghall
Constable Burton
Spennithorne
Leyburn
Wensley
Redmire
Aysgarth
Askrigg
Hawes
Mossdale Head Tunnel
245 yards (224 m)
Garsdale National Rail
Settle-Carlisle Railway

The Wensleydale Railway is a heritage railway in Wensleydale and Lower Swaledale in North Yorkshire, England. The line runs 22 miles (35 km) between Northallerton West station, about a fifteen-minute walk from Northallerton station on the East Coast Main Line, and Redmire.

Occasional freight services and excursions travel the full length of the line, and regular passenger services operate between Northallerton West and Redmire, a distance of 22 miles (35 km),[1] comparable in length to the West Somerset Railway. The line formerly ran from Northallerton to Garsdale on the Settle-Carlisle Railway, but the track between Redmire and Garsdale has been lifted and several bridges and viaducts demolished.

History

On 26 June 1846, an Act of Parliament authorised the Great North of England Railway and its successor the York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway to build a line between Northallerton and Bedale.[2] The 5 1⁄2-mile (8.9 km) section between Northallerton and Leeming Lane opened on 6 March 1848.[3][4] The section between Leeming Bar and Bedale that was authorised by the Act was not built.[5]

The Bedale and Leyburn Railway, financed by local landowners, was a 11 1⁄2-mile (18.5 km) extension between Leeming Bar and Leyburn that was authorised on 4 August 1853; the section between Leeming Bar and Bedale station opened on 1 February 1855 and the remainder on 28 November 1855 for goods and minerals and 19 May 1856 for passengers.[6][4][7][8] The York, Newcastle and Berwick had become a founder member of the North Eastern Railway (NER) on 31 July 1854,[9] and the Bedale and Leyburn was absorbed into this larger company in 1859.[10]

The Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle Junction Railway had been proposed in the mid-1840s railway mania to link Settle, Hawes and Askrigg,[11] and in 1846 the Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle upon Tyne Junction Railway was given permission for a main line from Elslack, on the Leeds and Bradford Railway, to Scorton on the Richmond branch of the Great North of England Railway, and a branch line to Hawes,[12][13] but this scheme failed.

In the late 1860s, several competing railways proposed to serve the agricultural land around Hawes.[14] Eventually, an Act of Parliament raised by the Midland Railway that mostly related to the Settle and Carlisle line but included a branch off this line between Garsdale and Hawes was authorised on 16 July 1866.[15][16] An Act of Parliament raised by the North Eastern Railway for a railway between Leyburn and Hawes was authorised on 4 July 1870.[17] The section of this railway between Leyburn and Askrigg opened on 1 February 1877; the section between Askrigg and Hawes was opened for goods on 1 June 1878; the Hawes branch of the Settle and Carlisle line was opened for goods on 1 August 1878; the sections between Askrigg and Hawes and between Hawes and Garsdale were both opened for passengers on 1 October 1878.[4][18][19][20]

At this point, there was a through route between Northallerton and Garsdale.

Decline

The line remained a single track branch line transporting milk and stone; the passenger service over the full length of the line finished on 26 April 1954.[21][22] One passenger train each way was operated between Garsdale and Hawes until 14 March 1959 at which point this part of the line closed to all traffic.[23] On 27 April 1964, the line between Redmire and Hawes closed completely.[23] The track west of Redmire was lifted and many bridges on this section of the line were demolished in 1965.[24] With the exception of goods trains serving the quarry near Redmire until 1992, freight traffic on the line ceased in 1982.[25] Some excursion tours ran to Redmire in the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s.[26]

Restoration

Diesel multiple unit at Leyburn railway station in 2005

The Wensleydale Railway Association (WRA) was formed in 1990 with the main aim of restoring passenger services. When British Rail decided to try to sell the line between Northallerton and Redmire following cessation of the quarry trains to Redmire, the WRA decided to take a more proactive role and aimed to operate passenger services itself. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) had an interest in using the line between Northallerton and Redmire to transport armoured vehicles to/from Catterick Garrison. The MoD paid for repairs and restoration of the line and the installation of loading facilities at Redmire, and did not object to WRC taking over the line. A trial train ran in November 1993 and full MoD operations started in July 1996.[27] These military transport trains continue to this day.

In 2000 WRA formed a separate operating company, the Wensleydale Railway plc (WRC), and issued a share offer to raise funds. £1.2 million was raised through this method. Railtrack agreed to lease the line between Northallerton and Redmire to WRC and a 99-year lease was signed in 2003. Passenger services restarted on 4 July 2003[28] with the stations at Leeming Bar and Leyburn being reopened. In 2004, the stations at Bedale, Finghall and Redmire were reopened and in 2014, a station was built at Northallerton West.[29] In 2016 it was reported that the railway carries over 50,000 people a year and that for every £1 spent on the railway, £4 is spent at one of the towns or villages on the route.[30]

The company's longer-term aim is to reopen the 18 miles (29 km) of line west from Redmire via Castle Bolton, Aysgarth, Askrigg, Bainbridge, Hawes and Mossdale to join up with the Settle-Carlisle Railway Route at Garsdale.[29]

Company structure

The ex GER signal box at Leeming Bar

The Wensleydale Railway plc is responsible for the operation, maintenance and development of the railway line and passenger services. The company has a mixture of employed and volunteer staff.

