Wensleydale Railway: The Missing Link

Today the Wensleydale Railway is a community-run heritage line with big ideas. It's the only part of the UK's mainline network which is 'vertically integrated' and its operators eventually hope to add another 18 miles of track, reconnecting it with the Settle & Carlisle line. This video - edited from a half-hour programme - looks at the Wensleydale's impact on the local community as well as hearing from two firemen who worked the route during its heyday.

[@arthurbaldwin1804]

I really hope you manage to get this line restored. The benefits it will bring to a rural community cannot be overstated. Maybe some of the community spirit which the old railways brought purely as a consequence of being there can be revived.

[@Tom-Lahaye]

I spent a day of my holiday in 2010 travelling this line, and it was a day well spent. And altough Leeming bar, as mentioned, is not the most atractive place (the A1(M) motorway cuts right trough it), Hawes is. I spent the night in Hawes in a very nice B&B and it has a nice selection of pubs and restaurants. The line offers good scenery and with 18 miles in service now is already one of the longer preserved railways in the UK. The extension to Northallerton is next to be opened, but the best part, scenery wise, will be the 18 miles between Hawes and Garsdale, and with 40 miles it will be the longest heritage line in the UK (apart from the Jacobite, Fort William-Mallaig, but that steam train shares the track with main line operator Scotrail and operates under main line rules). One round trip offers a good day out then, I wish them sucses with achieving this goal.

[@LupusAries]

Leave it to the people and not the managers! ;) If people are Eisenbahner (Railroaders/Railworkers) by heart and love their Job, nothing is impossible. That is the problem with most big railroad companies, none of the head honchos are Railroaders! Greetings from Germany and keep up the good work!

[@rogergriffith286]

Sadly the proposal to sell Aysgarth Station may seal the fate of any extension towards Hawes and Garsdale

[@NJPurling]

What are the present priorities?? I'm guessing that access to Northallerton, would mean a platform at the Castle Hills passing loop/exchange siding. To do that I expect the track infrastructure will need attention & they might have enough on their plate keeping the Redmire-Leeming Bar section in good shape. There was an issue with an embankment East of Leeming Bar being infested with rabbits which was weakening it. I hope that issue has been addressed. Top Priority would be improved security at Leeming Bar to keep out the graffiti tw@ts& potential metal thieves.

[@Isochest]

Volunteer and community railways amount to around 500 route miles compared to the 10000 miles of Network Rail. 5% of the national rail network. In the case of local councils they could do more. Shame on Ruabon council blocking the Llangollen Railway's attempt to connect with the national network

[@railandmodel]

Cracking railway Gromit!!This is a great line,if you haven't been on it,come along & check it out.Like Cleckheatoncentral says Hawes by train that will be something!!cheers

[@SteamboatWilley]

If the Wensleydale railway was completed to Garsdale could provide a useful cross-country through route, especially for freight. Good luck to them!

[@chickenman464w]

do you know what the train at the start was?

[@chickenman464w]

+LBLK GAMING thanks

[@neiloflongbeck5705]

@@chickenman464w it's a Class 108 from the 1960s batch with DMCL M51572 leading with the 4-character headcode box above the driving cab windows..

[@rogergriffith286]

Now the sold link. Optimism would be that the railway will be permitted to use the station if we get beyond the proposed Castle Bolton Station.

[@zahina22]

yes i agree about the Hawes railway lets hope there's someone out there will take up the mantle for the restore the line

[@berwynthomas6867]

If only, Wensleydales priorities have changed…

[@mysteriouskazakh]

And now they're planning to flog off the one station with the tourism potential to make them a viable enterprise in the future. I see no future for the Wensleydale if the short-sighted proposals for Aysgarth go ahead. It's depressing to look back at these good intentions and compare them to the dire state it's in today.

[@jonjon9047]

Got to love royalty-free music - not!