Wensleydale Railway


The Wensleydale Railway is a heritage railway in Wensleydale and Lower Swaledale in North Yorkshire, England. The line runs between Northallerton West station, about a fifteen-minute walk from station on the East Coast Main Line, and.
Regular passenger services operate between and, while occasional freight services and excursions travel the full length of the line.
The line formerly ran from Northallerton to on the Settle-Carlisle Railway but the track between Redmire and Garsdale has been lifted and several bridges have been 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. The section between Northallerton and Leeming Lane opened on 6 March 1848. The section between Leeming Bar and Bedale that was authorised by the Act was not built.
The Bedale and Leyburn Railway, financed by local landowners, was an 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. The York, Newcastle and Berwick had become a founder member of the North Eastern Railway on 31 July 1854, and the Bedale and Leyburn was absorbed into this larger company in 1859.
The Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle upon Tyne Junction Railway had been proposed in the mid-1840s railway mania to link Settle, Hawes and Askrigg, 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, but this scheme failed.
In the late 1860s, several competing railways proposed to serve the agricultural land around Hawes. 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. An Act of Parliament raised by the North Eastern Railway for a railway between Leyburn and Hawes was authorised on 4 July 1870. 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.
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. 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. On 27 April 1964, the line between Redmire and Hawes closed completely. The track west of Redmire was lifted and many bridges on this section of the line were demolished in 1965. With the exception of goods trains serving the quarry near Redmire until 1992, freight traffic on the line ceased in 1982. Some excursion tours ran to Redmire in the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s particularly the Dalesrail services in 1977 which prompted interest in a renewed passenger service on the line.

Restoration

The Wensleydale Railway Association 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 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. These military transport trains continue to this day.
In 2000, WRA formed a separate operating company, the Wensleydale Railway plc, 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 with the stations at Leeming Bar and Leyburn being reopened. In 2004, the stations at Bedale, Finghall and Redmire were reopened. In 2010 a passing loop was opened at the site of the former Constable Burton station, which enabled the railway to introduce a 2-train service when required.
In 2014, station was reopened and a new station built at, enabling passenger services to be extended east of Leeming Bar, but this section was closed to passengers again in August 2016 following a collision between a train and a car at a level crossing near Yafforth. It is hoped to recommence services at a future date once work to upgrade level crossing equipment is complete.
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.
The company's longer-term aim is to reopen the 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. A study commissioned by the railway indicated that an initial extension to Aysgarth from Redmire, would generate an extra income of £3.1 million into the local economy with an additional £500,000 in ticket sales for the railway. The sale of Aysgarth Station and trackbed to a private individual in 2017 allowed the release of funds, and the short term plan is to extend some to a brand new station serving Castle Bolton. This has been costed at £2 million and is listed in a five-year plan. In order to achieve this, the missing bridge that used to span Apedale Beck to the west of Redmire station will need to be replaced. There was a plan to do so utilising a redundant bridge from the Catterick branch line that was removed during the A1 to A1 upgrade in 2015 and stored in Redmire Station car park. However the bridge was subsequently found to be unsuitable and it has been cut up and removed.
In January 2019, Campaign for Better Transport released a report identifying the line which was listed as Priority 2 for reopening. Priority 2 is for those lines which require further development or a change in circumstances.

Upper Wensleydale Railway

In late 2019/early 2020, a separate company was formed to campaign to reinstate the line between and. The groups' objective is to have a timetabled year-round service run by a train operating company, rather than a heritage service. This scheme was shortlisted for funding in the second round of the government's Reverse Beeching Fund, in June 2020.

Company structure

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 Ltd is a membership organisation and a registered charity 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 signal box.

Locomotives

Other steam locomotives that visited the Wensleydale Railway have been:
Standard 4 Tank No. 80105, 56xx Class No. 5643, King Arthur Class No. 30777 Sir Lamiel, Class A4 No. 4464 Bittern, Class K4 No. 61994 The Great Marquess, Class K1 No. 62005, Hudswell Clarke No. 20 Jennifer, Merchant Navy Class No. 35018 British India Line, Class J27 No. 65894, Class A1 No. 60163 Tornado, Class 8F No. 48151 & S160 class No. 5197.
Number & NameDescriptionCurrent StatusLiveryOwnerDate BuiltPhotograph
No. 03144 Class 03OperationalBR Rail blueMinistry of Defence 1960
No. 20166 Class 20Operational.HNRC orange.Harry Needle Railroad Company1966
No. 20169 Class 20Awaiting overhaul.BR GreenPrivate Owner.1966
No. 25313 Class 25Awaiting Repair.BR Rail Blue.Harry Needle Railroad Company1964
No. 37250 Class 37OperationalDutch civil engineersPrivate Owner.1964
No. 37503
Class 37Undergoing OverhaulEWS Maroon/GoldHarry Needle Railroad Company1961
No. 37674 Class 37OperationalRailfreight Red StripePrivate owner.1963
No. 47785 Fiona CastleClass 47Awaiting overhaul.EWS Maroon/Gold.Private owner.1965
No. 60086Class 60Awaiting overhaulEWS Two tone grey
No. 60050Class 60Awaiting OverhaulEW&S Maroon
No. 31454Class 31Undergoing OverhaulIntercity