The Wensleydale Railway Association (Trust) Ltd is a membership organisation and registered charity[31] that supports the development of the railway through fund raising, volunteer working, providing training and supporting work on heritage structures such as Scruton Station and Bedale signalbox.

Locomotives

Number & Name Description History & Current Status Livery Owner(s) Date Photograph
No. 69023 Joem Class J72 In Service BR Apple Green North Eastern Locomotive Preservation Group. 1951
No. 92219 Class 9F Awaiting restoration. N/A Private Owner. 1959

Other steam locomotives that have visited the Wensleydale Railway have been: Standard 4 Tank No. 80105, King Arthur class No. 30777 Sir Lamiel, 56xx class No. 5643, Class A4 No. 4464 Bittern, Class K4 No. 61994 The Great Marquess, Class K1 No. 62005 & Class Q6 No. 63395.

Number & Name Description History & Current Status Livery Owner(s) Date Photograph
No. D2144 (03144) Western Waggoner Class 03 Operational. Rail blue MoD. 1960
No. 37250 Class 37 Awaiting repair. Transrail. Private Owner. 1964
No. 37674 (D6869) Class 37 Operational Railfreight

Red Stripe

 Private owner. 1963
No. 37146 Class 37 Awaiting Overhaul Dutch Private Owner 1963
No. 25313 Class 25 Awaiting Repair. BR Rail Blue. Private owner. 1964
No. 20166 (D8166) River Fowey Class 20 Awaiting repair. HNRC orange. Harry Needle Railroad Company 1966
No. 20169 (D8169) Class 20 Awaiting overhaul. BR Green Private Owner. 1966
No. 47715 Haymarket (previously Poseidon) Class 47 Operational Network SouthEast. Harry Needle Railroad Company 1966
No. 47785 Fiona Castle Class 47 Awaiting overhaul. EWS Maroon/Gold. Private owner. 1965

References

Notes

  1. ↑ Flowers, Andrew (February 2012). "Rails in the Dales". Railway Magazine. Vol. 158 no. 1330. p. 21. ISSN 0033-8923.
  2. ↑ Jenkins 1993, pp. 8–9.
  3. ↑ Tomlinson 1915, pp. 492–493.
  4. 1 2 3 Hoole 1974, p. 110.
  5. ↑ Jenkins 1993, p. 9.
  6. ↑ Jenkins 1993, pp. 22–23.
  7. ↑ Tomlinson 1915, pp. 522, 555.
  8. ↑ Butt 1995, pp. 30, 142.
  9. ↑ Tomlinson 1915, pp. 525–526.
  10. ↑ Tomlinson 1915, p. 778.
  11. ↑ Tomlinson 1915, p. 468.
  12. ↑ "Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle-upon-Tyne Junction Railway" (PDF). London Gazette. 12 May 1846.
  13. ↑ Tomlinson 1915, p. 480.
  14. ↑ Tomlinson 1915, p. 616.
  15. ↑ Tomlinson 1915, p. 618.
  16. ↑ Jenkins 1993, pp. 29–30.
  17. ↑ Jenkins 1993, p. 31.
  18. ↑ Butt 1995, p. 116.
  19. ↑ Tomlinson 1915, pp. 682–683.
  20. ↑ Jenkins 1993, pp. 35–36.
  21. ↑ Hoole 1974, pp. 110–111.
  22. ↑ Jenkins 1993, p. 171.
  23. 1 2 Jenkins 1993, p. 174.
  24. ↑ Hallas 2002, p. 83.
  25. ↑ Jenkins 1993, p. 179.
  26. ↑ Jenkins 1993, pp. 177–179.
  27. ↑ Hallas 2002, p. 89.
  28. ↑ Sharpe, Brian (2016). "LNER heritage lines". LNER Steam Revival. Horncastle: Mortons Media. p. 11. ISBN 978-1-909128-63-7.
  29. 1 2 "Wensleydale Railway » About us". Wensleydalerail.com. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
  30. ↑ Gleeson, Janet (18 November 2016). "Heritage line unveils its station restoration plan". Darlington & Stockton Times (46-2016). p. 3. ISSN 2040-3933.
  31. ↑ Charity Commission. WENSLEYDALE RAILWAY ASSOCIATION (TRUST) LIMITED, registered charity no. 1088324.

Sources

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