Wensleydale Railway
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In 2003, Wensleydale Railway plc (WR plc) started running passenger trains on a portion of the railway that previously linked Northallerton with Garsdale railway station on the Settle-Carlisle Railway. The railway had been almost closed apart from very occasional Ministry of Defence freight trains to Redmire for the transport of tanks to/from Catterick Garrison.
The original line between Northallerton and Garsdale was opened in stages: Northallerton to Leeming Bar (in 1848); Leeming Bar to Bedale (in 1855); Bedale to Leyburn (in 1855 for freight traffic and in 1856 for passenger traffic); Leyburn to Askrigg (in 1877); Askrigg to Hawes and Garsdale to Hawes (both in 1878). The section from Northallerton to Hawes became part of the North Eastern Railway and the section from Hawes to Garsdale became part of the Midland Railway.
The line between Northallerton and Hawes closed to passengers in 1954 and the line between Hawes and Garsdale closed to passengers in 1959. However some Dalesrail excursion trains ran between Redmire and York in the 1970s and occasional charter trains ran to Redmire.
The line between Redmire and Garsdale was closed completely in 1964 (and subsequently lifted).
With the exception of freight trains serving the quarry near Redmire, freight traffic on the remaining portion of line ceased in 1982. Freight trains to Redmire ceased in 1992.
At this point, the future of the remaining line looked very bleak. However the Wensleydale Railway Association (WRA) was formed in 1990 with the main aim of restoring passenger services. When British Rail decide to try and sell the line between Northallerton and Redmire following cessation of the quarry trains to Redmire, Wensleydale Railway Company (WRC), a body related to WRA, started to try and raise the necessary funds. A surprising but positive development was the Ministry of Defence indicating an interest in using the line between Northallerton and Redmire to transport tanks to/from Catterick Garrison. This went ahead and in addition, the Ministry of Defence did not object to WRC taking over the line.
Railtrack agreed to lease the line between Northallerton and Redmire to WRC (now called WR plc) in 2000 and passenger services started in 2003.
Currently, WR plc runs services between Leeming Bar and Redmire with intermediate stations at Bedale, Finghall and Leyburn. A bus link between Leeming Bar and Northallerton railway station (on the East Coast Mainline) is operated by Dales & District. In the short-to-medium term, the aim is to extend passenger train services east to Northallerton to provide interchange with National Rail once agreement has been reached with Network Rail regarding access to the mainline. The longer term aim is to reopen the line west from Redmire to eventually join up with the Settle-Carlisle Railway at Garsdale.
The Wensleydale Railway Association (WRA) is a membership body which supports the development of the Wensleydale Railway with fund raising and volunteer working.
[edit] Route
Dales and District bus link
[edit] Locomotives
- Steam Locomotives
- to be added
- Diesel Locomotives
- Diesel Multiple Units
- Electrical Multiple Units
